Burmester 1/4 Ton

Designer’s Notes

Farr was commissioned by Burmester of Germany to design a 1/4 Ton boat for production in cold molded vacuum formed timber. Following his participation in the 1975 Admiral's Cup, aboard GERONTIUS, the young designer traveled to Germany to visit his new client - his first from outside New Zealand or Australia. Despite a language barrier, Farr recognized that his work should commence immediately, and set up a drawing board in the boat yard. He worked around the clock, having confusing and enjoyable conversations with the builders during the day and the cleaning staff at night. After 6 days' toil, Farr produced a set of plans, complete with construction details, all drawings conveying the appropriate instructions to build the boat, and these became the workshop drawings for the factory. In general, the concept of this design was a development of the FARR 727 (which had just won the World Championships in France), but was more oriented towards the lighter winds of Europe, with more sail area and shorter rated waterline length. Many boats were built by the yard, including "45 Degrees South II," and race successes included Kiel Week, 1976. Rule changes in 1977, however, penalized this design, along with its 1/2 and 1 Ton sisters (Designs Nos. 54 and 51).