Wednesday 5 June 2013

Hand over...



Congratulations to Ewan, the proud new owner of 'Sacre Bléu!'... Ewan is the perfect new owner for 'Sacre Bléu!' An RYA Youth Coach and previous test sailor of 'him', he will be very well placed to move the 3.7 fleet forward in my short absences. In fact there is already talk of two boats being built over the coming winter. One for Ewan and one for Ben Brown. Ewan has also started his own blog to record the events of Farr 3.7 - 384 and to keep the momentum building around these great boats. His first blog post is already up - go here: Monkey Farr Story to read it.

So what next? House moving and extension building, is what next. So this blog may go a little quite for a bit. But rest assured, as Mr Schwarzenegger said...'I'll be back'.


Tuesday 21 May 2013

For Sale!

Sacré Bleu! Is being put up for sale. What the heck... I here you say! Well it's not what you think. I'm currently in the process of moving house which will then involve some major building work to create my design studio and extension etc... and this is already sucking up huge amounts of time. Which is already impacting on my sailing time.

So it seems the most logical thing to do is to put 384 up for sale during this in-forced stay of sailing. I intent to import another 3.7 whilst I am sorting the house, so I am ready to go for next season. Or depending on the availability of the right 3.7's I may embark on a self build project later in the year, if the house has gone smoothly. All in all this seems the best course of action to keep momentum going around building the class. Especially as Butler Boats, through pressure of Streaker orders - have not as yet been able to finish building there demo boat! ( It's all there: Mould, laser cut timber, carbon rig the lot and I believe they even have 2 orders for new boats, but they just can't get to it! )

Anyway there's enough info on this blog for you to get a good understanding of the quality of 384 and what comes with him.

Asking price: £3700 ( boat, sail, and amazing trailer )

Leave me a message or call: 01491 613873


Monday 20 May 2013

Congratulations!

Dave Barker launching his new Farr 3.7 this weekend.


I just wanted to say a really big congratulations to Dave for finishing what looks like a stunning boat. The first UK built Farr 3.7. Dave's also been tirelessly creating a fantastic blog of his build, which is a superb resource for anyone looking to build a 3.7. It's full of everything you might need to know - including costings for the complete build and event cut lists. Well worth a read... the blog link can be found on the UK Farr 3.7 class website. 

Monday 22 April 2013

To Do List...

Ok so I have woken up from my... 'you must be kidding I'm not going sailing in that weather slumber!' and have got a few things sorted on the boat that need to be done before the boat and myself get wet again.

The first on the list was a new gooseneck. I looked around and found some off the shelf fittings that would do, but they were very expensive. £50!!!! So I ordered some 12mm 316 Stainless Rod from www.metals4u.co.uk along with a stainless shaft collar and with the addition of a pillar drill made a new one £14 inc p&p.



Next on the list was to repair the C-Tec tiller extension. I have had to wait for the weather to warm up so I could glue this back together.

I ordered a short length of tube from www.easycomposites.co.uk, made an internal sleeve, cut the ragged ends off and then added a bit on the end of the extension to make up for what I'd cut off. Just add glue...Simples.






Friday 15 March 2013

Student support

Sacré Bleu went out for a shake down sail last weekend, at the hands of Piers Hugh-Smith. It seems there is nothing that will get between a 17year old and attempting to get an A* grade at A level. Not even freezing temperatures and at times, snow.

Piers has been building a self designed and self built CNC rudder for his A level and as part of the A level project report - pictures, measurements and test sailing needed to be done.

I happily gave up a Sunday afternoon to help him out. And in the process found that the boat needs a little TLC.

The biggest job is replacing the gooseneck, which got broken whilst being test sailed, and is currently a bit of a lash up using an old spreader screw bar. This is more difficult than it sounds. As the rotating rig needs a fixed gooseneck and finding one is proving pretty hard. It looks like I'm going to have to make one. But if anyone knows where to access a Laser style but NOT fixed gooseneck please leave a comment.

There are also the sort of regular jobs to do. Like replacing the connecting shackles in the kicker system that at currently stretched to bursting point. And replacing several lengths of worn rope. But there are also the sticky jobs to do like; repairing the tiler extension and rudder stock.

Unfortunately when people capsize to windward they tend to haul on the rudder, which in turn forces the rudder cassette agains the pintle supports and this has started to create a stressed and split area in the rudder cassette. This needs to be sorted pretty soon, as it will ultimately spell the end of the stock if not sorted.

And then I've also go to replace the standing rigging.

The current set up is shrouds and forestay terminated with hooks and turnbuckles. The turnbuckles are good, the hooks less so. They go into un-sheaved holes in the carbon mast. And I can see signs of wear here, with the holes starting to elongate. So the decision is to go for T Terminal's and backing plates with either wire or my preferred M-Rig rope. Although the rope is untried, it will be cheaper and lighter.

And then I need to re-progrip. and add a mainsheet jammer swivel base. And sort a popped batten end on the sail.

So I have quite a bit of work to do!

Sunday 3 March 2013

2013 Boat Show

Good day spent at the RYA Dinghy Show. Although I would have much preferred to have spent my time manning a Farr 3.7 show stand. But there is always next year!

The day was very useful never the less spent building contacts and finding new and interesting dinghy products. The best of which was Marlow Ropes new DM20 fibre, marketed as M-Rig. This is a dynemma fibre with NO creep and is designed for standing rigging. And deals with the issues that SK75, SK78 and SK78 Max have (in decreasing amounts) of creep over time. I full expect to be using this on my Farr. I expect I may also be replacing the current Intermediate shrouds with this new fibre. As I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be losing a little power after replacing the corroded broken wire inters with the current rope. 

Monday 11 February 2013

Congratulations


Well done to Mark O'Brien for his success at the 2013 Farr 3.7 Nationals. Held at Manly Sailing Club New Zealand. 4 bullets in a row sealed his victory. Of note is the fact that his boat is sail number 176 showing that the 3.7 has a very long competitive lifespan. 

Wednesday 23 January 2013

His and Hers?


The UK almost has a set of Male and Female Farr 3.7's! (NZ boats are Male apparently!) Dave Baker is getting on really well with his boat. Follow the final leg of his building journey here:DAVE'S Blog LINK. It's a great blog that is effectively a step by step guide to building a Farr 3.7. If you have ever wanted to build your own boat, reading Dave's blog will show you that it's not as hard as you think. And the best place to start is with a Farr 3.7.