Wayfarer - great little boat

[Wing Mark]

I buy closed cell foam neoprene cord for hatch seals, cheap on ebay in many sizes.
Superglue sticks it well, joining cord ends to make rings etc.
You don't need it gas tight, do a reasonable job it will be OK.
A litre or two after being upside down for say 20 minutes is not your biggest problem.
Hundreds of litres becomes a problem.

 

[ianat182]

Dan and others of the Wayfarer/Osprey/ Wanderer interest may be surprised to know that Ian Proctor in collaboration with a Mr O'Day also designed a ballasted keel dinghy called the Wildfire which I had the pleasure of sailing with its owner on the Hamble. As I recall it was about 18ft all GRP and sail area much about the same as the Wayfarer, and a genoa foresail. The keel itself was a shaped hollow moulding that was removed after sailing. The keel was loaded with bags of lead shot to about 200-250 lbs, which were removed after sailing with the keel itself; this made it possible to use a dinghy trolley to launch. A small cuddy forward and a double floor hull. The boat flew upwind and and downwind with, it seemed, little chance of ever capsizing. We played at trapezing where it was so stable. We never raced, but I wondered if it had been seen as a prospective design for Olympics as the next design I think was the Tempest which did make it.
I'd love to own one now . A similar named dinghy was sailed in Scotland , but a different designer.

ianat182

 

[Sailfree]

Just to add the Wayfarer design is over 50yrs old. It was designed so that it could be home built. the first one was IIRC 16' long then it got standardised to 15' 10.5" which results in the longitudinal curved sides being made out of two 8' x 4'sheets of marine ply.

With its popularity a plug was made from a wooden boat and GRP versions made. There was also improvements incorporated over time with various Mks including a self draining version that could sit on a mooring. The self draining was basically a inner skin formed so the "floor" was above the waterline.

With home built kit boats the shape ended up a bit too flexible in the final shape for racers. Some had a deeper rocker and beat well and some were flatter and got on a plane better.

When Hartley took over the build he got a optimised the hull design so that the new Mk 4 were better than the best wooden boat for racing. Hence most keen racers sold their wooden boat to buy the Mk4. The weight, sails etc are all the same to keep the one design aspect. Hence with the Mk 4 it really is a one design with no minute variations in Hull shape. Difference in sailing ability between the Mks is marginal and its the helm and crew that make the biggest difference.

The Mk4 has an inner Hull glued to the outer to form the buoyancy chamber. After a capsize it holds much less water (as did the self drainer) but this results in them riding higher in the water when full of water and more difficult (if cold and tired) to climb back into.

I had knotted polythene ropes with a toe loop at each shroud position to help me climb back in!

We learnt to sail one initial as an introduction to sailing but soon got hooked on the racing and many clubs retain larger fleets enabling them to have their own class start so 1st one to finnish is the winner no working out handicaps.