Fairey Huntress/ Huntsman or even Dell Quay Ranger

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hanjae

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I am contemplating purchasing one of these classic motor boats.
What was the biggest let down on them regarding age?
what should I look for and if I find walk away!!
Any other recomendations?
Or am I mad!
 
hi, i used to own a fairey fisherman.had to do loads of rebuilding on her.great construction though.
i know that c.b. did an article on the huntsman etc in about 1987. i,ve got it down on ''olga''.
explains alot about them.pm me if you need number of it.
 
The only downside is you need a very big wallet, or like a chap I know, own a boatyard. He had a Huntress, one Autumn he set out to change a rear cleat, ended up changing the complete transom, took the whole winter.
Still have one if I had time and money.

Brian
 
You would have enjoyed this line up at the Sea Guernsey regatta:

Rangers

Every day we walked past there was another one! Talking to the owners, they were money pits, but they all looked very satisfied.
 
My father also had a Fairey Fisherman, great sea boats - the good news was that he bought it in the mid 1970's and as it was one of the last built it was still in very good condition. The "slight" downside was the amount of work he put into her keeping her that way! But the key was that he enjoyed the work, hence he kept her for over 12 years. Never needed any major work, "just" keeping on top of the maintanence. But then she was immaculate. Water in the Bilges?? - no, he was on a tireless crusade against...........dust! (no joking!).

Fairey Powerboats? I have also day dreamed of one of these (gorgeous boats /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif), but having seen the amount of work first hand that goes into looking after a wooden boat (and it is not something I actually enjoy), I think I will be sticking to GRP, until I win the lottery!

Having said that, I was sorely tempted by a Fairey Atalanta once.............
 
i reall like the atlanta's. heard some really good reports on them.
when i,ve finished current re-fit on olga i might get one for my fun boat.
olga's a bit much to handle at times. especially as i like singlehanding.
 
Don't get me day dreaming again! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Although as I said in my previous post I am unlikely to get a wooden boat, IF IF (!) I did, it would probably be a Fairey solely due to their hot moulded construction, which appears to me to be the nearest that wood gets to being "Low Maintanence" plus of course no planks to "Move" and leak.

Although the Fisherman was a one piece hull (with a canoe stern) I seem to recall that those with a square transom were not and that these are an area of weakness when it comes to rot. I would suggest to OP that he get a surveyor who is familiar with Faireys ( /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif) and how they were constructed and suggest that unless you LOVE the DIY aspect that you buy the best you can find. Be cheaper (and easier) in the long run to keep a good 'un up to scratch, than to bring a bad 'un back to life, no matter how cheap she costs.

Nice choice for OP to have, if he can live with downsides (likes the maintainence or has a large wallet).

Of course OP could instead buy one of the later GRP versions, even if they don't look quite as good!
 
Jonathan,

Saw your note on FOC and posted here as more people will read it.

Its all a question of budget really, spend as much as you can, a better boat is easier in the long run.

There is nothing to run away from provided the price is right, although, its worth saying that its expensive to pay a boat yard to do anything, let alone a full refit on a wreck, on the other hand the materials are not expensive and if you're handy and have the time they are easy to repair.

All of the boats built on Fairey hulls are simple construction and hence easy to repair, the hot moulded hull suffers around the edges of water getting into the end grain, so a careful check of the edge of the transom and the top edge of the hull, tap it with the end of your fingers like your looking for loose plaster, if it sounds loose its delaminated, you can define the patch quite clearly and drill one end and squeeze epoxy in until it oozes out the other.

Carefull look at spray rails, look for failing fastenings to, after 40 years they are suffering from dezincing.

Check all the ply wood on the whole boat! It suffers from rot and be cautious around window frames.

Check the under deck as much as you can see, if a teak deck this is more important, the caulking fails and water runs in and rots the ply underdeck quickly.

Check all wiring and engineering type stuff but its all basic.

The H31 is the best boat of all reflected in its value.

The H28 is the prettiest, a wreck is under £10k (see ebay today) , a reasonable boat, bit scruffy with older Ford 6D engines about £20k, a nice boat with Perkins about £30k, a top notch boat with Ford Dorset or Dover 180 or 210's is £35k ish.

Huntress is somewhere between less than £10k and £25k would have to be almost perfect with a good modern engine.

Christinas are more varied and mostly not hot moulded Fairey Hulls but cold moulded Walter Lawrence hulls, think the 23 footers are Fairey Hulls and the 25's are Walter Lawrence, Christinas come in single and dual shaft and single and dual outdrive I think, prices vary, there is one advertised for £35k but I think will be there for a while.

DQRs I know very little about, I think they have the best accommodation of all, there is a lot of them in the Channel Islands, I think generally they exchange hands for less than a Fairey boat. Most are Volvo twin petrols and should be considered expensive to run, long in tooth and may be troublesome.

Be careful about choosing a surveyor, I would reccomend Bill Dunlop as he worked for Fairey Marine, you can use his report as a basis for improving the boat, I surveyed my boat myself, saved a few hundred quid and no regrets, depends I guess on your knowledge and the price of the boat and what your insurance company require.

All the above is only my personal opinion and there are many much more experienced and qualified than me.

Feel free to ask any more detailed questions!

Hope this helps.

Ben
 
tiny footnote to above

Ben is the expert here. I would just like to add that, from what I have seen of both, the Fairey hot moulding process produces a more durable hull than even very good cold moulding, although modern cold moulding with vacuum bagging might be very similar.
 
/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif I worked on 'Marie Louise' when the owner first brought her to the Clyde, and he was certainly separated from plenty of cash...... Unless he's had a LOT of extra work done to the mechanics and electrics since I was last aboard, there's no way she's worth £60k. £40-45k would be a more realistic figure, given what he paid for her and the fact that most of the renovation was cosmetic, i.e. teak decking, etc. which doesn't add value, just looks nice. Apart from a couple of small rotty bits in the transom, the only structural work was a new coachroof.

cheers,
David
 
I'm very wary of mentioning specific boats and what Ithink they might be worth...its not fair to vendors.

It is fair to say that many Fairey boats sit on the market for a long time not selling, during this period the condition of the boats suffers as the owner has lost interest and so the value drops....thus widening the gap between the likely selling price and the owners expectation.
 
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