What's it like to race the UK's first composite Farr 3.7?
by Daryl Wilkinson 16 Dec 2015 14:27 GMT
16 December 2015
Testing the first composite Farr 3.7 built in the UK © Myles Mence
What's it like to race the first composite Farr 3.7 built in the UK?
Myles Mence sent this over to UK Farr HQ as a thank you to Dave Butler at Butler Boats and we thought everyone would like to read it!
"I got out for a race at Lymington today Sunday, the first one in new 405. Marginal trapezing and one probably would not have bothered to go out under normal circumstances but a rare window in continuous gales and so an opportunity to be grabbed. Big turnout from Lymington, I was not the only one desperate to get on the water!
Really lovely sail, the boat is well balanced and goes like a dream, everything working fine.
I got a cracking start and was well up with the Merlins and Peter Barton in his Aero 7 at the first mark, then a long run deciding to gybe off which was a mistake and lost a couple of places. On the next beat I had to put in a last minute tack to avoid a starboard boat (I thought he was going to put one in) and failed to unhook.
Therefore a swim and I felt thoroughly cloth-eared. This lost me a load of places and therefore finished down the fleet. But really enjoyed myself and the conditions meant I could get the feel of the boat once again rather than trying to hang on for grim death.
Some snaps attached, nothing you haven't seen before but thought I would record the moment when back from her first race."
Myles is having a great time in his new boat. The word on the street is that Butler Boats' Demo boat has been sold and the second composite boat has already been snapped up. That's great news for the UK Farr fleet. When the boats that are currently being home build hit the water the fleet will be just about ready to put together it's first few open meetings. So there's no better time to import, home build or ask a builder to make you the 'best boat by Farr'...
More Farr 3.7 News
Check out the redesigned NZ Website here: www.3-7class.org.nz
Hamish over in New Zealand has being doing a sterling job redesigning the NZ site and adding content. Well worth a look!
And if you want to keep your ear to the ground about all things Farr 3.7 the classes Facebook page is a great place to start: www.facebook.com/3.7Class
The main UK website: www.uk3-7class.org