Calling Members of the Vertue Class
Our recent story on the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show at the Corinthian Yacht Club on Summer Sailstice weekend inspired the following letter from a reader who is looking for boats from the Vertue class. We thought we’d pass it along to see if anyone has insights to share with Roger at his website.
Dear Editors,
I run a modest website for owners and enthusiasts of the Vertue class. As you can see, part of the website is devoted to recording the existence and location of all the Vertues worldwide, and although several US West Coast boats have appeared, we have yet to discover any based within San Francisco Bay. I recently saw a photo in your magazine online reporting on the Master Mariners Wooden Boat Show, and there in the background, although it was very small, appeared to be a Vertue.
She could have been Patience, Dawn or Phoenix, which are all based on your West Coast as far as I know. She didn’t look like Aries, which is an earlier boat, although all these were imported from Hong Kong, having been built there by the Cheoy Lee yard.
We also publish a newsletter every quarter or so, and it would be nice to be able to run something about this little story, if you were able to tell us about any Vertue yachts in your area.
With best wishes,
Roger
If you know of any Vertue boats in the Bay Area, let Roger (and us) know — vertueyachts.com.
I noted Roger’s comments about the Vertue Class. Talk about legendary small cruisers!
I’ve always had a soft spot for Vertues. When I was living in Pelican Harbor in Sausalito in 1981, my neighbor was Bill Edinger, of Spectra Watermakers fame, and he had a Cheoy Lee Vertue. I always thought it was a beautiful little boat.
One thing Roger didn’t mention is that Elkins of England also built a number of Vertues. I’ve seen several over the years , including one in Hilton Head, South Carolina owned by an editor of Wooden Boat. The Elkins boats were somewhat different from the Cheoy Lee versions—some had pitch-pine hulls (and some teak), a lower coachroof and cabin, and a smaller interior. They weren’t finished as elegantly as the Cheoy Lee boats, but they had the same wonderful Vertue sailing characteristics.
I was a pretty big advocate of small sailboats in the late 1970s and early ’80s, and I actually “put myself to the test” offshore, so to speak. In 1981, when I was 30, I sailed from Sausalito to Central America with another guy aboard a 25-ft Cheoy Lee Frisco Flyer. We were gone for 5½ months, so I got a pretty good education in what a small boat can—and can’t—do offshore.
I’ve also sailed an Albin Vega 27 and a number of other legendary small boats that were quite capable of ocean crossings. One of my all-time favorites was the Vancouver 27—a very tough little boat, with a full keel, protected rudder and relatively modest cost.
But the Vertue was really the ultimate pocket cruiser. They were heavier, drier and a little more stable than the 25-ft Frisco Flyer, and their owners tended to sail them far and wide—and keep them for many years. That’s probably one of the best testimonials a small cruising boat can have.
A lot of pocket cruisers tried to emulate the Vertue, and some came pretty close in one respect or another. But I can’t think of many that equaled the Vertue as an overall package. And the Cheoy Lee versions had the added advantage of being roomier and particularly nicely finished below.
For such a small boat, the Vertue developed a remarkably big reputation—and deservedly so. They really were legendary little ocean cruisers.