Need advice on a cold molded Farr-

[Larry M]

We are considering a cold molded custon Farr 44 that was built by the owner about 10 years ago. The boat can be seen at: http://www.dessick.photosite.com/
How hard is this going to be to insure given that it was not built my a known yard/builder? What should I be looking out for? [/url]

[Tim]

I would think that with a good survey, there shouldn't be any problem insuring it. Though, I would not mention it being built by a home builder, if not asked. I'd simply submit it as a Farr 44...

[Rick Beddoe]

This boat was home built? It's quite a remarkable boat. Someone was very handy!

Our insurance company required documentation (whether state or CG documented). For CG registration, the name and location of the builder is required. Not sure about state registration.

If the boat was already CG documented, see what they have listed there. You could probably just put Farr as the manufacturer and the builder's address as location.

When shopping for insurance, companies had a difficult time finding Baba 30 so we used a Tayana 37.

[Fred]

Any attempt to mislead the insurance company will probably result in a denial of any claiml you may make. Be very up front and honest....insurance companies all always looking for a way to deny a claim.

You might also try this question on the new threaded Crusing Sailors BB at

http://www.cs-bb.com/forums/CSBB/index.cgi/#12001

IT'S WHERE IT'S AT!

[Rick Beddoe]

Fred,

You're going to alienate potential members of your bbs by continuing to do this. You can plug your bbs by simply putting the link in your signature.

You're giving the impression that folks on the CSBB are a bit insecure.

[Tim]

IT'S WHERE IT'S AT!

Any time I see that claim, I go the other way.

[Jeff H]

That looks like a great boat.

Are you sure that she was home built? There were a number of cold molded Farrs that have been professionally built over the years. You might try to contact Graham Williams at Farr's office (410) 267-0780. He really knows the boats of that era and has been very generous in answering questions about my Farr 11.6. I personally like cold molding but have taken a cold molded boat to survey only to find delamination in the area around the keel sump where bilgewater and motor oil had gotten into the laminations. I would check that area very carefully as it is a very high stress area where water is likely to be present.

If you are looking for a glass version of this boat, yachtworld lists an 89 model, albeit in a pretty ugly color scheme.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/pl_boat_full_detail.jsp?slim=quick&boat_id=1341751&units=Feet&currency=USD&access=Public&listing_id=67631&url=

Good luck,
Jeff

[Jeff H]

Someone asked me on another venue if I thoght that this was an oudated design. My reply which follows may prove helpful.

Bruce Farr's office has almost always designed cruising oriented boats in addition to the race boats foir which they are better known. Back in the late 1970's and into the early 1980's he designed a series of really neat distance and family cruisers. My Farr 11.6 was part of that series. Over time, as new models were added, their designs became more and more sophisticated. Farr's office continued to refine some of their older designs as well with more sophiticated keels and rigs so there are a lot of versions of these boats out there.

I do not have first hand experience with the Farr 44 but the Farr 44's look like one of these late 70's early 1980's era designs. Farr's designs of that era had a lot of wetted surface, quicker motion, and less efficient keels as compared to Farr's newer cruising designs but they also have a lot of really appealing aspects. Their Vee'd bow sections vs. the newer U shaped sections seen on boats like the Beneteau First 40.7 offer a gentler ride in a chop.

As I have said before, the engineering on Farr's boats of that era was extremely impressive. When I look at the drawings and the execution on my boat, I am dazzled at the level of detail and the quality of the design work. These are amazingly tough boats, especially when you consider how light they are. (The Farr 44 is 4000 lbs lighter than a J-44 for example.)

Farr's cruisers of that era were shallower draft than the higher performance boats of today and a bit more squirrelly, but the seem to be nicely ballanced and easy to handle. They do not have the higher stability of the newer bulb keel designs, but they also do not carry the sail area/ displacement ratios of the newer boats.

So in my opinion they are not obsolete as cruising boats, because they are still very seaworthy and easily handled designs, even if they do not offer quite the performance and ease of handling of Farr's newer work.

The other point here is that there are very few boats in that size and price range that offer anywhere near the balance of comfort, engineering, and performance that these boats offer. This was the heart of the IOR era and so these are wildly advanced designs for their day. If I wanted a boat that size and could afford to spend the money I would probably have these boats at or near the top of my list.

Best wishes,
Jeff

[Rick Beddoe]

Great info Jeff. For some reason, I didn't realize Bruce had been designing boats for so long. Bruce Farr's website actually has a small blurb about Design #89 44'3" (13.5m) Cruising Sloop (http://www.farrdesign.com/089.htm)

[Jeff H]

Bruce started out designing boats at a very young age. I think that he is a contempory of Ron Holland in much the same way that Mark Soverel, Ray Creekmore, Paul Lindenberg, and Carl Schumaker were contemporaries in this country.

The thing that amazes me about Farr was how much of a breakthrough his early designs really were, and although there clearly has been an evolution in his design work, his early work like the 727 and 11.6 seem to anticipate the direction that all yacht designers seemed to have gone over time. I still think that his later design, 'Goucho' will be one of those water shed designs in the same league as Glorianna, Dorade, Finnesterre, the Cal 40's, Ganbare, and the J-24, which all dramatically altered the direction of yacht design.

BTW I visited your website. Are you a fellow practitioner of the black art of architecture?

Jeff

[Rick Beddoe]

Jeff,

Practitioner...you could say that. Actually, I'm a designer in a much broader, much black-artsy sense. A dilettante would be a bit more accurate. :wink:

It was interesting to see the influence Bruce Farr's organization has had from one of the Swan designers. There was an 84 footer Farr designed in the mid 80s that looks a lot like the Swan "deck saloon" boats built in the late 90s.