Overview
The Voyager 26 is a Daniel Avoures double-ended cutter built by Voyager Marine in the United States from 1979. It is a small, heavily built cruiser with a full keel and a transom-hung rudder.
Design and Construction
The hull is 25 ft 9 in on deck, about 30 ft 5 in overall with the bowsprit, on a 21 ft 3 in waterline. Displacement is 6,600 lb with about 2,750 lb of ballast, and the full keel draws only 3 ft 4 in. A diesel inboard was standard, and Atom notes six or eight bronze opening ports. Good Old Boat’s Ron Chappell reports that the standard deck core is half-inch marine plywood, as Pacific Seacraft used, and that the core stops short of the stanchion bases and cleats, so decks are not prone to soft spots unless hardware has been added in the cored area. He also notes that many of the later Voyager hulls and decks were built on contract by Island Packet. Early boats usually had a single-cylinder Farymann or BMW diesel of about 12 hp, and all Voyagers had a diesel.
Under Sail
The cutter rig carries about 360 sq ft. The long keel and shoal draft favor tracking and thin-water access over windward speed. Chappell found her surprisingly fast in light air, which he credits to a sharp entry and a knife-edge keel carried all the way to the stern, and says she will pretty much steer herself when properly balanced. Having sailed both the Nor’Sea 27 and the Pacific Seacraft 25 extensively, he judged the Voyager 26 the better sailer in most conditions.
Buyers Notes
Few were built, so finding one is the main difficulty. Chappell describes the layout as a bright, Herreshoff-style interior in two versions, with either a galley forward or a center galley, and notes that Voyager Marine used a lot of teak inside and out. Some boats are also sold as the Ocean Voyager 26, a name Chappell gives for the Florida-built double-ender he dates to 1975.
