Viggo C10 Offshore Boat Review

The C10 Offshore is a point-a-to-point-b foul-weather adventure vessel built to get you there—wherever there might be—high and dry.

If the overlanding gurus at Sportsmobile USA were to conjure up an all-weather, four-season adventure boat, there’s no doubt in my mind that it would look a little something like the Viggo C10 Offshore. This lightweight, all-aluminum 36-footer displaces just under 10,000 pounds fully loaded with twin 300 Mercs, but these lightweight, Swedish-built and -designed boats are about as heavy-duty as they come.

Whether you’re island-hopping or running from point A to B and back, this is a trusty, if decidedly modern, take on a commuter built to get you there year-round—wherever there is—as quickly and dryly as any seabound vessel can, be it through incessant wind chop or bitingly cold, dead-calm fjordlands.

Some 300 pounds of soundproofing insulation goes into the pilothouse of these adventure vessels, rendering them amazingly quiet even with engines roaring. Equipped with a pair of Mercury 450Rs, you’ll top out at around 65 knots, but if backbreaking speed isn’t your cup of tea, then the standard twin 300s will get you and a full crew (of around seven or eight passengers) moving about as fast as you—or anybody aboard—should likely need. In addition to standard trimtabs, center tabs come in handy for really pinning the bow down to maintain speed in choppier conditions.

As nuts-and-bolts as these boats are, they offer just enough comfort to serve as overnighters in a pinch. And while they’re really designed for you to load on and off with provisions and gear, the bare necessities aboard go a long way. Lazarettes and hatches abound throughout, leaving us with the impression that it could dryly encapsulate a week’s worth of gear for a full group and any number of expeditions. Inside the pilothouse, the seated helm is contracted to the size and spec of a racing vehicle and designed so all levers, cubbies and controls are within arm’s reach. There’s a lanyard-based kill switch built in too, suggesting that, once underway, the skipper is not leaving the helm—voluntarily.

The boat’s first row is all suspension seating, including the captain’s chair at the starboard console and two passenger seats to port. The other two rows behind make up six more seats (with an additional two jump seats if need be), and all are modular to the point that they fold out into a king-sized berth—pretty glamp-y, indeed. Add a pair of optional 4-kilowatt diesel heaters and a fridge, and that’s about it for interior amenities. Should you find yourself wanting more aboard, a camp stove and a solar shower kit will more than flesh out a perfectly plush seafaring camper.

Forward of the pilothouse, there’s a pair of padded settees to seat a cozy four and a small but handy removable table that’ll serve a simple dinner, too. In the bow, a set of steps leads up to the anchor locker, which makes forward boarding and unboarding that much easier. And in Scandinavian fashion, there’s also a rear platform with a stern anchor locker on one side and a swim ladder on the other. Beneath the steps to the bow anchor locker you’ll find an optional but thrifty head that, one can imagine, might be very much appreciated in a pinch, especially with the built-in blind for full privacy-. The seat might be a bit chilly on an Arctic outing, but there’s quick and warm refuge back in the pilothouse a few feet astern.

As for the pilothouse roof, you’ll find two built-in 55-watt solar panels, which charge the house bank of lithium batteries (and can run the heaters), solar-powered extractors in the roof for removing humidity, and an aerofoil cut like a vent in the aftward edge to stream wind downward and blow spray off the rear windows.

Two fuel tanks (135-gallon and 99-gallon) are split between the bow and stern, with a manual switch located in the rear port lazarette that allows you to draw from one or the other.

While this boat speaks to the not-so-fair-weather expeditioner–the first U.S.-based owner of this C10 Offshore keeps the boat on the U.S. side of Lake Erie, but uses it to wander Canada’s islands. It’s also one you might use to reach your private-island home or slip in the San Juans, or rely upon to extend your seaward commuting season between, say, Long Island Sound and Manhattan. Sure, you’d probably find yourself among one of the very few New York-metropolitan civilians helming an aluminum hull, but you’d get wherever you’re headed a lot quicker—while staying a heck of a lot warmer and dryer than you would in a New England-style picnic boat. And at $600,000, you’d be making your run much more affordably than many other options—with none of the brightwork to upkeep. Food for thought…

Viggo C10 Offshore Specifications:

LOA: 36’
Beam: 9’8”
Draft: 2’7”
Displ.: 9,921 lb.
Fuel: 234 gal.
Water: N/A
Standard power: 2/300-hp Mercs
Cruise Speed: 50 knots
Top Speed: 65 knots

This article originally appeared in the December 2024 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.

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Source: https://www.powerandmotoryacht.com/outboard/viggo-c10-offshore-boat-review