Why not try the Fairey owners club for info www.faireyownersclub.co.uk for qualified info.
I looked for a modest fairey boat for about 12 months and found cheap boats are usually rotten and need loads of work being moulded ply. I think the spearfish is a grp boat and probly a different matter. The owners club has always been very friendly even to non members like myself. In the end I settled for another Ray Hunt design boat a Bertram 25.
Incidently you just missed a Fairey rally at Weymouth.
All I can say, is I used to lust after the wooden ones when younger, still love them, go for it, most have now been rebuilt (almost) and the few that haven't should be! Good luck!
1. Yes, do go and have a look at the owners club site, lots of useful info and there is at least one Spearfish for sale on their which is still for sale I am pretty sure, its at the boat yard where me and Col (hereabouts with poorly sick boat) reside.
2. First there was Huntress, then Huntsman 28, then Huntsman 31 aft cabin and aft cockpit, H31 proved to be a very soft and dry ride, so they used the hull as a plug to make the mould for the spearfish, the spearfish is GRP which many see as an advantage.
3. IMHO, Spearfish is one of the best looking.
4. There is about 3 or 4 spearfish on the market currently.
5. The Spearfish is limited by only having one cabin, but had great big cockpit, Fantome is a spearfish with a slightly modified hull and a rear cabin all in GRP, there is I think two Fantomes on the market currently, both needing workm, one in particular i looked at and would have bought were it not for a change of plan, needs work but looks like good value to me.
6. Spearfish with doghouse was military only and called spear, its easy to unbolt doghouse and add windscreen, making spearfish, would expect such boats to fetch less.
7. Owners club very active and great bunch of party'ers, rally's are always a blast.
8. There is a broker that deals in mainly Fairey Boats, but for a numnber of reasons I wont be reccomending him, you have been warned.
9. Bill Dunlop at Marintec in Lymington is ex Fairey marine and he's your man if you get as far as needing a survey which I would thoroughly reccomend as they are old boats.
10. The wood ones do rot but are fine if looked after.
11. Do consider H31 or Swordsman 33, several good boats available now.
er, anything more send me PM and we can talk.
ooooh how exciting.
sorry, bit of an anoraK
I am gonna spend it on wine, women and song, and blow the rest.........
They do indeed look lovely, as does an e-type jag.
But it's a load of work to keepem running, they need to be out of the water cos the plastics rot or the wood needs fixing, they make a massive racket, etc etc. Best thing is for OTHER PEOPLE to do all this, and the rest of us have a modern boat, which them selves need quite enuf work already, imho.
it had not escaped me that e-types do look loverly, however, I am selling things to raise cash to a start business to make more cash so best not buy an e-type at the moment, no more new toys for a while :-(
Fairey boats seem to need a big re-build every 15 years or so, plus some looking after in between, seems either do lots of work yourself or spend lots of cash at boatyard, wonder how cost of maintaining a Fairey boat compares to depreciation on a grp boat? most Fairey boats on market are ones that owners are not keeping up with, the best ones seem to be rarey for sale.
I am gonna spend it on wine, women and song, and blow the rest.........
'spose i'm with you on this one. cool boat it is! straight forward engineering too, no anti syphon valves to be seen, eh colin?. i spent agas trying to justify buying on to do up, maybe when i finish this one... mmmm?
Must admit I do love em' but TCM's right they do need looking after and keeping up with, but then so does any piece of classic machinery, including E types, I've owned three, thats why I'm still working!!
I used to own Uno Too, purchased her from a Col. Hoare in Poole and eventually sold her to William Payne the marine photographer, which resulted in a very nice picture for my wall.
Best planing hull I've ever been in, virtually completely dry in all conditions, poor seating arrangement means you have to stand to steer. The day after pounding seven hours to Falmouth non stop I REALLY couldn't walk!
I loved it, but she's really a big launch/day boat and not a cruiser. Also fashion has pushed the price and really good more sensibly priced alternative would be an Omega. It was back in the mid 80's when I was an owner but I was not aware maintainance was a problem - but then I like wooden boats too. Perhaps the reference was to the agba Huntsmen.
I could fancy a Spear, the shed on deck being very useful in the UK climate, but perhaps it keeps the turbo noise in.
Any views on the Triana Tarantella 35 as an alternative to a Fairey? Whats the history of this boat, is it a rip-off of the Fairey designs, is it any good?
I'm no expert but I'm sure it's not a rip-off, (much bigger too), it looks like a Levi design and I haven't heard of any problems. Another nice boat visually at any rate.