Calidris Alba is a 1986 Rival 41. Well known for their seaworthiness and strong construction, the Rival brand has a fantastic reputation and was just the type of vessel we’d been looking for.
As soon as we set eyes on her we immediately fell in love, despite not having coming across the Rival brand before.
The Rival 41 CC
Rival 41’s are heavy displacement, encapsulated 3/4 keel with skeg hung rudder design. All the attributes we’d been looking for in our search for a boat to take us out into the open seas. There are two double cabins, a large u-shaped galley and space for three to sleep in the saloon with one on a bunk bed plus the pilot berth.
Something else we had been looking for is the centre cockpit. This is safe and well protected when our at sea in heavy weather, but also has the added bonus of opening up space for a full width double aft cabin. Access to the aft cabin is via either the second companionway from the cockpit, or through a (very low) passage beneath the starboard cockpit bench. Having the large double cabin, at the expense of a smaller v-berth is perfect for a couple living aboard, as 95% of the time it will just be the two of us!
A unique design
Rival’s are slightly unusual in that in most cases, the hull was moulded first, then each one fitted out by a separate company or the original owner themselves. Calidris Alba was moulded in the factory near Southampton, then fitted out in London by a furniture maker. This quirk of the Rival production process means that each of the 57 built has its own character and Calidris Alba is no different. We were also extremely lucky that the person who fit her out forty years ago clearly knew what they were doing, and much of the internal joinery, cupboards and panelling is in excellent condition to this day.
The Rival 41 was built as either a sloop, ketch or cutter rig, Calidris Alba being the latter. This means she has two forestays, one to the masthead, and a smaller inner forestay which attaches to the mast around the spreaders. This gives great flexibility with our sail plan – in high winds the smaller jib comes in very useful particularly upwind, and downwind having a double headsail configuration with both sails poled out, one of each side.
Boat Systems
When we bought her, Calidris Alba was already fitted with lots of basic essentials to enable a comfortable liveaboard setup – you can definitely tell she has been lived on and loved over many years by some of her previous owners. This meant we were already in a good position regarding solar, wind generation, fridge, as well as features on deck like the Hydravane self steering, Bimini and glass windshield to protect the cockpit from ocean spray, and a full suite of Raymarine navigation equipment. A few of the systems, especially the batteries, needed upgrading, but not much more than you would expect as general maintenance tasks.
A full list of the systems we have onboard, and full boat specification is listed below:
Calidris Alba Specification
| Model | Rival 41 CC (Centre Cockpit) |
| Year | 1986 |
| Length Overall (LOA) | 41ft / 12.40m |
| Beam | 12ft / 3.17m |
| Displacement | 22,046.00 lb / 10,000 kg |
| Draft | 5.90 ft / 1.80 m |
| Water Tank Capacity | 500l (2x 250l tanks) |
| Diesel Tank Capacity | 490l (220l and 270l tanks) |
| Engine | Volvo Penta D2-55 |
| Battery Capacity | 4x 95Ah Lead AGM (380Ah Total) |
| Cabins | 2x Double cabins |
| Solar Charging | 180W (2x 90W panels) |
| Wind Charging | Rutland 1200 wind generator |
| Generator | 3kW Paguro Diesel Generator |
| Heads | 2 (Forward and rear ensuite) |
We feel so lucky to have found Calidris Alba, and to be able to make her our own floating home.
To see more of what she looks like inside and out, watch out for our Boat Tour video coming soon on our YouTube channel. You can also follow us on Instagram or contact us here.
