Fairlie Yachts is synonymous with big-yacht restorations
and Fifes. These days, it does a lot more besides
STORY STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES PHOTOS SHMH AND WATERLINE MEDIA
LESSONS
IN FIFE
F
or one of the best known classic yacht restoration
and build yards in Britain – no, the world – the
façade of Fairlie Yachts is not wildly imposing. The
sign affi xed to the front of the big corrugated-metal shed
within Port Hamble Marina is the only indication that
this place is synonymous with the classic yacht revival
and, particularly, the legacy of William Fife III.
Upstairs in the workmanlike meeting room whose
only concession to décor is a large ring frame mounted on
the wall, as good an emblem of cold-moulding as any, I
sit down with Paul Spooner to get the lowdown on recent
developments. Paul is a naval architect who, with founder
and boatbuilder Duncan Walker, runs the company. With
his longish blond hair and outdoorsy complexion, he
looks more like a foredeck man or a surfer than a yacht
designer. Given Fairlie’s almost unprecedented run of
world-class Fife yacht restorations since the very start, it
seemed reasonable to ask the big questions that one must
normally affect indifference to in order to cultivate an
aura of worldliness, like: where is classic sailing at?
What’s the future of traditional boatbuilding and
restorations? Even the restorations/replica debate.
But fi rst of all, some big news. The fi rst Fairlie 53 is
out and fi nished, in time for our 2016 Awards, where
she’s shortlisted. She’s a strip-plank and epoxy beauty
with a very low-profi le cabin trunk (the modern
underwater profi le does not allow a fl ush deck with
standing headroom at this size). The boat was completely
custom-built from the hull up, for a discerning owner
who plans to cruise the world, mostly solo. So, unlike
the Fairlie 55 built fi ve years ago (a “bulb-keeled fl ying
machine” in Paul’s words), the 53 is a “good, solid,
fi n-and-skeg, fast cruising yacht of 16 tonnes.”There has been some interest shown in a new 55 – a
yacht that Paul sees as having more general appeal than
the 53 – and the 77 which so far exists only on paper. It
seems that the 2012 name change after Fairlie Restorations
went into administration (CB288) has been justifi ed.
The change from ‘Restorations’ to ‘Yachts’ was also
partly a refl ection of the way Paul and Duncan thought the
wind was blowing at the time. With so many of the big
yacht restorations having been done – many by Fairlie
Restorations itself, of course, “we were putting ourselves
out of business,” said Paul with a chuckle. “There are
some left [a good example is the work starting on the
largest wooden Herreshoff yacht in existence – see last
month’s Yard News] but there is also a limited number of
people who want them.” In other words there is a thriving
secondhand market with many in circulation changing
hands regularly to satisfy the often temporary demands of
those few sailors who want and can afford them.
It’s also a testament to the strength of Fairlie’s
restorations that yachts it restored 10 or 20 or 30 years
ago have ‘stayed restored’. Financial suicide of course, but
good boatbuilding. In other words the change to the Fairlie
Yachts name was a refl ection of the growing trend for
Spirit of Tradition (SoT) yachts.
The reality has turned out slightly differently. The SoT
side is gaining pace. But who could have predicted the
sudden and enormous boom in huge motor yacht
restorations? Restorations of grand vessels like Nahlin,
Shemara, Lady Hertha, Bluebird of Chelsea and RS
Eden absorb tens of millions of pounds, and Fairlie has
been appointed for much of the fi ne joinery work these
big jobs have entailed. Then there’s the pure design work
that Paul will take on, currently working on a 50ft (15m)YARD VISIT
FAIRLIE
YACHTSFacing page, top row: re-coppering Kentra’s hull; Mariquita interior; bevelling laminated frames
Second row: Preparing rudder fi ttings on a newly-restored 8-M; replica deck hatches for a superyacht restoration; restored wheel
Third row: Blue print for Dodo IV, an interesting Fife oddity; Fife’s volumetric calculations; Keelson detail on Helen
Fourth row: Fine-fairing of new hull planks; interior detail from Fairlie 53; painting the name on the transom