Vixen — 15 Square Meter Sloop

Vixen is a 15 square meter sloop originally designed by Knud Reimers and built by Oscar Schelin’s Kungsors Boat Yard (Sweden) in 1937. She was built for the export market and was shipped directly from Kungsors’s to the UK prior to the start of the Second World War where she was one of only a handful (her sail number is K1) of the elegant Square Meter Rule yachts sailing in the UK.

At the time building to the Square Meter Rule was prolific in the Baltic but scarcely known in the UK.  Much finer in form and lighter in displacement than her British counterparts, Vixen and her kind were viewed with suspicion by the (British) yachting establishment and with her light and efficient construction deemed as ‘un-seaworthy.” One famous British sailor begged to differ with this opinion as he had fallen in love with the Swedish Square Meter yachts and collaborated with Reimers to build his own yacht. This of course, was Uffa Fox, and the boat he built at Cowes was a slightly larger version 22 Square Meter named Vigilant. So confident was Uffa in its sea keeping that he set out to sail the 1,000 miles to its spiritual homeland of Sweden to take part in the Swedish Square Meter Rule championships. Vixen was raced on the Solent prior to World War II and then moved to Scotland continuing her racing career on the Firth of Forth and then the Clyde. In 2010 Vixen was sailed in the Uffa Fox Challenge (Cowes UK to Trosa, Sweden 1000+ miles) by three intrepid Brits (Luke Yeats, Jack Gifford & Will Shepard) and completed the race in 12 days. After a bit of rest the trio raced Vixen against other 15 square meters in Sweden but eventually, she was put on the hard and offered for sale where she caught the eye of a sailing and yacht restoration enthusiast who just happened to be a client of Brooklin Boat Yard.

Vixen’s new owner had always admired the sleek looks and sailing qualities of square meter boats and wanted to have a wooden boat that he could use to race in the (wood only) classic yacht races here in Maine and southern New England. Figuring that if Vixen had sailed across the North & Baltic Seas without sinking that was as good a survey as needed so he bought her sight unseen. The boat all her equipment was packed up into an extra-long shipping container and arrived here at Brooklin Boat Yard in the summer of 2011 with just enough time to be launched and raced in the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta. Vixen’s new / current owner had already worked with Brooklin Boat Yard on a complete and total restoration of the Bill Tripp Jr. designed Katrinka so he looked to us again to restore Vixen. Many man-hours, floors, frames, planking, rigging, a whole new deck and cabin later Vixen was back in the water and ready to race again with confidence, style, grace and success.

Vixen is offered for sale now as her owner starts yet another (this will be his fourth) restoration project. Contact us to set up a day to see Vixen for yourself here at Brooklin Boat Yard.

Hull and Deck Construction

• Full keel with cut-away fore-foot and keel hung rudder
• Traditional plank-on-frame construction
• White Oak stem, keelson, keel deadwood, horn timber, floors, frames and sheer clamp
• Mahogany planking
• Copper rivet fastened
• Fir deck beams, carlins and cabin framing
• Subdeck of V-matched marine plywood for decks and cabin top
• Bare Teak decks with varnished Mahogany taff rail, king planks and covering boards
• Varnished Mahogany transom
• Varnished Mahogany cockpit coamings, cabin sides, aft cabin bulkhead, companionway drop boards, sliding companionway hatch and cabin top
• Exterior lead ballast
• Topsides finish paint Light Gray

Deck Hardware and Features (aft to fore)

• Stainless steel docking line chocks (port and starboard aft)
• Stainless steel ensign flagstaff socket on center line
• Single stainless steel and bare teak stern cleat on center  line
• Schaeffer stand-up blocks port and starboard
• Schaeffer foot blocks port and starboard
• Aluminum headsail / genoa tracks with adjustable cars and blocks on covering board outboard of cockpit port and starboard
• Fixed portlights with polished stainless steel trim rings port and starboard on cabin sides (2ea / side)
• Stainless steel bottom action winches port and starboard on cabin top aft
• Stainless steel cleats at winches port and starboard cabin top aft
• Stainless steel chainplates (upper and lower shrouds) on covering boards outboard of mast port and starboard
• Varnished mahogany mast step just forward of cabin (deck stepped)
• Aluminum headsail / jib tracks with adjustable cars and blocks on deck between mast and chainplates port and starboard
• Stainless steel and bare teak bow dock line cleat on center line
• Stainless steel stem iron with integral headstay attachment point

Cockpit Hardware and Features

• Varnished mahogany cockpit coamings, aft cabin bulkhead, helm seat and main traveler pedestal
• Custom canvas line bags port and starboard under decks
• Bare teal bridge deck / plank
• Bare teak cockpit sole
• All sail control lines lead to cockpit

Interior Arrangement

• Simple interior
• White V-matched overheads under deck and cabin
• Varnished mahogany interior cabin sides with fixed portlights
• Varnished mahogany bench seats port and starboard
• Varnished teak sole

Spars and Rigging

• Deck stepped, double spreader with jumper strut, fractionally sloop rig configuration
• Varnished spruce mast of laminated construction with induced pre-bend and mainsail luff groove.
• Varnished spruce boom
• Varnished spruce spinnaker pole
• Spinnaker pole track on mast
• Stainless steel wire standing rigging with stainless steel shroud turnbuckle adjusters
• Running back stays lead under deck to cockpit cam cleats port and starboard
• Twing lines lead under deck to cockpit cam cleats port and starboard
• Permanent backstay lead under deck to cockpit cam cleat aft
• Sail controls (outhaul, jib tack, vang, spinnaker tack and Cunningham lead aft under deck to cam cleats mounted at the companionway hatch
• Rope vang
• Harken adjustable main sheet traveler
• Harken main sheet blocks and cam cleat
• Fixed main boom topping lift
• Main controlled at mast
• Spinnaker pole topping lift and inboard track controlled at mast
• Head sail and Spinnaker halyards led aft under deck to cockpit
• Stainless steel bottom action winches port and starboard on cabin top aft
• Stainless steel cleats at winches port and starboard cabin top aft
• Loos tension gauge

Sails and Canvas

• Race Main (larger roach) - North ldi 2025
• Wind seeker Genoa (on a furling line) - North ldi 2025
• Race Genoa - North ldi 2025
• Blade - North ldi 2025
• Cruising Main - Doyle 2020
• Symmetrical Spinnaker - Doyle 2016
• Race Main (larger roach) - Doyle 2015
• Balloon Jib (soft hanks) - Doyle 2014
• Cruising Main - Doyle 2012
• Large Genoa - Medium  Doyle 2012
• Large Genoa - Light  Doyle 2012
• Medium Genoa - Medium Doyle 2012
• Medium Genoa - Light Doyle 2012
• Blade - Doyle 2012
• Asymmetric Spinnaker - Doyle 2012
• Main Sail Cover
• Custom cockpit line bags
• Padded bag for companionway drop board storage
• Extra sail ties

Electronics and Navigational Equipment

• Simrad GPS chart plotter on swing-out bracket at companionway

Auxiliary Propulsion

• Torqueedo electric outboard motor with side mount bracket
• Paddles (2ea)

Electrical Equipment

• Victron Energy 12-Volt DC battery
• Merlin Solar BXD 100W solar panel
• Vectran Blue MPPT75115 solar charger
• Blue Seas battery selector switch

Ground Tackle

• Danforth anchor with appropriate chain and rode

Dewatering Equipment

• Whale Gusher manual bilge pump under cockpit sole
• Rule electric / automatic 500 GPH bilge pump in main cabin bilge

Safety Equipment

• PFD’s / Type II (3ea in bag)
• PFD’s / Type V (3ea inflatable vest)
• PFD / Type IV (1ea Life ring)
• Orion flares kit

Additional Equipment

• Custom West Mersea double-axle boat trailer with mast racks, spare tire, electric brakes
• West Marine fiberglass dock box mounted on trailer for gear and sail storage.
• Fenders with fleece covers
• Dock Lines
• Misc. cleaning supplies.