BoatsColvic Craft Victor 40

Colvic Craft Victor 40

Masthead Ketch · Fin With Rudder On Skeg · First built 1978

A John A. Bennett-designed masthead ketch also known as the Blackwater 40, built for steady, comfortable passage-making

Designed by John A. Bennett & Assoc.

LOA
Beam
Draft (max)
Displacement
Ballast
Hull type
Fin With Rudder On Skeg

See her sail

The Colvic Craft Victor 40, on the water

The fleet's own footage — the truest look at how she really moves.

Footage from Reversing Entropy

Is it for you?

Character

Where this design lands on the numbers a shopper trusts — read straight from her own ratios.

LivelySea-kindly

Her heavy displacement on a moderate beam gives 34 — a sea-kindly motion in a seaway.

Comfort ratio 34
CoastalBluewater

1.79 — just under the 2.0 offshore line; her beam is modest for her weight.

Capsize screening 1.79
LightHeavy

280 — heavy for her waterline, built to carry stores and ride steadily.

Displacement / length 280
EasygoingPowered-up

10.4 — modest power for her weight; easygoing rather than lively, and happier with a breeze.

Sail area / displacement 10.4
TenderStiff

45% of her weight is ballast — stiff, standing up well to her sails.

Ballast 45%

A capable cruiser that sits just inside the offshore line — coastal work with real passages in her.

  • Heavier than ~80% of boats her size on file

Compared with 2742 boats of the same type within a quarter of her length.

What the fleet has seen

The Colvic Craft Victor 40, as the fleet has seen it

Derived from the videos the fleet has analysed of this model. ▶ marks open the moment aboard.

The Colvic Craft Victor 40 is a masthead ketch designed by John A. Bennett, Assoc. and built by Colvic Craft from 1978 to the present, with a variant, the BLACKWATER 40, fitted out by Swinton and Wilkingson. It measures 12.2 meters LOA, with a 3.8-meter beam, 1.8-meter draft, and displaces 9999 kg. Aboard "Old Knight," a Colvic Craft Victor 40, Paulo and Katarina undertook a three-month refit after the boat sat neglected for 12 years, addressing mold, water damage, and a submerged engine.3:01 Paulo rebuilt the engine, replaced all through-hulls, applied antifouling paint, and restored the interior woodwork.4:58 The boat's masthead ketch rig includes a 21.74 sq m main, a 9.66 sq m mizzen, and a 41.25 sq m genoa.

The living fleet

Sailed by the fleet

Where the fleet has filmed this boat.

Seen 3 times across 2 channels of the fleet.

Basemap © Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

On the water

The Colvic Craft Victor 40 on video

Who's been looking

Market signal

Crews the fleet has filmed weighing this model up — no sale seen, and no asking price.

1channel looked into buying

From the fleet's own footage — our observed signal, not broker listings.

The record

Full specifications

The complete reference set — tap any figure to switch between metric and imperial.

Dimensions
Weights
Ballast / displacement
45.0%
Rig & sail area
Rig
Masthead Ketch
Ratios
SA / displacement
10.4
Displacement / length
280.2
Comfort ratio
33.8
Capsize screening
1.79
Hull speed
7.7 kn
Pounds / inch immersion
1463
Hull
Hull type
Fin with rudder on skeg
Construction
Fiberglass
Production
Years built
First built 1978
Designer
John A. Bennett, Assoc
Builder
Colvic Craft

Boats like this, on the water

More boats like her, on the water

Comparable boats the fleet has on camera: same type, within a quarter of her length. Open the boat, or watch the video — a timestamp means she only appears in passing.

Valiant Yachts 40-212.16 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA Robert Perry-designed cutter built for offshore passage-making, featuring a skeg-hung rudder and a stiff, heavy hull
New Boat??? Haul out and Survey - Valiant 40 (Sep-Oct 2019)0:49from keeldragger
Bavaria Yachts 39012.15 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA 12-meter fractional sloop originally built for the charter trade, featuring a 37.5% ballast ratio for coastal stability
Why Does A Sailboat Keel Fall Off?3:09from Practical Sailor
Najad Yachts 400/40512.20 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA Judel-Vrolijk designed cruiser featuring a stable fin keel and a refined hull shared across the 400 and 405 series
[OFF MARKET] Najad 405 (BRINDABELLA), with Alan McIlroy - Yacht for Sale - Berthon Internationalfrom Berthon International
Dufour Yachts 405 Grand Large12.17 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA 12-meter cruiser featuring a 2.03m fin keel and a balanced displacement-to-ballast ratio for stable coastal passages
Dufour 405from SVN solovelanet
Beneteau 4012.14 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA 2007 Berret-Racoupeau design with a 1.9m draft, also marketed internationally as the Oceanis 40 and Moorings 41.3
Lithium Batteries on Boats: A Real World Example of a Lithium Battery Install0:45from Cruising Maya
Beneteau Oceanis 4012.15 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA spacious fractional sloop from Berret-Racoupeau featuring a versatile optional shallow draft keel
40' Beneteau Oceanis Full Sailboat Tour (Wonderful Turkish Couple)32:06from Adventureman Dan

The family

Related models

The designs closest to hers — usually the rest of the builder's range, sometimes the same hull sold under another name.

Colvic Craft Victor 34A John A. Bennett-designed masthead ketch with a long keel, sharing its hull design with the Canadian-built North Sea 34Colvic Craft 31A 1972 Colvic-built cruiser featuring a high comfort ratio and shallow 1.22-metre draft for versatile coastal workColvic Craft Countess 37A cutter-rigged cruiser by Ian L. Anderson featuring a fin keel and skeg-hung rudder for balanced offshore handling

Keep asking

The fleet has more to say

Search what's been said about the Colvic Craft Victor 40, or ask a specific question — the answer comes back written out, with links to the moments it draws on.

Search the fleet for boats like thisAsk the fleet about the Colvic Craft Victor 40

The newsletter

New boats, new stories, from everywhere.

One email from the fleet — boats newly added, videos newly analyzed. No noise.

Report an issue