This 74 Ranger 26 is fast and comfortable, with a new 15 hp electric start engine added last season (2008).
Sails, including the fully battened main which has been extended lower for more power, and the recently recut headsail, are in great shape. New lifelines were added, and the whole boat got a new gel coat, in 2005.
I wrote this a few years ago.. since then she now has the new engine and autopilot... but most of the copy is worthwile).Everyone knows that the Ranger line was famous for it's 23 and 26 foot models, not just because a 23 circumnavigated the globe with a sixteen year old skipper, but because the 26 footer is a sleeper on the PHRF racecourse.Vamos lives up to the promises, and has never let us down in over a thousand miles of cruising the waters from Long Island Sound to Casco Bay. Even when a nasty 45 knot "breeze" pummeled us as we tried to sail into Cuttyhunk Harbor on reefed headsail only (the old engine was useless), or as we surfed (very much in control, thank you very much) over the bar at Horsneck beach at low tide with storm surge from the approaching 1996 hurricane threatening to poop us (made it back from Vineyard Haven to Westport River, via Woods hole, in record time on that trip!). This year we head north from Dutch Harbor in a 20 knot tailwind that had us flying up the bay at 6 and 7 knots (very very broad reach) with only a shred of our new Harding headsail up. Everyone was thrilled.Vamos has been brought back from the dead by yours truly, and frankly I couldn't have done it if I didn't work with the marine industry in my business. Lots of good advice, the right deals on equipment, and many long hours of scrubbing. I found the boat in a salvage yard. She had slipped her mooring and been set up on a sandy beach in calm seas. SEATOW pulled her off and that winter Anna and I started scrubbing. There was no damage to the boat at all, just years of scrubbing to do. Before she was launched, my first big project was to install a six gallon holding tank with macerator pump and the option of overboard or pumpout discharge. Can't be too careful!We also took a good number of years of bottom paint off (right down to the glass) and gave her a fresh coat of the good stuff.
Vamos now sports a blue underbody of Micron CSC ablative paint, which hides a newly glassed and faired keel job that got rid of rust and filled any pockmarks old steel keels develop with time. Smooth as glass now, and it really shows on the log. Vamos easily goes along at 5.8, 5.9, 6.0, 6.1 6.2 (on the weather in a decent 15 to 20). With three big guys and the dog, plus one kid.... on a glassy Narragansett bay and 20 kots of breeze we maintained over seven (confirmed by the GPS). This boat defies hull speed!At a displacement of 5800 pounds, she is not a light boat an doesn't really care for those dog days of August. But the afternoon breeze usually puts her back in her element. Besides, the new spinnaker and 135% Genoa made a big difference this year.
On the really wind-less days, we push the electric start on our brand new Mariner four-stroke engine and glide along at 5.5 all day, if necessary. Yes it is true what they say about the new four-strokes: you really can have a conversation while they are running, even at cruise speed! Personally, I like not mixing fuel and I love the low end torque of this engine. You really only need it when your docking, so low speeds are really where you need the power. Of course, the engine charges both the new marine batteries, a started unit and a house battery. We need the extra power because of how we cruise; a lot and far. At night, we can run:Standard's OMNI VHF, The WS50 Instrument Pak ( Log, Depth, Wind), Cabin lights, Running lights, and the GPS plugged into the cigarette lighter plug I installed neat the companionway with the radio. Oh yeah... we also run the cell phone and the stereo. I have yet to run the new battery system down. I've sailed all night and still had plenty of power for the spreader light to make the deck a safer place.
Once we're in port or on anchor.... we are invariably hungry and thirsty! With a custom installed propane system we can simultaneously run our stainless steel 2 burner Tasco countertop stove and our oversized grill. After dinner (preferably a lobster feast I caught on SCUBA.... yes, we carry dive gear on a 26' sailboat, but who's bragging?), we spark up the little Force Ten heater on the main salon wall and watch the flames like a little fireplace. A jazz CD, some good brandy, and...well, you know the rest.
I could go on about the really fine new cushions and the new dodger and sailcover, the best ground tackle I could put together, and all the small touches that make a boat your own: all new running rigging and babystays, along with a new Schaefer roller furler and Spinnaker pole, whisker pole, etc. make this a really ready boat for just about anything.If she has any drawbacks, it is that you can't really stand up in the salon if you are over 5'6" tall.. but, hey... most of the fun below decks in a boat is not had in a standing position (usually).
Other than that, Vamos is a beautiful, ocean ready crusier....easily a racer, but who needs the pressure? I will be adding the equipment list and more info on the model in a few days. If you like what you see, email me and I can show you the boat. She is hauled and on the hard at Brewer's Sakonnet.
PS: Don't try this at home! We innocently sailed to Block Island with an 11 year old, an 8 year old and a 7 year old (all boys). We were fogged in for five days. We actually ate, slept, read, played games, brushed our teeth and avoided fist fights with five people on the boat. Thank goodness for the inflatable! The day the GPS arrived via FED EX from West Marine, the fog lifted and we made it back to Westport under the spinnaker as fast as possible ( I suspect we were with the tide, but the new GPS showed us 8.5 knots sustained for at least anhour.) It a great boat, but that was a bit much. See why we need a bigger vessel?