Up Close and Personal with Farr 400 at Pittwater Sail Expo
by Victoria Low 1 Mar 2013 02:18 PST
16-17 March 2013
the Farr 400 will make its first boat show appearance in Australasia at the Pittwater Sail Expo © Farr 400 Class
Although its appearance and performance has been noted around Sydney Harbour since debuting with an outright win at Audi Hamilton Island Race week last August, the Farr 400 will make its first boat show appearance in Australasia when VicSail display Matt Allen's successful Ichi Ban on their stand at the Club Marine Pittwater Sail Expo over the weekend 16th and 17th March 2013.
"The boat has been seen around a lot and there have been many favourable comments about her performance and the results have been steady but this is a good opportunity to put the Farr 400 in front of a knowledgeable audience and hopefully generate some test sails and some solid quotations." Explains Micah Lane of VicSail Sydney.
"The Farr 400 is a fast performance racing boat, which we hope will develop progressively as a One Design class. It has certainly proven an exciting boat that will do a bit offshore too. We feel sure that the people who go to Sail Expo at Pittwater will be interested to see the boat up close and personal, to see how she works, including the very high standards of construction by Premier Composite Technologies."
Since the Farr 400 was launched in 2011 the class has enjoyed steady growth in spite of the slack global economy, gathering a core of like minded, enthusiastic owners who are committed to the exciting new One Design which to date has also proven competitive in the exciting new HPR 'Fast 40' fleets.
"We are committed to getting the fleet growing in Europe this summer and we already have a core commitment from owners there so we are hoping to achieve a critical mass this season, but also to attend key major European regattas to showcase the Farr 400 as the One Design for the future." Explains US based Dee Smith, Farr 400 Class Development Manager.
The Farr 400 is introduced as the next generation One Design, one that will challenge and satisfy owners for many years. Key attributes include the very quick, easily achieved performance across the wind ranges. It has already proven to be an excellent step for owners to transition from good club level classes to a pan-national or international programme. The class has never been seen as a direct replacement for the 15-year old Farr 40 though it shares some key values, being aimed at primarily amateur teams steered by an owner-driver.
Ease of transportation keep costs low and the Farr 400 fits on a 40-foot flat bed container and can be self towed, or it fits in a 40 foot open top container. The spigoted all-carbon Southern Spars rig separates for transport. The composite sheathed T-configuration keel retracts to reduce the draught from 2.9m to 1.95m.
A highly precise all-carbon epoxy infusion build produces very light, extremely evenly matched boats. All of the tooling for the Farr 400 is created in house on Premier Composite Technologies' 5-axis milling machine and weights are strictly controlled using in house "smart pack" design, a three dimensional fibre and core package made for the Farr 400.
"The Farr 400 is an exciting boat to sail, with plenty of power and stability. It is nicely balanced and easy to make perform to a top level. The unique point is that the boats are absolutely all the same, built to a tolerance that has never been seen before in a One Design. It is light and powerful, easy to travel, and the detailing is excellent." concludes Smith.
To date 13 Farr 400's have been built with boats active in the USA, Scandinavia, Europe, United Arab Emirates and Australia. VicSail will be able to facilitate further test sails for potential owners.