Fairey Finn

an area to discuss dinghy developments
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PeterV
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Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2004 8:47 pm
Location: Locks Heath, Hampshire

Post by PeterV »

Having observed the birth of the CVRDA and observed its business from a respectable distance I've finally succumbed and bought an old, out of date wooden boat, John Gardner's Fairey Finn.
I spent the majority of my teenage years racing Finns (modified Tiptree, No 280, then Fairey No 155) so I'm pretty familiar with them if a little rusty but I'd appreciate it if any of the previous owners could fill me in with any history of this boat. I sailed it briefly in Bristol Docks when Ed had it and it's still got the Bruder mast and Elvestrom sail it had then. It's been heavily modified for cruising so my intention is really to get it back to being a proper racing dinghy, get a more modern rig for it and keep the Bruder rig for CVRDA events.
Does anyone know it's true sail number. All Finns should have had a number on the thwart but this one doesn't, though I've found a number on the hog aft which I think is ?98 (the first number is damaged). The sail number is 197 on the Elvestrom sail.

Many thanks in anticipation.
PeterV
Finn K197 & GBR564
Warsash
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Ed
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Post by Ed »

Peter,

I did try and find out a little of the history of this Finn....but it wasn't that easy.

Also of course....I didn't put it down on paper so I might have to have a quick look again to try and remind myself of what I found out.

The key bits to the story, as I understood them are thus:

The hull and moulded side decks were made by fairey marine but when originally measured were found to fall outside limits and the shell was therefore considered 'out-of-class'. Fairey therefore did not put it down in their records and I think it might of sat around for quite a length of time, before a good Finn sailor (can't remember name - but well known in class) bought it for next to nothing, stripped it down and re-built it within class. I think this included two things....the hull was built up around the chine to fulfill 'rise of floor measurement'and a strip of wood was added along the top of decks around the gunwhale to raise the sheerline. You can still see the old screw holes where this wood strip must of been. I believe it was then measured and registered at a much later date....mid sixties maybe under the number 197.

At some stage it then spent a long time in storage where it was not sailed much at all, before being bought by an aero engineer who decided to convert boat to 'cruising'.....Which although I can only say now was a great pity....also made me realise that the Finn could indeed make a good cruising boat, if it carried a smaller OK rig. The good thing about this was that he did have access to sheets of 'nomex' carbon honeycomb to make the floor boards. That boat is heavy....but anything built in that nomex adds no weight to the boat at all. I tried to buy some of this off him....but it was very very expensive.

Anyway, this guy moved north and left the fin in a shed in norfolk. He contacted me and asked me to find a buyer through CVRDA. I tried, but no-one was interested at the time, so in the end the price dropped so far that I decided to buy it myself for just a couple of hundred quid.

The rest you mainly know.....I had some problems with rot around the mast foot and had to dig out a lot of wood around this area and build up again, which gave me some insight into making a boat inside a bottle as I had to do much work through the mast hole at deck level. There was also a leak from front of centreplate box, which got worse when Alan Williams had her, although I belive this has now been fixed.

I did a fair bit of work on her, but it was mainly cosmetic.

When I moved down to cornwall I also ran out of storage space and sold her to Alan Williams, who had quite a bit of fun.....before selling her to Lynn.

I don't know what condition she is in now.....but would hope that if you keep her down at BWSC, you will be able to store the Bruder mast in the dutch barn or somewhere out of rain and sun as there really can't be many of those still around.

Have tons of fun!

I am really glad that you have finally sucumbed to joining us....you won't regret it!

looking forwards to seeing her in November

cheers

eib
Ed Bremner
CVRDA


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PeterV
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Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2004 8:47 pm
Location: Locks Heath, Hampshire

Post by PeterV »

Thanks Ed. Fairey obviously specialised in making out of class Finns. They built my last one as a special with 4 veneers on the bottom and 3 on the topsides. It was out of class until the rules were changed to allow varying thickness skin for GRP boats to be built. After stripping it down and redecking it came out 17lbs underweight. Funny, I forgot to get the lead correcters added!
There was water in the mast step when I inspected the boat last weekend so that's why it rotted there. I also felt lots of sealant around the forward part of the case and I think the bolt hole's too high. The mast step should of course have limber holes in it so whether the lockers are light or not they'll have to come out so I can get the bulkhead out and fix the mast step and case.....now I remember why I've been sticking to old glass boats since my Mercury died!
PeterV
Finn K197 & GBR564
Warsash
alan williams
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Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2004 10:44 pm
Location: Devon

Post by alan williams »

HI Peter
I checked out the number of the boat with the Finn Assoc and feel pretty sure that she is 197.
I hope you can find a more modern rig as I could't which is one of the reasons I sold her on. The main one being having to many boats and not enough time to look after them especially Django. I'm the person reponsible for all the messy west epoxy at the front of the plate case. I sprang a big leak from here at the M.S.C. CVRDA open. On examining the area If ound a lot of rot which had been covered in pitch and then a new piece of veneer glued over the top to make it look good. The plastering of the front of the case sorted out the leak for me. I had intended to strip out the platecase and repair this properly at a later date. However as I could not find an Ali rig for the boat (they are like finding hens teeth, best of luck in your quest),. I brought a fibreglass Pearson 340 which has served me well in, that she has an ali rig and thrives on neglect. I hope you have alot of fun with Django she is a nice Finn to sail and needs to be cherished.
Cheers Al Williams Finn 340 Shark 41 Nacra 1879 Dolphin 30 American One Design 696
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PeterV
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Location: Locks Heath, Hampshire

Post by PeterV »

Thanks for the info Alan. I sailed her last weekend and won the race so she certainly sails well, although the really shifty wind gave me a bit of an advantage. I'll bide my time for a good rig and in the meantime get the other bits sorted out like mast rake, toestraps and controls. I've cut the lockers out so I can see the results of your work on the plate case in all it's glory! It doesn't look easy to get it out and its only leaking a little at present so I may try epoxying it from within the case before I resort to cutting it out, but I'll wait till the weather's warm enough again now.
Look forward to racing against your Pearson, I used to sail against many of them in the 70's as most clubs were full of them.
PeterV
Finn K197 & GBR564
Warsash
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