Design and Construction
Russel Marine built the Vivacity 24 in solid fiberglass with an iron keel, and the boat was offered with either a fin keel or a bilge keel — the bilge-keel version was much more popular. At 23.5 feet overall with an 8-foot beam and roughly 4,200 pounds displacement, she carries 1,750 pounds of iron ballast for a ballast-displacement ratio near 42 percent. The capsize screening value of 1.98 and a Motion Comfort Ratio of 18.7 place her firmly in the small, steady coastal-cruiser band rather than the offshore adventure class. The draft is about 3.67 to 3.97 feet dependent on the load, which lets her nose into shallow marinas, while the 6.1-knot theoretical hull speed is typical for a displacement hull of this waterline length.
Rig and Handling
The Vivacity 24 is a masthead sloop carrying about 255 square feet of sail. Period reviews describe reasonable performance and good, safe coastal cruising rather than sparkling pace. The sail-area-to-displacement ratio sits at 13.8 with the reference sail and rises to 16.4 with a 135 percent genoa, enough to keep her moving in modest breeze without demanding an athletic crew. Standing and running rigging follow period masthead conventions: halyards run about 56.8 feet at 5/16-inch diameter, sheets for jib and genoa are 23.5 feet at 3/8 inch, and the mainsheet is 58.7 feet at 3/8 inch. Almost all boats left the factory rigged for an outboard motor rather than inboard propulsion.
Accommodations
Inside, the Vivacity 24 is laid out with two cabins and well-arranged accommodation for her size. The fore cabin holds a double berth or two singles, and the main cabin table drops to form another double, giving four berths in comfort and five at a push. A toilet and a small cooking area with sink sit within the accommodation, and the cockpit is spacious with plenty of storage. For a 24-footer the sleeping count and enclosed galley corner are genuinely useful for weekend coastal use rather than merely nominal.
Known Issues
The twin-keel variant dominates the surviving fleet rather than the single fin.
The Verdict
The Vivacity 24 is a small, solidly built family cruiser that does exactly what Alan F. Hill and Russel Marine intended: safe, reasonable-performance coastal sailing with compact but well-laid-out sleeping and galley space for four to five. She is not a bluewater boat by her numbers, but as a first cruiser or estuary weekender she remains a sensible, unpretentious choice.
Pros
- Solid fiberglass construction with iron keel and 42 percent ballast ratio
- Two-cabin layout sleeping four in comfort, five at a push
- Shallow draft and bilge-keel option for marina and drying-berth access
- Spacious cockpit with ample storage
Cons
- Bilge-keel version dominates the used fleet, limiting fin-keel choice
- Outboard propulsion on almost all boats, with no inboard option as standard
- Coastal-cruiser numbers only; not suited to extended offshore passage-making
