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Farr 38


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Hi just looking at  Farr 38's for a coastal/offshore cruising boat and wondering if anyone has any feedback on sailing them offshore?

Also wondering if anyone knows the history of "The Wildthing" a timber farr 38 up there in Auckland? (I'm from down south so havent heard of it)

Thanks....

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Actually, The Wildthing was from Mana, used to be owned by (and built by) Scott Norton, a local boat builder. She got a bit neglected in later years, but is looking pretty good now! She certainly was a good boat - but like all older timber boats, a good survey will be important.

Farr 38's are easily driven, some will tell you can be heavy on the helm, but mostly that's about rig setup, sail shape and size (reefing). They are pretty light, and had excellent performance for their day.  Of course there are now faster boats. Several (incl the Wildthing) have been offshore.  They can be exciting to sail, but wont be a comfortable boat (re motion) offshore. Depends what you are looking for. Personally I like them, but I'm a bit Farr biased :-)

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the heavy helm problem on the early tiller steered boats was solved on later boats by moving the rudder forward on the stock to create a little more balance. 

There is the issue of their AVS being marginal for Cat 1, not sure how inspectors view that these days vs their record of many offshore voyages

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8 minutes ago, marinheiro said:

There is the issue of their AVS being marginal for Cat 1, not sure how inspectors view that these days vs their record of many offshore voyages

I’ve been told they won’t get Cat1 for racing because of this but a cruising Cat 1 will most likely be allowed due to the number that have been offshore 

They are old boats now so buyer beware as per everything 

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17 minutes ago, chariot said:

Used to be bowman on one in my younger days. Good boats and a lot of fun but can be a bit of a brute in fresh conditions. Not sure about offshore, plenty have done it. 

Likewise, Flight Path in the early 80's

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1 hour ago, Jon said:

I’ve been told they won’t get Cat1 for racing because of this but a cruising Cat 1 will most likely be allowed due to the number that have been offshore 

 

So here's the problem with Cat 1 for cruisers.  If you were looking to buy one of these and  had a dream of one day doing an offshore passage would "most likely " be enough to let you buy this boat?

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1 hour ago, chariot said:

Used to be bowman on one in my younger days. Good boats and a lot of fun but can be a bit of a brute in fresh conditions. Not sure about offshore, plenty have done it. 

Same, sailed a couple of season on “Mint” as mainsheet hand. They are right in the edge of needing a winched setup in a breeze. I understood they were meant to have wheel steering but ended up mostly with tillers. Great in their day. 

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I own a Farr 38 General Jackson It was set up professionally to do offshore with big engine, tanks, freezers, autohelm and wheel steering etc. by Ants from BBYC I think. I think it cruised and raced to the islands and Australia as well as local stuff. An amazing boat for me as I was doubtful about it's cruising capabilities until I owned it, I heard about it's stability rating but not sure about the factual authenticity, they can take a lot of rough conditions and a thrashing from my experience safely but until you go right over you don't know.

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5 hours ago, Deep Purple said:

Same, sailed a couple of season on “Mint” as mainsheet hand. They are right in the edge of needing a winched setup in a breeze. I understood they were meant to have wheel steering but ended up mostly with tillers. Great in their day. 

I used to sail on Club Fed. She had a winch setup for the mainsheet. Was renamed Northbound after I crewed on her.

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Great feedback thanks guys! I was unaware of the Cat One issue so I will have to look into that.

Thanks for the background on The Wildthing Island Time.... any idea where the builder, Scott Norton , is now days??

Used to race against a 38 "Lionheart" in the sounds years ago and she went pretty well back then. Did a few Sth Island offshore races on Cutty Hunk a Farr 44 (looked like a bigger version of the 38) back in the 90's and she was a great boat offshore.

Really after a coastal cruising boat thats got some speed and is fun to sail and can be sailed 2 up. Guess if you keep that big main flat and reef early she should be OK handling wise.

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7 hours ago, Deep Purple said:

 I understood they were meant to have wheel steering but ended up mostly with tillers. 

I think this might have been the excuse from the Farr office after all the complaints about the helm weight but it was not true. Gary Hyde and Trevor Fell who jointly commissioned the design wanted tiller steered boats for racing and when the first drawings were released - I remember seeing the drawings in Sea Spray and thought what a great looking boat - they showed tiller steering. Of the first 30 odd boats launched in NZ only a couple had wheel steering, although in latter years a few have been retrofitted. 

My Farr 46 has a similar "barn door" rudder however is remarkably balanced, as long as the centreboard is down.

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4 hours ago, Hapuka said:

Great feedback thanks guys! I was unaware of the Cat One issue so I will have to look into that.

Thanks for the background on The Wildthing Island Time.... any idea where the builder, Scott Norton , is now days??

Used to race against a 38 "Lionheart" in the sounds years ago and she went pretty well back then. Did a few Sth Island offshore races on Cutty Hunk a Farr 44 (looked like a bigger version of the 38) back in the 90's and she was a great boat offshore.

Really after a coastal cruising boat thats got some speed and is fun to sail and can be sailed 2 up. Guess if you keep that big main flat and reef early she should be OK handling wise.

Scott Norton used to be a member at Mana Cruising Club. Ask there....

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10 hours ago, Hapuka said:

Great feedback thanks guys! I was unaware of the Cat One issue so I will have to look into that.

Thanks for the background on The Wildthing Island Time.... any idea where the builder, Scott Norton , is now days??

Used to race against a 38 "Lionheart" in the sounds years ago and she went pretty well back then. Did a few Sth Island offshore races on Cutty Hunk a Farr 44 (looked like a bigger version of the 38) back in the 90's and she was a great boat offshore.

Really after a coastal cruising boat thats got some speed and is fun to sail and can be sailed 2 up. Guess if you keep that big main flat and reef early she should be OK handling wise.

 

A yacht called Lionheart  foundered off Whangaroa in 83 , I think it was a Farr 38 returning from offshore, it was a  terrible tragedy. I recall the slightly uncommon name of the skipper was the same as a bloke I went to school with, I always wondered if it was the same person, he survived as I recall, nice bloke.

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3 minutes ago, Black Panther said:

I thought lionheart was a Lidgard. Missed tbe entrance due to over reliance on satnav.

I think crew sea sickness and fatigue were the biggest problem from what I remember. Tried to enter Whangaroa rather than carry on to the BOI. 

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Lionheart was a timber Farr 38, built in Picton or Nelson . She was returning from the 82 Suva race, skippered by Grant Stapleton with a young crew of university students including Bo Birdsall's son. They had a miserable trip back, as did other boats returning from the race, and I believe one of the crew had been injured. I have been told the owner was insisting that Lionheart enter at Whangaroa and a fishing boat was sent out to try to guide them in using its own radar - not a good idea. They hit Stephenson Island, Grant and Rosemary (forget her surname, from a well known Auckland sailing family) were on deck and managed to get off, the other crew went down with Lionheart. Rosemary was in very bad shape and died on the island. A tragic and unnecessary event, as Chariot noted BOI would have been a much safer destination. 

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