Fairey Swordsman 33

J

Jegs

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Good morning,

A stick & rag friend of mine asked for my view on a 1973 model of the above which has Ford Sabre 210 hp turbo-charged engines. It's somewhat different to my elderly Linssen so I decided to seek the opinions of those more knowledgeable than myself [not a high bar].

My initial thoughts were teak laid over plywood deck would be a source of potential problems & these engines may smoke to such an extent as to cause complaints &, because of their age, parts may be difficult to find although Lancing may help.

This is the boat: http://www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk/yacht/223/fairey-super-swordsman-33-aft-cabin-1977

If you have the time & inclination, I should be much obliged for your thoughts/experiences of these vessels.

Hopeful thanks,

John G
 
Furious, nice boat, currently named Saltwater Lady. Owners nice people. Not seen the boat for a couple of years but was very well presented when I last saw her.

Quite right, teak decks can be a ticking bomb. Important to get a good surveyor who knows what to look for and get straight in your mind about where the deck is in its lifetime. Rob Bingham the best surveyor for this boat.

S33 has an inherent weakness in the design, most now strengthened now, need to be clear about this, Rob B will know what to look for.

Worth asking for previous surveys, especially if there is one by Bill Dunlop. That would be a useful insight.

The engines could be Dorset block, in which case can be quite smelly and smokey, not popular these days. They might be later Dover block, which are much better. They will still be smokey and smelly on frosty mornings, or say, in a following wind. Some folk find it unacceptable, many not bothered at all. Most find if you start them up and get underway sharpish its fine. Plus side is that the engine, gearbox, shaft, p bracket etc is all bomb proof and costs peanuts to maintain. No parts availability issues. Seahorse Power very good, chaps are ex Sabre.

Exhausts probably 4 inch and no silencers, my Chum's S33 sounds incredible (but not as good as my 31 obvs!).

Maintenance is critical, let a wooden boat get away from you and you'll be sorry.

Buy the boat first, then my book later.

Brokers details wrong, the vS33 is not a derivation of the H31. H31 started later in 1967 and is very different. S33 underhull much more akin to H28/ Ray Hunt.

Owners club have all the drawings and histories of each boat.
 
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There was an error in the Corset/Dover block comments, now corrected.

Soz!

BTW - its quite tricky to tell them apart, Dorset - pressed tin timing cover. Dover - cast ali timing cover.
 
Couple of plastic ones, similar, on Yachtworld. I'd go for one of those over timber hull and teak on ply decks ... if I had to have one, that is! The Hamble boat looks the prettier of the two, though much older for more money ... I'd have to commit that steering wheel contraption to the deep! ... :encouragement:

www.yachtworld.co.uk/core/listing/cache/searchResults.jsp?man=swordfish&is=false&type=%28Power%29&luom=126&fromLength=&toLength=&fromYear=&toYear=&fromPrice=&toPrice=&currencyid=1004&cint=&Ntt=&searchtype=homepage&cit=true&slim=quick&ybw=&sm=3&Ntk=boatsUK
 
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There is a Triana Tanterella for sale on Boatshed.
A worthy rival for the Faireys,Fibreglass and big cummins diesels.
 
Kingfisher 3 said:
Couple of plastic ones, similar, on Yachtworld. I'd go for one of those over timber hull and teak on ply decks ... if I had to have one, that is! The Hamble boat looks the prettier of the two, though much older for more money ... I'd have to commit that steering wheel contraption to the deep! ... :encouragement:

www.yachtworld.co.uk/core/listing/cache/searchResults.jsp?man=swordfish&is=false&type=%28Power%29&luom=126&fromLength=&toLength=&fromYear=&toYear=&fromPrice=&toPrice=¤cyid=1004&cint=&Ntt=&searchtype=homepage&cit=true&slim=quick&ybw=&sm=3&Ntk=boatsUK
Click to expand...

Supermarine Swordfish is a different boat altogether.
 
Thanks to OP for posting the pix of Furious. There’s about 100 reasons why I wouldn’t want to own anything like that. But, I - for one - thoroughly enjoyed looking through the advertisement for a glorious looking craft.
 
gordmac said:
The hull design is impressive, over 50 years old, is there anything modern that behaves better in rough seas?
Click to expand...

Renato “Sony “ Levi and Ray Hunts philosophy to hull design was adopted by a few Italian yards - Mario Amarti took it to a new level of luxuary and opened up a new market .
Same basic hull design - scaled up :encouragement:
Deep deadrise , mid mounted machinery, hard chine , low shaft angle , not to beamy , AND plenty of Hp +++

Take a look @ this early 80 ,s , there’s others up to 18 M and eventually a24 M variant .
Ferretti took control in 2005 , they are made to order single digit numbers ,

Check out those performance / engine options for the time
https://imgur.com/gallery/L15FX

Here’s a 20 year old boat - it’s all about comfort
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bHRxWnk7yT4
 
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Portofino said:
Renato “Sony “ Levi and Ray Hunts philosophy to hull design was adopted by a few Italian yards - Mario Amarti took it to a new level of luxuary and opened up a new market .

Same basic hull design - scaled up :encouragement:
Deep deadrise , mid mounted machinery, hard chine , low shaft angle , not to beamy , AND plenty of Hp +++
Click to expand...

I think the Hunt hulls and Levi hulls are quite different.

Hunt has less dead rise and bluff bow, tend to be a wet ride and the chine rails sit under water. They tend to be wider at the waterline and a more stable platform. Certainly mostly built with machinery in the middle on shaft.

Levi hulls, much deeper v. Chine rails not under water often, then tend to have a much finer entry, drier ride, not so crash/bang in a chop but do tend to porpoise. Much more tender, mostly built with outdrives.
 
burgundyben said:
I think the Hunt hulls and Levi hulls are quite different.

Hunt has less dead rise and bluff bow, tend to be a wet ride and the chine rails sit under water. They tend to be wider at the waterline and a more stable platform. Certainly mostly built with machinery in the middle on shaft.

Levi hulls, much deeper v. Chine rails not under water often, then tend to have a much finer entry, drier ride, not so crash/bang in a chop but do tend to porpoise. Much more tender, mostly built with outdrives.
Click to expand...

Hunts philosophy
http://www.huntdesigns.com/deepv.php
 
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