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Article on Farr 11 "Stray
Dog" posted 10/01/07
www.sailinganarchy.com
Good Dog?
Our friend Boyd Tomkies, from
Compete At Sailing
send us this brief report from sailing on the new Farr 11.
After months of waiting, today was
D-day for the new Farr 11,“Stray Dog”. It was a typical day on the
Chesapeake, 3-4kt’s, gusting to 5-6kt’s. Not quite the ideal sailing
conditions, but no one cared, we had a new boat ready for her maiden
sail.
With the blind leading the blind and a stack of 8.5
x11’s from the Farr office with cant angles, VPP predictions and polars,
we hoisted sails to see what she would do..
We bobbed around the bay from puff to puff looking
for that extra bit of wind to see what we could get out of her. We
didn’t see the wind we wanted, but we did get a glimpse of Stray Dog’s
potential.
From time to time we got little puffs which required
us to cant the boat, a little cant, and she instantaneously accelerated.
What a great feeling. No doubt she is going to be a blast in breeze.
This pure sex machine has it all, PBO standing
rigging, monster main sail with big roach, curved spreaders allowing
bigger non over lapping jibs, canards, twin rudders and carbon
everywhere. I’m thoroughly impressed with the canting mechanism. From
center to full cant it is less than 3 or 4 seconds. It’s like putting
five guys on the rail in 4 seconds.
We sailed with six on board and it was very easy to
sail, but there was a learning curve. In addition to being a new boat,
she presents new tasks: canard up, rudder down, cant keel. By the end of
our sail we had a routine. It was a pleasure to drive and felt different
from a Farr40 or Farr36, I suspect that is because of the mechanics of
having twin rudders and the others boats being direct tiller to rudder.
The built quality, lamination and
finish work is first class, This builder has an eye for detail. All in
all, the boat exceeded my expectations. Those Farr boys really know how
to design a great boat, yacht design has come along way from the days
when I raced around the world on
Maiden.
The Fall series starts this Saturday, let’s hope for
some breeze! |
