Farr 38 Explained

Farr 38
Image Boat:Farr38.jpg
Image Caption:New Zealand-built Farr 38
Designer:Bruce Farr
Location:New Zealand
Year:1978
No Built:85
Builder:Spindrift Yacht Inc
Marina Bracuhy
Role:Racer-Cruiser
Draft:6.5feet
Displacement:106000NaN0
Hull Type:Monohull
Construction:Cold-moulded wood and fibreglass
Loa:38.25feet
Lwl:31.17feet
Beam:12feet
Engine:Pathfinder 400NaN0 diesel engine
Keel Type:fin keel
Ballast:41000NaN0
Rudder Type:internally-mounted spade-type rudder
Rig Type:Bermuda rig
I:43feet
J:13.33feet
P:44.92feet
E:19.92feet
Sailplan:Fractional rigged sloop
Sailarea Main:402.48square feet
Sailarea Headsail:286.6square feet
Sailarea Total:689.08square feet
Phrf:83

The Farr 38, also called the Farr 11.6m, is a sailboat that was designed by New Zealander Bruce Farr as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1978. It is Farr Yacht Design number 72.[1] [2] [3] [4]

The Farr 38 is sometimes confused with an earlier Farr 38 design. This unrelated design was produced as a single boat, the Jenny H, constructed in 1977.[1]

Production

The design was built on a production basis in Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. It was built by Compass Yachts in New Zealand, Spindrift Yacht Inc in Canada and by Marina Bracuhy in Brazil. A number of boats were built by amateur boatbuilders from purchased plans as well. Collectively they completed 85 examples, with production commencing in 1978, but it is now out of production.[1] [3] [4]

Design

The Farr 38 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of cold-moulded wood, finished with epoxy and polyurethane and fibreglass, with the New Zealand production-built boats built out of Fibreglass. It has a fractional sloop rig with polyurethane-painted aluminum spars, a raked stem, a reverse transom, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller or optional wheel and a fixed fin keel. It displaces 106000NaN0 and carries 41000NaN0 of ballast.[1] [3]

The boat has a draft of 6.5feet with the standard keel fitted.[1]

The boat is fitted with a Pathfinder diesel engine of 400NaN0 for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of .[1]

The design has sleeping accommodation for eight people. There is a bow cabin, with a "V"-berth, two settee berths in the main cabin and two quarter berths aft, one of which is a double berth. The galley is located on the starboard side at the foot of the companionway steps and features a two-burner liquefied petroleum gas stove and an oven. Pressurized water and a refrigerator were factory options. The navigation station is to port, opposite the galley. The head is located just aft of the bow cabin, on the port side and includes a shower.[3]

Sail controls include four halyard winches, two secondary and two primary jib winches and a one general purpose winch. The halyards and outhaul are mounted internally, as is the jiffy reefing system. There is a 4:1 mechanical advantage boom vang, as well as an adjustable backstay. The mainsheet traveller is mounted on the bridge deck and genoa tracks and lead blocks are provided. The boat can be fitted with a spinnaker for downwind sailing.[3]

Anodized spars and a wooden deck made from cedar were also factory options.[3]

The design has a PHRF racing average handicap of 83.[3]

Operational history

In a 1994 review Richard Sherwood wrote, "cold-molded wood, unusual in a boat of this size, is used for construction. The hull framing is cedar and the skins, spruce. Planking is thin strips adhesive-bonded in diagonal and longitudinal laminations. The result is a high-performance cruiser that has been successfully raced."[3]

See also

Similar sailboats

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Farr 38 sailboat . 19 March 2020. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200319174148/https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/farr-38-116. 19 March 2020. live.
  2. Web site: Bruce Farr. 19 March 2020. McArthur. Bruce . sailboatdata.com. 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20190701124426/https://sailboatdata.com/designer/farr-bruce. 1 July 2019. live.
  3. Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 324-325. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994.
  4. Web site: Farr 11.6/Farr 38. 31 March 2020. Farr Yacht Design. farrdesign.com. 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20190515212529/http://www.farrdesign.com/72.html. 15 May 2019. live.