Fairline Factory Visit

[admillington]

What a great day I had yesterday. I met with James Barke of Essex Boat Yards and James Powell of Fairline and was given the most comprehensive tour of the production facilities of the Squadron 55 and the new Squadron 65.

From hull mould to internal mouldings, engineering, wood shop to the test tank, I saw the lot and now have a very good understanding of how impressive Fairline Boats are. They truly are hand made – from the GRP layup to the woodwork, there are real craftsman producing these boats and not machines.

And at the shop on the way out I picked myself up a Squadron 58 – more to follow on that but thanks to JFM for sending me the specs.

P.S What a great boat the new SQ65 is – some inspired design ideas especially for the crew cabin.

 

[Pinnacle]

[ QUOTE ]

And at the shop on the way out I picked myself up a Squadron 58 – more to follow on that but thanks to JFM for sending me the specs.


[/ QUOTE ]


Oooohhhhhh - what FAB news!! Do tell! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[goochie]

I suspect it's about 14 inches long. The boat that is /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[jfm]

Oooh do tell amillington! You bought one of the 2 new ones that are on the hard in Essex? Or one of the couple still left (though I might be out of date on that by now) at the factory?. Which one have you bought? What mods are you making to it? If you want to go mods mad, come down to see mine for a full guided tour of Sq58 mods-ville

Congratulations anyway, hope it's lots of fun and no doubt you will get great help from James and team in EBY

My boat had a technical problem in France a couple of weeks ago. A complex thing, kinda understandable and I dont really blame Fairline for the build error. I reported the problem on a monday. We traded photos and emails on the tuesday. By Friday a crate had arrived on the dock in Antibes with the replacement parts. Driven down 1000miles from the factory in a courier van. On sunday night a couple of guys from Fairline factory flew down and started work 9am monday, just 7 days after I first reported the problem. They did a perfect repair with absolutely no quibbles. Top top customer service from both Essex Boatyards and the Fairline factory.

Latest addition - a teak dining table for 7 that folds up (inspector gadgetly -it's made of 5 interlocking teak panels) so small that it fits in the corner under the flybr stairs when you want open space for swimming and playing

At anchor on a grey day (for a change) between the Lerins islands

 

[admillington]

I finally purchased SQ58/203 - one of the specs that you sent me - there was the choice of 200 and 208 that were sat at the factory awaiting shipment to the dealer - they had very odd specs - no crew cabin, very white carpet but teak fly and side decks and the £5K screen demister!

Going to take the Phantom 50 back to Essex in a couple of weeks, swap over all our stuff to the SQ58 and back to Chichester - great to get some sea time in.

Going to use the boat for the summer and do the "mods" in the winter - will be using your boat as a reference for the SAT TV etc.

Pleased to hear about the great service from Fairline - now I have seen the way they are built it is the brand for me.

Thanks for your help.

-Andrew

 

[Hurricane]

[ QUOTE ]
Latest addition - a teak dining table for 7 that folds up (inspector gadgetly -it's made of 5 interlocking teak panels) so small that it fits in the corner under the flybr stairs when you want open space for swimming and playing

[/ QUOTE ]
Ooo - that looks nice.
Is it something we could pick up anywhere or a local supply?

 

[maybh1]

What an elegant back deck - silk cusions and Birds of Paradise on the table.

Very civilised /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

May
xx

 

[RogerRat]

[ QUOTE ]

I finally purchased SQ58/203 -

now I have seen the way they are built it is the brand for me.


[/ QUOTE ]

Congratulations, they are beautiful boats aren't they?

Looking forward to seeing some pics and the boat out on the water. I'm sure I'll recognise it...

It'll be the one with the skipper wearing a big grin. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[jfm]

Congratulations Andrew. Good choice. I just looked again at 203 and it's definitely the nicest one of the few left - has the copper canyon galley

Hope it's lots of fun. I'll send you an email sometime with various mods ideas

Talking of white carpet, mine has nearly white carpet. It's that light beight velvet pile smooth stuff, apparently an upgrade. Looks nice but a complete nightmare. Shows every bit of fluff and even hoovering marks. I'm going to have it all ripped out end of season and have the gigant sand fitted, which is what your 203 has. I had that in the last boat and it looked fantastic even after 4 years

The rest of those specs on 200 and 208 seem very strange. 208 is the last one ever built, I think

Hope the handover all goes well

 

[jfm]

I'll put some pics in another post Hurricane...