While the new Viking 42 Convertible has been getting its fair share of exposure as it hustles down the production line, our other new introduction for 2011, the Viking 70 Convertible, has been extremely busy on the August tournament circuit fishing in Ocean City, Maryland, Pirate’s Cove, Manteo, North Carolina, and this week at the Cape May Mid-Atlantic $500,000. As you would expect with its 40 + knot top end, the 70 Convertible does not spend much time at the dock, but we were able to grab some images of this impressive new model to share until you have the chance to board the 70 C at the upcoming fall boat shows. We think you’ll agree that pictures truly are worth thousands of words.

The Viking 42 Convertible project is gliding along at an Olympian pace in anticipation of its inaugural appearance at the upcoming fall boat shows. This exciting model breaks new ground in Viking’s 46-year history as our first pod-powered boat, as well as the first Viking to feature an inner liner in the forward hull section.

The 42 Convertible hull joined production line four late last week, and once the structural egg crate system was installed and the lazarette and other bilge areas finished with bright white Awlgrip, it was time to fit the Cummins Zeus pod drives. Thanks to the precise 42 hull mold designed and built at Viking, the drive machinery fit like the proverbial glove and the installation was quick and uneventful.

While the drives were being positioned, work also progressed in the engineroom, where electrical equipment was installed along the forward bulkhead. Forward of the engineroom, other Viking mechanics were busy prepping the area for the holding tank and other plumbing fixtures, as well as preliminary wiring runs. Like all Vikings, the 42 Convertible has a custom made wiring harness produced in-house by Viking’s electrical engineers with each wire labeled every eight inches as to its function.

The first hull of the new Viking 42 series, which includes Convertible and Open models, is rapidly approaching the production line. With its structural egg crating bonded in place and the interior thoroughly scuffed up to ensure a proper foundation, snow white gel coat is applied to the hull sides and throughout the lazarette. The rectangular board seen to the left of the worker covers the hole where the port side Cummins Zeus pod drive will exit the hull.

Looking forward, the rest of hull’s egg crating is visible. This area will be finished with a fiberglass hull liner that includes much of the yacht’s bow structural interior, such as the master stateroom island berth platform and hull shelving, port and starboard heads, locators for the upper and lower berths in the port and starboard staterooms and cabin sole.

The white area abaft the liner section conceals the fuel tank and engineroom machinery space.

As these elements of the 42 Convertible come together, elsewhere in Viking’s 810,000 square-foot plant, our computer operated profiling milling machine in the five-axis room delicately carves the foam that will be used to make the mold for the boat’s transom door gate. Look for the new Viking 42 Convertible at the upcoming fall boat shows. The 42 Open will join the fleet at the Viking VIP Miami Boat Show Preview in February 2011 at the Viking Yacht Service Center in Riviera Beach, Florida.

Like a freight train rolling down a straight track on a steep hill, work on the new Viking 42 Convertible continues at a rapid pace in anticipation of the yacht’s introduction at the upcoming fall boat shows. This will be our first pod-drive system boat featuring a Cummins Zeus package and new progress is realized every day.

Admittedly, this is the smallest Viking we have built in some years, and the size of the hull mold is diminutive compared to some of the enormous hull molds for the 82 and 76 Convertibles. But, the 42 Convertible is pure Viking so it represents everything you have come to expect from Viking, albeit in a compact package.
In the hull lamination, for example, you can see the vacuum-bagged high-strength Baltek anti-fungal coring in the bottom. In areas where hull penetrations exist, such as through-hull fittings and the pod drives, laminations are solid fiberglass.

Work also is chugging along in other areas, including the construction of the plug to create the mold for the center console helm, a scaled down replica of the tournament proven helm used aboard the 42′s larger siblings.

Father’s Day Dolphin (mahi-mahi) Tournament
South Florida readers interested in participating in a dolphin (mahi-mahi) tournament should check out the Riviera Beach Maritime Academy’s website www.rbmaritime.org for information on the 3rd Annual Father’s Day Dolphin Challenge, June 19, 2010, which runs out of the Lake Park Harbor Marina. Our Viking Yacht Service Center in Riviera Beach, Florida, is a major sponsor of the event along with the Marine Industry Education Foundation and proceeds support the RBMA. We hear dolphin are biting so get your lines wet and have fun!
Another Chance to Add to Your Wardrobe

If you are the first person to respond with the correct answer to this component used aboard Vikings, you will be the proud owner of a nifty Viking T-shirt.

Please send your answer to marketing@vikingyachts.com.

Boats Big and Small
Construction of the first Viking 42 Convertible hull is well under way and our shipwrights are busy in the laminating phase with visible progress a daily occurrence. The 42 Convertible will hit the water in late summer and headline many of the early fall boat shows. This model is the first Viking with a Cummins Zeus pod drive system; the
42 Convertible will be joined with an Open express model in the coming months.

While the new 42 will be the smallest boat in our line up, at the other end of the spectrum is the flagship Viking 82 Convertible. Recently, 82001, the first 82 returned to the Viking facility for some Atlantic Marine Electronics’ updates after wintering in Florida. Last summer, the Business spent 12 weeks cruising throughout the Med. Many of the yacht’s adventures were covered in our Shot of the Day feature on www.vikingyachts.com, and a complete story of the trip also will appear on our web site soon. In a related topic, hull number 16 of the 82 series is in production.

One of our customers, Henry Bertolon, aboard his 56′ Viking Convertible.  He’s showing off  his boat and his great catch in Harbour Island, Bahamas during the championship and the third leg of the Bahama Billfish Championship.

Progress on the new Viking 70 Convertible is moving briskly in anticipation of the yacht’s official launching in the coming weeks. The new 70 was splashed for the first time late last week so Viking engineers could take numerous waterline measurements with the yacht empty, as well as when fuel and water were added, and then transferred to verify the vessel’s center of gravity. The following morning, the boat was hauled so Palm Beach Towers could begin the installation of its custom tuna tower. Later that day the 70 Convertible was brought back into Building 2N to continue the tower work and prep for installing the fiberglass hardtop, while other Viking shipwrights carried forward with the interior, mechanical and electrical work.

The new Viking 70 will have a four-stateroom layout, each with a private head and shower, plus a day head in the salon. Slated to be the Viking company demo for the summer, the newest Viking is powered with 2,600 mhp MTU V16 Series 2000 M94 engines.