The Farr 38, also called the Farr 11.6m, is a

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

that was designed by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

er Bruce Farr as a racer-

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

and first built in 1978. It is

Farr Yacht Design Farr Yacht Design, founded by Bruce Farr in Auckland, New Zealand, is a racing yacht design firm based in Annapolis, Maryland, United States. The firm is led by Patrick Shaughnessy. Its yachts measure from to . Farr develops custom and produc ...

number 72.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 324-325. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. 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.

Production

The design was built on a production basis in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, New Zealand and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. It was built by 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.

Design

The Farr 38 is a recreational keelboat, built predominantly of cold-moulded

wood Wood is a porous and fibrous structural tissue found in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulose fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin th ...

, finished with

epoxy Epoxy is the family of basic components or cured end products of epoxy resins. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides, are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers which contain epoxide groups. The epoxide functional group is also coll ...

and polyurethane and fibreglass. It has a fractional

sloop A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig, and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sa ...

rig with polyurethane-painted

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

spars, a

raked stem The stem is the most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself. It is often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively. Description The stem is the curved edge stretching from the keel below, up to ...

, a

reverse transom A transom is the vertical reinforcement which strengthens the stern of a boat. This flat termination of the stern is typically above the waterline. The term was used as far back as Middle English in the 1300s, having come from Latin ''transvers ...

, an internally mounted spade-type

rudder A rudder is a primary control surface used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft, or other vehicle that moves through a fluid medium (generally aircraft, air or watercraft, water). On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to ...

controlled by a

tiller A tiller or till is a lever used to steer a vehicle. The mechanism is primarily used in watercraft, where it is attached to an outboard motor, rudder post or stock to provide leverage in the form of torque for the helmsman to turn the rudder. ...

or optional

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction wi ...

and a fixed fin

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

. It displaces and carries of ballast. The boat has a draft of with the standard keel fitted. The boat is fitted with a Pathfinder

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

of for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds and the fresh water tank has a capacity of . 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 A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be used ...

is located on the starboard side at the foot of the

companionway In the architecture of a ship, a companion or companionway is a raised and windowed hatchway in the ship's deck, with a ladder leading below and the hooded entrance-hatch to the main cabins. A companionway may be secured by doors or, commonly in ...

steps and features a two-burner

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...

stove and an oven. Pressurized water and a refrigerator were factory options. The navigation station is to port, opposite the galley. The

head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

is located just aft of the bow cabin, on the port side and includes a shower. Sail controls include four halyard winches, two secondary and two primary

jib A jib is a triangular sail that sets ahead of the foremast of a sailing vessel. Its tack is fixed to the bowsprit, to the bows, or to the deck between the bowsprit and the foremost mast. Jibs and spinnakers are the two main types of headsails ...

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 A traveller is a part of the rigging of a boat or ship that provides a moving attachment point for a rope, sail or yard to a fixed part of the vessel. It may take the form of anything from a simple ring on a metal bar or a spar to, especially in a ...

is mounted on the bridge deck and

genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

tracks and lead blocks are provided. The boat can be fitted with a

spinnaker A spinnaker is a sail designed specifically for sailing off the wind on courses between a reach (wind at 90° to the course) to downwind (course in the same direction as the wind). Spinnakers are constructed of lightweight fabric, usually n ...

for downwind sailing.

Anodized Anodizing is an electrolytic passivation process used to increase the thickness of the natural oxide layer on the surface of metal parts. The process is called ''anodizing'' because the part to be treated forms the anode electrode of an electro ...

spars and a wooden deck made from cedar were also factory options. The design has a

PHRF Performance Handicap Racing Fleet (PHRF) is a handicapping system used for yacht racing in North America. It allows dissimilar classes of sailboats to be raced against each other. The aim is to cancel out the inherent advantages and disadvantages ...

racing average handicap of 83.

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."

References

{{Reflist Keelboats 1970s sailboat type designs Sailing yachts Sailing yachts built in New Zealand Sailing yachts of Australia Sailboat type designs by Bruce Farr Sailboat types built by Spindrift Yacht Inc Sailboat types built by Marina Bracuhy

Production

Design

Operational history

See also

References