Ray Scragg, UKWA Magazine Editor, has kindly provided us with the following two informative pieces that appear in the Spring 2008 issue (#112). Even if you are not based in the UKWA area, may I just say that I think it would be worthwhile for any keen Wayfarer sailor to join the UKWA just to be put in the mailing list for this lovely, professional-quality, full-colour Magazine which appears quarterly. Membership details here.

We had all heard that a new Wayfarer was on the way, but when the first Hartley was seen at the Lymington Nationals, people were taken aback.  Most thought that the deck was fine: it looked modern and the construction had been simplified to lower cost, but they just could not accept that transom. It had a fair curve from chine to chine unlike the angular transoms we are accustomed to. It was clear, too, that the chines were low.  Subsequently, much more has been found about the origin of the new boat, and it is these findings that have caused many to reconsider their positions.

With the demise of Porter Brothers, the class had no builder; furthermore, the tooling had become very tired. Hartley Laminates said they would retool the boat but only if they owned the copyright to ensure the safety of the considerable investment that was necessary to bring the Wayfarer up to date. The +S had a perception that it was not as quick a boat as the woodies. That perception was not justified as the +S performs perfectly well, as was demonstrated at the Worlds last year. But, it was not selling. A new approach had to be made. The UKWA Committee unanimously agreed that the new boat should be a more modern one and should be made to be as fast as the fastest wooden boats. Hartley Laminates then acquired the copyright of the Wayfarer from Ian Proctor Designs Limited.

Hartley Laminates commissioned Phil Morrison to accomplish the difficult task of fulfilling that brief. Many boats had been measured over the years and drawings made of them. What is clear from them is that there are many different shapes of Wayfarer that have measurement certificates and have raced, and are still racing. Part of the mix of these resulting drawings was the original drawing by Ian Proctor. To add significantly to the problem, if a boat was made exactly to Ian Proctor's original drawing, it would not get a certificate, as it would not meet the measurement rules at the transom!  Another detail that could be noted from that drawing was that he had indicated a definite lateral curvature of the bottom panels at the transom of some 12 mm. It was also not a simple radius, as the curvature was drawn to be tighter towards the chine itself. This helped to validate the introduction of more curvature on the Hartley than had been achieved on all other Wayfarers.

Put simply, there are Wayfarers that have waterlines that are variously slimmer, wider, longer and shorter than the Hartley Wayfarer. The Hartley is a very fair boat with an even rocker that gives a sweeter profile than many other Wayfarers. What is abundantly clear is that there is no such thing as a standard Wayfarer. While the glassfibre models are all of the same two hull shapes, wood boats vary because they were assembled from supplied parts and built on a jig by amateurs as well as professionals. Even the professionally built boats vary, and as might be expected, the amateur built ones vary even more.

Patterns for the new boat were made and production moulds cast. The first boat was checked by Ken Kershaw and Cliff Norbury of the RYA and found to be a Wayfarer. That particular boat had been joined by putting the deck on the hull while the hull moulding was still in the mould, and so confirming the shape at the stern.  Subsequent boats were joined out of the hull mould with disastrous consequences for the shape at the back. It must be understood that the hull moulding has no transom: the transom is formed by a part of the deck moulding and is joined at a flange around the bottom of the boat. The flange is purposely made to leave a gap between the mouldings so that a gap-filling adhesive can be used. If the two mouldings were a close fit, the resulting flange would be too thin and weak for a heavy boat like a Wayfarer. This gap left plenty of opportunity for the transom shape to vary when the boats were joined out of the mould.

It is important for everyone to understand the legal relationship of the Copyright Holder, the Builder and the Association. The Copyright Holder can have produced to his specification what he likes and call it a Wayfarer regardless of the views of others. The Association had to accept that the +S was a Wayfarer because Ian Proctor said it was. No measurement was necessary. The Copyright Holder issues the licence to build the boats, and the Association has never had any say in that respect. Hartley Laminates is both the Copyright Holder and the Builder. You may not approve of the idea, but if they say it's a Wayfarer, it's a Wayfarer. The most that the Association could do is to approve it or otherwise for the events they organise.

After the controversies surrounding the Hartleys that showed up for the Worlds, Hartley Laminates agreed that the moulds would be modified so that the sterns would conform to the rules that apply to wood boats, but would not allow any other amendments, as the development cost had already exceeded their budget.  A further complication arose because there was no scribe line on the hull moulding to trim to after the boats were finally joined. The result is that some of the early boats are different lengths. These are all production errors that either have been, or are being addressed.

Even when assembled in the mould, the Hartley's original stern did not conform to the rules for the transom of a wood boat. So a pattern has been modified so that the boat is made capable of measuring. Hartleys supplied a moulding of a boat to use as a pattern, and this has been cut along the chines so that they could be adjusted to conform to the wood boat rules. There is a limit to the adjustment that could reasonably be made without unacceptable distortion creeping in. The new hulls will have scribe lines to cut to which, if followed accurately, will ensure that all boats will measure. With one chine measurement being 3 mm more than the minimum and the other 3 mm less than the maximum, precise trimming is a necessity, and that has been made clear to the builder.  The bottom chine has also been raised to be 4 mm more than the minimum allowed.

(As we go to press this pattern work is now finished and the 1st set of production moulds have been cast.  The mould now includes a right angle flange which 'locks in' the intended stern shape.  The first hull is expected to be complete by end of March.)

There was another matter that was of much concern, and that was for our future events. If the members of the UKWA rejected the Hartley as a Wayfarer, then Hartley Laminates would go ahead and make their own racing circuit. It might take some time to get fully established, but it would happen nonetheless. Classic Wayfarers would be invited to join in. Inevitably meanwhile, a separate Wayfarer circuit would continue its decline with no builder of new boats to help prevent it.  If the Hartley proved to be a superior performer, there would be no incentive for Hartleys to make any provision for the older Wayfarers to ensure fair racing on the Hartley controlled circuit. On the other hand if the racing is kept within the control of the UKWA/WIC, it can take such measures as it sees fit to ensure enjoyable and fair competition. That was the deciding factor in getting many to change their minds about the adoption of the Hartley. In their wisdom, that is the conclusion that the majority of owners came to at the AGM.

UKWA Publicity Officer, Roy Burnham, talks to Richard & Mark Hartley.

A. We now have a major problem which we have already started to address. The UKWA requirements necessitate extensive new tooling, the production of which has been started by Ian Porter. Firstly, the plug will be changed and a new mould developed from that. Once the tooling has been completed, the new design will need building, fitting out and testing. This is not a short process, but we are doing our best to meet our customers' requests in the shortest time possible. We will not compromise on quality, so we are hoping that potential purchasers of our new racing boats will be patient for a little longer! We already have a queue of 58 people waiting for the cruising/training boats plus several requests for the new racing boat when it is built.

A. It was a great show for Hartley Laminates. We now have an extensive range of boats together with a reputation for quality and service and our shows are always busy.

A. At the moment we have more orders than we can cope with, so advertising is not our highest priority. We will however wish to promote our range of boats during the year.

A. We encourage all our customers to visit us at our premises in Derby. This allows them to see how their boat has been made, together with spending quality time with each new purchaser to ensure he or she thoroughly understands their new boat in order that they feel confident from the very start.  They can even erect their mast and sails on site to ensure they are pleased with their investment, and visit our new chandlery to ensure they have all the gear they need.

A. Our target is to grow to 100 per year next year. Racing boats take longer to build than cruisers because of their ultra-stiff foam sandwich construction, so a lot will depend on the mix between racers and cruisers. We plan to run with a full order book. We are also designing a new boat tent for the boat.

A. I should firstly like to thank the UKWA for their past support and would ask that this continues. I now look forward, with them, to a bright future for the new Wayfarer.

A. Our first task will to work with the racing secretary to ensure the main trophies are fully 'presentable' in appearance and status.  To start with, we offer a new trophy for the overall winner of the five National Circuit events.

A. We will not be running a closed shop! We supply Selden and Superspar masts which can also be ordered via distributors. We are developing with Hyde sails to supply them at a good price with the boats. We encourage competition through distributors for both masts and sails but will be very happy to provide the complete products ourselves if the customer prefers.

A. The new Hartley Wayfarer is a combination of the late Mr Ian Proctor's excellent design brought up to date by the current best designer, Mr Phil Morrison, using the latest technology in design and building practices. The result is that we still have, in my belief the most stable and seaworthy sixteen-foot dinghy in the market - but with a modern and appealing deck layout. The other major improvements which are all designed to make the boat more user-friendly, are the lowering of the centreboard case together with moving the thwart further aft in the boat to make crewing much more pleasurable. The additional rear drainage tubes coupled with the changes to the boat's buoyancy means that the Wayfarer can now be easily righted from capsize with very little effort and without the aid of a bucket to bail out water.