Guidi valves: indestructible by choice

The Daydreamer, our editorial staff’s boat, is an “old lady” from the 1980s, but her plumbing has been fitted with the Guidi valves since 2015. In 2019, we published an article telling about the situation these valves were in after 4 years of honourable service. Today, after another 2 years and a few thousand miles, we want to share this experience with you again. Not that a valve is such an exciting thing to make a difference, you would think that one is as good as the other, but that is not the case at all.

The Test

I climbed aboard without ever having seen them before and without knowing them, except by name, thinking that after 6 years spent in a very damp bilge I’d find a rather heavy situation ( I was suspicious that they hadn’t been changed by the very diligent Ugo Soldi of Continental Marine, who maintains our Comet 460 Daydreamer every year). Instead, I’am amazed by both the appearance, which is almost as good as new, and the operation which is always fluid and smooth.

That’s why, in the end, it’s not true that one valve is worth the other: it’s a matter of misinformation, in the sense that if you ignore the existence of a product, you will continue to use perhaps a mediocre one just because you are used to it, and that’s a real shame! Once you have discovered the pros of this little Guidi innovation, there’s no going back.

The last long effort of these functional Guidi valves takes place during the ” 1,000-mile cruise in the Tyrrhenian Sea” which will end at the end of August and will include visits to the most beautiful places in the Tyrrhenian Sea such as the Tuscan Archipealo, the Pontine Islands, Campania, the Aeolian Islands, Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. The long stretches sailed with the boat very heeled due to the strong wind meant that we had to close the sea intakes every time for safety, an operation that was very quick and easy due to the smooth rotation of the valves themselves. The last long crossing, before the publication of the test, from San Vito Lo Capo in Sicily to Villasimius in Sardinia, 160 miles of open sea, with winds expected to be quite strong, saw the closure of all the valves on board. The six Guidi valves naturally closed immediately and gently, the two traditional ones still on board, as always, gave us a hard time. The compact, lever-less design of the Guidi valves makes them suitable for use even in tight spaces, and the gentle, rotary operation, which requires no force, makes them much easier to use on a daily basis, especially on long transfers like ours.

In these cases, the indication of open or closed status must be clear and clearly visible, so as to eliminate the possibility of error when using the valves on a cruise. The number of miles was not enough to put the Guidi in difficulty and I found it really convenient to use them with a rotating movement instead of a lever.

Last but not least, I have found that the rotation of the Guidi valve, assuming it can ever become hard, provides much less “leverage” on the tubing or, even worse, on the sea inlet than the traditional key, avoiding the excessive strain that is sometimes put on the tubing and that constitutes a risk of opening leaks or dangerous waterways. On my Dufour 41 Classic “best Show” 4 years ago, I changed all the sea sockets to normal lever ones; they are mounted under the bathroom sink cabinets, in a very uncomfortable position! Nowadays they are quite hard to move and it’s a pain every time to open and close them… Now I know for sure what kind of work I’ll have to do next winter!

The Guidi valves in detail

But let’s take a step back for those who are only now reading and have missed the first article. Let’s see in detail how these valves are made, which on the Daydreamer are of two types: the first is the Alex 2260, a valve covered by an exclusive patent, anti-blocking, straight way with two opposing sleeves and orthogonal shutter. The second is the 2210 anti-jamming valve, which is also constructed with an internal straight way so as not to offer any resistance to the flowing liquid. The internal bronze metal surfaces have been treated to prevent the formation of incrustations and thus also prevent blockage.A safety plunger on the knob of each valve allows it to be blocked on closing or opening to prevent accidental handling. But the real innovation in this family of valves is the type of operation by rotation and not by lever, as we are traditionally used to seeing. The rotating head, by means of a gearbox, operates an internal gate valve with a movement that always remains smooth and soft, even after years of use or even non-use. Moreover, in both the Anti-lock 2210 and the Alex 2260, a window provides a clear readout of Open/Closed or Closed/Closed for error-proof operation. Suitable for all sizes of vessels, Guidi valves are RINA approved, Alex 2260 are available in 3/8″ to 2″ pitches and Antiblock 2210 in 1/2″ to 4″.