The reason for the meet was two fold
1) Get everyone together to talk all things Farr, this included myself (Ex cherub crew and owner of Monkey Magic and Subtle knife), ben brown (ex Cherub helm, Owner of Loco Perro ,helm of subtle Knife and fellow Essex boy, Dave Baker (the other Farr owner in the UK and RS300 sailor), Daryl the Farr Farther (original importer of the boat and ex cherub crew of Loco) and Dave Butler of "Butler Boats" who is based in Hull.
2) To finally get the two boats out on the same bit of water!
The journey up was actually OK. it has been a while since I have seen Ben what with family and the fact although we work about a stones throw from each other work has seemed to get in the way as it always does. HTC Navigation got us there in just under 4 hours, which I didn't think was bad considering we were towing and traffic was slow for a period of the journey! We found "The Boat shed" Dave's workshop with ease and I must say what a cool place to work. It is I think, an old grain mill and Dave has been busy knocking through to make the workshop as big as it can be (it is surprising how many boats and moulds a place can hold if you are cleaver with your storage space!)
A few beers down in the van and suddenly it was about 1am!!!! Not bad for Friday night as I normally don't see it past 12!
Saturday morning and we were up early at 8:30 and met Dave's workman (there is only the two of them there but talking to them they don't hang around and seem to have a very well organised system which means they can meet orders and get a hull built in about two weeks! Dave Barker and Daryl arrived while Ben and I were out foraging for food (a full fry up at only £4.95, Sweet!!!).
We then spent the best part of the next hour and a half talking all things Farr which included the following:
1) Kite or no kite
2) Control line set up
3) Gantry or no gantry
4) Hull make up (wood, GRP, GRP hull, Wood cockpit etc.)
When we went off for a sail at the local lake (not the biggest place to sail and with a disappointing 8-9mph it was not going to be the place were we were going to get footage of the boat at its best but all that said and done we all managed to get out on the wire and at times the boats even got a wriggle on! Footage taken and boat swapping done we then headed in for a chat about the two boats. Dave's boat has a slightly different set up from mine which includes rear horse and off the boom mainsheet apposed to my centre mainsheet arrangement and the fact he has a gantry and much stiffer mast and a heaver sail cloth ment the boats did sail very differently but as the footage we took will show you the boats were still similar speeds.
Dave butler was very eager to hear from Dave, Ben and I about our sails and we gave him a number of things to think about as regards to the way forward. Although no firm plans have been set by Butler I am sure that the boat will end up with everything in place to hold a pole and kite which a sailor can then add to the boat once they have mastered the art of sailing the boat. This will give another dimension to the boat and one I feel will slow the movement out of the boat onto faster single handed craft like the Musto Skiff or RS700. I have sailed the boat in about 20-25knts and let just say it bites if your not careful! Although the boat will probably come ready to upgrade there are no plans in the first year or two of the boat being produced professionally here in the UK to race with a kite. I personally think this is a great idea as it gives people time to get the most out of the boat before wanting more and going all out! This will also mean it appeals to a wider audience, not a bad thing when bringing a new class into the UK sailing scene! it would then be up to the association (made up of those who buy the boat to decide the development of the class). As a trainer of cadets I see this boat having a great future within the cadet section. It has everything a young sailor needs to develop.
- It's is light and easy to manage on the shore.
- A sail plan that is not too extreme but has grunt due to the fully battened main and light spars.
- An easy and quick set up time and with the opportunity to develop skills with a small asymmetric which will improve the performance of the boat but be small enough to make it good round the cans in club racing. (In a breeze it can be a bit of an animal but still one which can be tamed and it is very reliant on consistent balance, trim and sail setting to get the best speed. the biggest bonus it does not travel at warp speed so time can be had making the right tactical decisions on the race course!)
Saying all this the boat is not just suited to the young. I sail one and I am by no means young and I can see some dad's out there who would want to sail it!
Dave plans to see the boat in a variety of stages from all done and ready to go to what ever the buyer wants. Bare hull only, Hull and spars but not set up. This then allows the people who has always wanted to build a boat but has not got the time for the whole project to still get his or her hand sticky!!!!
Anyway enough of me and my thoughts (oh and by the way this blog is my on option and I have not completed any true market research apart from asking older cadets what type of sailing they want to do and having the question asked to me by more than a few parents "which boat should I buy next?").
Here is a short video of the sailing so you can get a feel for the UK Farr 3.7. If you then want to see it in big winds have a look a the NZ footage which is all over Youtube with and without kites. you can then make up your own mind!
Full video can be found at
