A tour down memory lane provides an alluring and visual progression of Viking’s development and the maturation of the convertible style. In the mid-1960s, shortly after the launch of the Viking Yacht Company in 1964, the mahogany-planked Vikings accented with the infamous sea-serpent scroll on the bow, shared a unique style of seagoing ruggedness marked by a graceful sheer, a pronounced trunk cabin forward, which amplified headroom below, and rakish window lines that bathed the interior with natural light.
Viking’s first all-fiberglass model was this 33 Convertible. The launch of this new model in 1971 not only marked a philosophy shift in building materials, but also was the genesis of Viking’s belt-and-suspenders construction approach by thoroughly sanding between each laminate to ensure strength and quality control.
The success of the Viking 33 led to the 40 Convertible, the boat that put Viking’s name on the chart. Launched in the fall of 1972, more than 400 Viking 40/41 Convertibles would leave the New Gretna factory during the next 16 years.
Building a better boat every day added horsepower to the Viking fleet, and throughout the1980s and 1990s, the hits kept coming like this Viking 48 Convertible. Does everyone remember how popular those mauve interiors were at the time?
The summer of 2000 saw the launch of the Viking 61 Convertible in time for the 2001 model year.
A descendant of the eponymous Viking 55 Convertible (1998-2002), this boat, like its predecessor, dominated the tournament circuit throughout its production cycle.
After more than 4,500 boats in a stellar 50-year history, Viking Yachts broke new ground once again with the historic launch of the Viking 92 in the summer of 2014.
