Sea Spray Magazine Boat Test Nov 1977
WHEN fizz boat manufacturers Sea Nymph Boats Ltd decided
to produce a trailer yacht, they had little hesitation
in choosing Bruce Farr as their designer. Director Kim
McDell's long association with Farr through 18-footers,
told him the successful Auckland designer would be sure
to come up with something good ... and he wasn't far
wrong.
Farr, commissioned to design a trailer yacht "of
medium size, suitable for high-volume production"
produced a fast, sporty 20-footer which is one of the
best compromises of accommodation, cockpit space, performance
and looks in a trailer yacht, we've seen in long days
of watching that species grow.
According to Farr, high-volume production demands that
the boat appeal to a wide range of buyers, so he set
out to design a "safe, stable, reasonably priced,
fast, practical, roomy, good looking trailer yacht"!
After a sail on Auckland Harbour in a 15 knot breeze
and short chop, we were convinced that pretty well all
those objectives have been achieved. The Farr 6000 is
certainly easily handled, apparently safe, stable, fast,
practical and roomy to staggering degree, and with sporty
styling that doesn't appeal to everyone, but certainly
grows on you fast.
Hull form features wide beam, adding stability as well
as providing high internal volume for accommodation,
and for'ard lines that are fine low down with reserve
buoyancy at the sheer, giving an easily driven, dry
hull that performs well uphill and down.
The long shallow keel adds directional stability and
strength to the construction, and reduces the amount
of centrecase projecting into the interior. The little
amount that does appear in the main cabin in fact serves
as a perfect footrest while sailing. The centreboard
is a cast aerofoil shape which pivots from the for'ard
end.
Traditional-looking lapstrake-type construction also
adds strength to the solid glass lay-up and gives the
Farr 6000 a distinctive look that either appeals, or
doesn't. Cabin top design is unusual, featuring a fizz
boat-style wraparound tinted windscreen, which we weren't
too crazy about to start with but grew to like as the
test progressed. Whatever your feelings about the windscreen's
looks, there's no disputing its advantages as a light
source below and a means for those remaining in the
cabin to see everything that is going on while sailing.
One of the increasingly popular poptops is another
feature of the Farr yacht, and with removable panels
in the sloping aft end of the cabin top the boat ran
be opened up to provide full head- room and a sort of
extended cockpit area, within minutes.
The advantages of being able to open up the boat are
numerous with poptop up at anchor, the 20-footer "expands"
to have the spacious feel of a bigger keelboat, and
though that is probably best left in place while sailing,
the open-ended cabin keeps those below decks - kids,
grandmas, and the like - involved with what's happening
on deck rather than buried out of sight and mind.
Jib sheets can be worked from the cabin too, which
has already proved an advantage in terms of weight distribu-
tion and cockpit efficiency when racing.
As with all such innovations, the setup has its drawbacks,
but only if allowed to do so. In the wrong hands - that
is totally inexperienced or just plain stupid - the
boat could be left open in rough conditions when the
slides should be in place, in which case a fair amount
of water could start sloshing around in the main cabin.
But this sort of boat was never designed for offshore
sailing, and anyone who uses a trailer yacht for long
passages across open water should be experienced enough
to know how to cope when conditions deteriorate.
The slides can be adequately secured with hooks and
shock cord, and when in place, would stop undue quantities
of water going below.
If the worst did come to the worst, however, it would
be nice to know that the Farr 6000 does have positive
foam buoyancy to New Zealand Trailer Yacht Association
safety regulation standards, and has proved to be self-
righting and unsinkable. Other safety features include
a system for locking the centreboard down, again a good
idea in deteriorating conditions.
Construction is solid fibreglass, up to 10 oz in the
layup which includes gunstock and woven rovings, with
foam and wooden stiffening. Interior mouldings - one
for'ard incorporating bunk frames, the other aft being
the galley unit, bunks etc - were designed as structural
members bonded to the hull, providing an economical
construction which is light, but strong.
As could be expected from Sea Nymph Boats Ltd, one
of the biggest and longest-established fibreglass boatbuilding
companies in New Zealand, the standard of finish is
high both internally and externally. Non-skid finish
on the decks is quite sufficient, and the hull-to-deck
join is neat and tidy. Down below, waterproof carpet,
a bit of timber joinery here and there, and fabric-covered
squabs and back rests (all standard) soften the fibreglass
look.
Accommodation layout is cleverly designed to make maximum
use of the space available - two full-length berths
for'ard and three more in the cabin providing sleeping
accommodation for five, and there's provision for a
toilet immediately for'ard of the main bulkhead which
ensures complete privacy. Galley facilities are adequate
for weekend cruising or even longer, and comprise a
recessed area for stove, moulded sink with water pump
and hose, and space under in a locker, for a 5 gal (23
litre) water can.
A mirror on the bulkhead, which can prove rather disconcerting
when you peer in from the cockpit, and glass rack are
standard features. Stowage space abounds, under bunks
for'ard, main cabin berths, behind bunks and inside
the coamings. There's further stowage under the cockpit
floor for such things as outboard motors, etc, and all
in all, the Farr 6000 impressed as being well laid-out
below.
As usual with today's trailer yachts, rigging the 6000
was simple and quick. The rig features a tapered Baverstock
mast which is standard, with swept- back spreaders requiring
merely a forestay and sidestays. Stays are fitted with
rigging screws rather than the non- adjustable clips
found on some boats; this is perhaps a little more time
consuming, but the effect is a well-tuned rig which
makes sailing so much more enjoyable. Sidestays are
well inboard on the coamings in fact, which leaves clear
side-decks to walk on. The rudder is a fibreglass blade
with aluminium stock, raised and lowered by a simple
dinghy- style system of lines. Locking the rudder down
is simply a matter of cleating the line.
Once launched we hoisted the main (outboard and outboard
bracket are not standard, and the test boat wasn't fitted
with a bracket), sailed out of Westhaven and we were
immediately impressed with the boat's quick acceleration
and easy handling. The centreboard is controlled from
the cockpit and raised and lowered by a self-sustaining
drum winch just under the bridge deck. A nifty little
Perspex window in the cockpit beside the handle allows
the crew to see, by the amount of wire on the winch,
how much plate is up or down from the cockpit.
Sail-plan features a moderate aspect ratio mainsail
with a short-footed, high aspect jib which requires
no winches for sheeting, and a spinnaker can be added
for sailing enthusiasts.
Sail-trimming devices are plentiful, simple and standard
- mainsail cunningham, kicker and outhaul, leech cords
on main and jib, mainsail traveller, and sheets.
The jib is sheeted on a double purchase block system
reminiscent of old sailing boats, the sheet running
from the for'ard end of the traveller, through a block
on the clew of the sail (the block is shackled securely
on to the sail) down to a jib lead block and back to
an eye- bolt and cam cleat.
The mainsheet traveller system is equally cleverly
devised, being simply a light line running from a central
point on the traveller, through the block and back to
a central point on the other side of the traveller.
With both these systems the boat almost tacks itself,
and there's little effort required in sheeting the headsail.
The cam cleat is set slightly off-centre to the sheet
lead on the coaming, to allow a crew to play the sail
while racing.
The whole deck layout, and the kind of gear and fittings
used on the Farr 6000, reflects designer Farr and yachtsman
Kim McDell's long experience in such things, and it
was a pleasure to go sailing on a boat so well set-up
and so easily worked.
Halyards, incidentally, can be hoisted either from
the mast or the cockpit. Every mast has three exit boxes,
for main jib and spinnaker should it be required, and
there's two leads and cleats back to the cockpit, and
one at the mast. This allows individual owners to sort
out their own system, the most common, when the spinnaker
is in use, being jib and kite hoisted from the cockpit,
and main at the mast.
Once out in the harbour and sailing we came hard on
the wind in a good 15 knot breeze, and slogged up harbour
into a wind-against-tide chop. The boat handled well,
footing fast despite the sea, and chucking back a minimum
of spray. In the puffs we tended to be slightly overcanvassed,
a situation easily remedied by playing the mainsheet,
but even if the main was left cleated, the 6000 did
not lay over alarmingly, or round up.
Spring sheets and reach back down harbour and the little
boat, in true Farr tradition, really flew along, catching
waves and giving us the feeling that with spinnaker
on, it would plane readily. Flat off, it was still a
stable platform, a benefit of wide beam aft, and we
came away generally very impressed with performance.
Throughout the test the boat was easily handled, although
we were surprised at the weight in the helm on all points
of sail.
The boat was designed, we are told, with a certain
amount of weather helm which makes learning how to sail
easier for novices than no helm at all, but we couldn't
help feeling that the Farr 6000 was very heavy compared
to many other trailer yachts. On the plus side, however,
as we said before, the boat didn't have the tendency
of most others to screw up in a gust.
Overall, our feelings about the Farr 6000 were enthusiastic.
Not only is the boat a good performer, with ample accommodation
for a small family, both below and on deck, but it features
several innovations we admired, the removable aft end
of the cabin being not least of those.
In a rather unusual move by a trailer yacht manufacturer,
Sea Nymph have introduced a one-design quality to the
Farr 6000 whereby the boat is sold as a package deal
with only few optional extras. The approach is modelled
largely on that used with the successful Laser dinghy.
Boats can only be bought at sailaway stage, with all
gear including spars, rigging, sails, sheets, halyards,
fitted. Sails are cut by Hood NZ Ltd to a master pattern
owned by the company, and only main, jib and spinnaker
are available - from what we could see that's all that's
necessary.
The one design aspect is interesting in a boat of this
size and type, and while not appealing to everyone,
particularly the do-it-yourselfer, it has many big advantages,
not least being that the boats will hold their value
whether used for racing or cruising, since all are identical.
The other obvious advantage of one- design is the class
racing aspect, which should be of great appeal to competitive
trailer yacht buyers. The Farr 6000 is a slightly more
racing-oriented design than some, simply because of
its efficient gear layout, sophisticated rig and good
speed, and class racing is likely to get off the ground
as early as this summer.
So far, 25 boats have been sold, Sea Nymph have another
25-odd on order, and a class association was in the
process of acquiring status as a recognised class with
the New Zealand Trailer Yacht Association at time of
writing.
On the price side, the Farr 6000 is higher than some
at $7560, plus another $1298 for a trailer (specially
designed for the boat). But the list of optional extras
is a lot smaller than some too - outboard bracket, toilet,
stove, lifelines, pushpit and pulpit, spinnaker, plus
a few sundries like rope bags, pop-top curtain, etc,
and that's about your lot.
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