Fairey Falcon and Fairey Faun

martyns · Post by **martyns** » Wed Jan 12, 2005 8:46 pm

I have recently bought a boat that was advertised as a Fairey Falcon, but after research, I now believe it to be a Fairey Faun that has been converted to sail. However, it is just possible that the boat was constructed as a "pocket cruiser" from the beginning. Some sources state that Fairey did make such a boat, based on the Fairy Falcon hull, but there seems to be no information about what these boats were called and how many were made (if any).

My boat does not have a centreboard and there is no evidence that she ever had one, which makes me wonder whether she is a Faun that has been converted. She certainly does not seem to be a Falcon with a lid.

There seems to be little information available on these interesting boats and I wonder how many are left and where they all might be. I'm not sure if Fairey kept good records and believe that hull numbers may not tell us very much (I have no idea where to look for the hull number on mine and there appears to be no maker's plate.)

Tony Hamilton-Hunt very kindly sent me some information on the Faun and I have managed to find quite a lot about Charles Stock's "Shoal Waters" but apart from that the trail has gone pretty cold.

Are there any other owners of boats based on the Falcon/Faun hull out there? If there are, then can we communicate and maybe meet - we are almost certainly an endangered species. Perhaps we should consider attempting to compile a register of existing boats before they all disappear or rot away in gardens and boat yard corners!

Best Regards
Martyn

tonyhh · Post by **tonyhh** » Thu Jan 13, 2005 9:36 am

Hi Martyn,
Sad to say that I am not up on the Sailing side of the boats but I am sure that I can offer some help and will e-mail you with a few numbers to call.
As regards production lists, the ones I have for the power boats and surprisingly the Fisherman were at the time fairly comprehensive but often lacked certain details. But at least we had something to work with and it gave us a very good starting point.
Have a look at http://www.tradboat.co.uk
Hopefully some of the people with Fauns who visited the old forum will come on here again and re-kindle the topic
Tony

Hugo · Post by **Hugo** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:15 pm

According to Charles Stock's excellent website there were at least two firms in the early sixties completing "Fairey Falcon hulls with tiny cabins, the Bristol Venturer and the Sea Hawk". The Faun was a pretty little cabin cruiser, but should be recognisable as such because it had, I think, a cut-out transom to allow fitting of a standard shaft outboard.

The only Faun I knew was one that lived in Brixham and was owned by a middle-aged gent of ample proportions, who thought that appropriate garb while standing at the helm was a g-string and nothing else. Unusual in 1963.

Our family had a Falcon from about 1961 until perhaps 1966 or so, and I taught myself to sail in it. I have now come full circle and bought the remains of another one, which I hope will be the basis of an easily trailed camping cruiser for my old age!

I would be most interested in participating any group that would take an interest in these wonderful boats, perhaps at least trying to collect and preserve whatever information there is remaining.

DanL · Post by **DanL** » Tue Dec 19, 2006 7:40 am

Hi Folks,

I bought a Fairey Falcon daysailor earlier this year and have had a very pleasant season sailing on the river dart where I keep her on a trot mooring. I too have been searching for information and found Charles Stocks site discussing 'Shaol Waters', his pocket cruiser built on a Falcon hull see: http://shoal-waters.moonfruit.com/ and promptly ordered and enjoyed is book 'Cruising just for fun', I was also sent some scans of Falcon lines from an early book of dinghy designs (thanks!) I have converted these to vector if anyone is interested in scalaeble/printable plans for these boats. I am very interested in seeing versions that had a small cabin, or details of the rig, I understand she carries the same rig as an Albacore on which there is far more information online for those rescuing/restoring these excellent boats. The Falcon is a pleasure to sail, plenty of room for a family and picnic, rewarding to sail single handed and I can testify to the robustness and practicality of the design. There is a little more info on Uffa Fox designs here: http://www.boats.com/content/boat-artic ... entid=1184

Dan

andrewr · Post by **andrewr** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:43 pm

Hello All
Great to hear of some interest in the Fairey Falcon. I have had one on a mooring in Chichester harbour for a year and there are at least 2 others in the harbour. One of which races and wins the Bosham day boat fleet. See the Bosham sailing club website. I have heard that the Faun came first and the centreboard case was added from a Swordfish the rig from the Albacore. She is a great boat to sail and sits well at a mooring. What about a sailing wing of the Fairey Owners Association for those people with boats not covered by class websites?

Gordon Currey · Post by **Gordon Currey** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 9:54 pm

Fairey only made Faun's & Falcon's but sold a lot of shells. Before that the RBYC in Bermuda had six launchs from an increased shear height Dutchman hull one or two more stayed in uk with the morris motor. This hull had a sail and was called the mudlark only one was made. If you look at the Boat Show photos of them on the stand, you can see why.

Gordon Currey · Post by **Gordon Currey** » Sun Jan 07, 2007 10:02 pm

Mrs Bobbie Currey (wife of the original 1946 employee of Fairey) in her 90th year sailing her Falcon at Bosham Classic week with the original 1959 blue sails by Williams of Hamble,just disappeared away into the leed. Behind was another Falcon with new North sails, of the three Falcons sailing she carries a 10min in the hour handycap - but still she gets the cup!

floman · Post by **floman** » Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:14 pm

I bought a Fairey Faun last July at the Trad Boat Rally at Henley on Thames. She is in excellent condition but has been converted to inboard. She has a Stuart Turner P55 two stroke twin engine but I understand she was originally restored with a single. I have several pictures of her restoration, in fact they are on a CD. I would be interested in hearing from anyone who owns a Faun. I have just applied for membership of the Fairey Owners Club but looking at the web site it would appear that very little information is available.