Fairey Swordsman 33 ft Aft cabin 1964 - Sold

Entered for the Fairey Owners’ Concours d’Elegance in 3 years out of the last 5 and winning all 3 is testament enough to WHITE SWORDSMAN’s condition. There is more to this remarkable boat however – every detail above and below deck has been sympathetically addressed without detriment to the purity of her origins or her original spirit. A labour of love definitely and this romance between owner and boat means that she is not just cosmetically impressive but the foundations – her structure, the engines and every detail inspire confidence in her as a thoroughly usable family cruiser as well – and possibly the finest original Swordsman afloat.

61 Swordsman boats were built between 1964 and 1974 at the Fairey Hamble Point factory and probably 46 are still in service today. They were produced in one of two main configurations; either open cockpit or aft cabin, as is Hull No 2; WHITE SWORDSMAN.

Gordon Procter her former owner recalled having bought her in 1969 from Peter Twiss, the former World air-speed record holder, and head of sales at Fairey Marine. Then taking a berth in Yarmouth Harbour - how she soon became known as the most used boat there. She was indeed fully occupied, plying not only the Solent but beyond to the Normandy ports and Channel Islands. It was a good life done in style with much fun, food, good wine and sport, whether waterskiing, paragliding and then - not least; racing.

In September 2007 WHITE SWORDSMAN featured in an article by Martin Smith in Classic Boat Magazine.
To see this article please click here

Swordsman hulls were made with 2.5 mm thick laminations of Agba mahogany; continuous from keel to gunwale. The bottom was constructed with nine laminations and the topsides six. Agba was preferred for its high resistance to splitting and its ability to bond well with the Borden ‘one-shot’ waterproof glue. The process began with initial layers of Agba stapled to the hull mould. Subsequent laminations were then applied, glued and positioned with staples –those to be extracted from the under skin before subsequent layers were laid over. Before placing in the oven, the entire assembly was enclosed in a thick rubber bag. Under vacuum, the bag was pulled tight over the hull’s surface and the whole assembly rolled into the autoclave. Steam in the oven raised the temperature to 100 degrees C at a pressure of around 50 psi for around half an hour. Thus the truly waterproof glue impregnated the wood completely, enabling the layers to amalgamate well without the need for a lot of staples and an extremely resilient hull was formed and left to cure for a week or so. The superstructure is also of laminated wood while the decks are teak planked and cover boards are varnished teak.

Entering by the sides or over the teak laid after deck, the spacious semi enclosed cockpit with original console has a Makrolon (high strength) screen with all round varnished mahogany handrails. A Kent screen enables visibility to the helmsman under inclement conditions. The helm to port and co pilot starboard have custom stainless steel seats upholstered in white, piped in blue with back to back guest seats facing aft. The helm position is well served with all controls and instrument near to hand.

Amidships the lifting hatch cover and louvered folding teak door reveal the saloon forward and below reached by a short companionway step ladder.

The saloon is very light in white décor, stylishly trimmed with mahogany and the whole well lit by coach roof windows forward and both sides. Soft furnishings throughout are in blue Alcantara fabric. The cabin soles are carpeted and joinery fittings – locks hinges, door handles etc in stainless steel by Timage & Co

To port are comfortable seats fore and aft and with stowage below facing the demountable Kosipo teak table which doubles as an insert to convert the seats to a double berth.

Forward of the hanging lockers set in semi bulkheads each side, lies the still spacious fore cabin. This cabin shows to full effect the benefits of its complete refit in the variety of high quality woods; new teak, ash and ply paneling combined with Kosipo, American white ash and beautifully lined with mahogany fascia but well lit from aft and above. The original vee berth has stowage drawers under both sides aft and lifting boards for’ard.

Coming aft, the galley with Plastimo Gulf 200C cooker, Top loading Coolmatic fridge freezer, stainless steel sink hot and cold water, work surfaces and stowage outboard and below, is to starboard.
Additional equipment items include:
- 2 x 220 V switched sockets
- 4 x 12 V / 24 V sockets for phone / TV / PC
- 7 x Overhead lights
- 6 x Reading lights
- Isolator switch panel and CD player
- Clock, barometer

The full height head compartment with Jabsco manual WC, and vanity mirror is abaft by the exit.

Access to the spacious aft cabin is via a hatch and companion steps from the after deck. This cabin again maintains the original layout with 2 single berths with drawers under and:
- 2 x Hanging lockers
- Opening port and skylight
- 3 x Reading lights
- 2 x 220 V sockets
- 2 x Phone / electronic device charge points

- Original (reconditioned) Simpson Lawrence 555 heavy duty anchor winch
- Delta Fast set anchor, chain and warp
- Immaculate varnished burgee mast with radar scanner
- Original chrome mushroom vents
- Stanchions and lifelines with gates port and starboard
- Gebo clear screen custom made hatches over saloon and aft cabin
- Immaculate varnished handrails
- Deck shower with hot and cold water beside gas locker
- Full blue acrylic canvas Flexicover cockpit bimini with sides unzipping
- All over beige waterproof / breathable easy access cover by Sanders Sails for storage
- Transom swimming ladder
- Ensign staff

- Twin Perkins Sabre M 265 Ti units installed 1999. (585 hours)
- Cruising between 18 to 20 knots (@ 2,500 rpm). Max speed exceeds 30 knots
- Consumption each engine circa 7 gph at cruising speed and 11 gph at 25-30 knots
- New 4 bladed bronze propellors
- Calorifier to serve new hot/ cold water system
- 240 V supplementary immersion water heating
- Morse engine controls
- All original Fairey instruments refurbished and recalibrated
- Morven battery auto charger
- 4 x 24 V Deep cycle heavy duty batteries 2009; (2 engine, 2 domestic)
- Shore power system
- Automatic isolator bilge pump system with 4 pumps in 3 chambers
- Manual bilge pump in cockpit
- 12 V cigar lighter type outlet sockets; 3 in main cabin, 2 in aft cabin
(All external and internal light fittings by Timage & Co)
- Wing fuel tanks each 85 gallons / 386 litres
- Stainless steel water tank 40 gallons / 182 litres

- Furuno Navnet GPS / chart plotter
- Furuno Navigator Dual view GPS / Radar, dome and remote installed 2008
- Furuno DSC / VHF
- B&G Network Quad (Speed, depth, Log, water temp)
- Plastimo steering compass
- Sony stereo / CD / radio

- Avon R240 life raft (2005 and used only once + bags) with Yamaha 5 outboard (2004)
- 6 man Avon Ocean canister life raft new in 2006
- 2 x U life rings
- Gas sensor alarm
- Engine exhaust heat alarms
- Life jackets; Crewsaver Crewfit 1 x 275N, 3 x 150N auto gas and harness + lights.
- Offshore flares canister

From 2001 the current owner has undertaken regular maintenance as well as restoration and refitting, comprehensive details of which are available for examination.

Documentation includes British Registry certificate, MCA Pleasure boat licence for up to 8 persons Solent 3 valid to 30 June 2010 and post refit surveyors report May 2006. From this we quote David Hopkins: “……nearing completion of an extensive re-fit and all work is to a high standard. It is my opinion that this vessel is without doubt one of the best of her type around”

To see more of WHITE SWORDSMAN please click here

Alongside WHITE SWORDSMAN a rare 1964 Fairey Falcon 16 ft sailing dinghy and trailer is also offered for sale for an additional £5,000. Acquired from her original owner in 2007 and fully restored in 2008, including new mast and all rigging by Chris Somner with Harken blocks, she also has new sails and logo by Sanders Sails. Sailed only twice she is immaculate.

VAT is payable on this boat