Tying down
Tying down your Viper to its trailer is important because too much or too little tension
could result in damage. Only use an approved dolly or trailer. The boat is well located
on its dolly, so you only need apply sufficient tension to hold the boat in contact with
the supports.
Tie the boat down at the bow and across the middle in the region of the trailer
wheels. Pad the deck where the straps touch. Use the strap winch at the bow to hold
the bow tight. You will need to tie a small, double-looped line to attach the bow winch
to.
Foils
The foils are vinylester GRP with a foam core. Look after them as you do the hull.
Wash with fresh water regularly. Repair any chips as soon as possible using
polyester gel.
If you intend to travel a lot with the boat, then a padded rudder bag will be a
worthwhile investment.
Noisy Foils
The Viper foils are vinylester GRP for easy repair and maintenance, and are made
from precise moulds and tooling. However, vibration from the foils can occur from
time to time, and is impossible to eliminate completely in the quality control process.
Foil vibration usually occurs due to the eddying effect of water leaving the trailing
edge of the foil. To ease this effect, gently abrade the back edge of the foil (approx
25-35mm <1”> will suffice) from top to bottom with progressively finer grades of
sandpaper to ‘sharpen’ the trailing edge of the foil. A power sander is the quickest
method – it’s not an issue if you penetrate the gelcoat, but ensure the trailing edge is
fair along its length. You can also put a slight bevel on the trailing edge leaving no
more than 3mm (.1”) at the very thinnest part of the trailing edge. This often allows
for a cleaner exit of water flow, thusly reducing or eliminating foil vibration.
Spars
The mast, boom and bowsprit are carbon composite structures. Wash with fresh
water as often as possible. Check the sheave at the mast head, along with both jib
and spinnaker halyard sheaves for wear.
The mast is finished with a coat of two part polyurethane varnish. This protects the
laminate against UV degradation in sunlight. It is advisable to apply a new coat of
varnish once a year. Lightly sand the mast to help the new varnish bond to the old.
It is particularly important to avoid chafe to the spars when trailing, as with carbon
spars it is very easy to cause structural damage on long cross continent trips. Pull all
the halyards into the mast and use suitable padding to protect the spars whilst trailing