Motor progress

The new motor is a Kubota D850 three-cylinder diesel, marinised by Westerbeke as the Universal M25.

The first task was to strip it and assess the condition.  The rings were seized in the ring lands in the pistons, and there was therefore no compression.  A full rebuild was in order.  The bores were excellent, hardly worn at all, which is typical of leisure marine engines - they hardly do any hours.  Corrosion and neglect kill them, not wear.  A full set of main and big-end bearings, rings, gaskets, as well as new injectors and glow plugs, were fitted.

Fair Maid, like most leisure craft, has a "wet" exhaust.  This means that cooling water is injected into the engine exhaust and leaves the boat with the exhaust gases.  The exhaust system is therefore "cool" (relatively, anyway) and is not a fire hazard.  The Westerbeke/Universal engine has a coolant header tank which envelops the engine exhaust manifold, and at the exit of this assembly the sea water is directed into the exhaust itself via the tube atop this green exhaust elbow.  This elbow is actually a Volvo Penta unit adapted for the task. 

New engine mounts were fabricated, using the old engine as a template, so that the new engine mounts would "land" in exactly the same place in the boat, simplifying and speeding up the installation.

First start:

Some paint:

The next step was to procure a heat exchanger and mount that to the motor.  The old Volvo Penta MD7A was raw water cooled, meaning that fresh water (sea or river) is taken into the cooling jacket, circulated, and then expelled through the wet exhaust.  The new motor is coolant-cooled, meaning the raw water does not touch the engine, but instead is taken in via a sea-cock, pumped through a heat exchanger, then expelled via the wet exhaust.  This is a much superior system, in that the engine is not subject to salty water and the resultant corrosion.  Instead, the engine is cooled by normal anti-freeze and corrosion-inhibiting coolant, and the sea water cools the coolant via the heat exchanger.

Here is the heat exchanger being mounted.  The approach was to mount everything together to create an engine/transmission/heat exchanger "package" to reduce installation difficulty and time.  Ideally we will be able to drop the package into the boat and simply hook everything up.

Eric Cox Sea Spray Magazine Advertisements

Two adverts here, one for H.E. Cox naval architect, and one for specific plans from H.E. Cox.

Eric Cox Sea Spray Adverts

Eric Cox - a similar design

Another Eric Cox design, this one looking like a younger sister of Fair Maid!

26' Eric Cox Sloop

Design profile

Fair Maid was built in 1951, and a sister ship was built shortly afterwards, named Santa Maria.

This is from The West Australian newspaper, Tue 16 Feb 1954:

Santa Maria, the Bermudian sloop which won the Fremantle to Bunbury and return yacht race last weekend, was specially designed in New Zealand for fast ocean cruising in moderate to heavy weather.

For handicap purposes in the race her time correction factor was computed at 0.660. T.C.F. is a working rate based on the time the sloop takes to cover a nautical mile.

In addition to the sails shown in the silhouette of Santa Maria (above) the yacht carried a Genoa jib (150 sq. ft.) and a small parachute spinnaker (450 sq. ft).  The cabin is roomy and deep, providing full head room.

Eric Cox, Fair Maid's designer

The following reply arrived this morning from the NZ Maritime Museum:


Hi John,

Thanks for your enquiry. While we don’t have any plans or other collection items relating to Eric Cox’s designs, I have managed to track down what may be the original article, see attached. There was an article by H. E. Cox in an issue from April 1949, but it was for an 18 footer, so I wonder if this article from 1951 is the one you were looking for? Aside from these two, there were no other articles by or about a Cox design in the 1949-50 issues.

Sea Spray 15 June 1951 v. 6 no. 7 pp. 12-15

The fee for answering this request is $NZ15.00. The payment can be made by credit card on the Museum website at:www.maritimemuseum.co.nz/library-research-fee.

Best regards
Danielle


Danielle Carter
Archives & Library Manager
Bill Laxon Maritime Library
New Zealand Maritime Museum

PO Box 3141, Auckland 1140, New Zealand
Corner Quay & Hobson Streets, Viaduct Harbour, Auckland
DDI: +64 9 373 0810  
www.maritimemuseum.co.nz

From: John
Sent: Monday, 7 August 2017 3:55 p.m.
To: NZ Maritime Museum Info <info@maritimemuseum.co.nz>
Subject: Information request

Good afternoon,

I am researching the history of my yacht, which was designed by Eric Cox of Christchurch and built in Cottesloe Western Australia in 1951.  The original owner's son is now 86, and he recalls that his father saw the design featured in Sea Spray magazine and decided to purchase the plans from Cox.  The magazine would have been circa 1949-1950, and the yacht is a 30 footer (perhaps a 32 footer with rig extensions) with a waterline length of 25'.  Would you have old issues of Sea Spray magazine, or any of Eric Cox's plans or other paraphernalia in your collection?

I called Sea Spray magazine's current number but it's disconnected.

________________________________________________________

Unfortunately, this is not the design that Fair Maid was built to, so the search continues.

History

Fair Maid was built by Johansen in Cottesloe, and launched in 1951. The man who commissioned her was David Lesslie, a Scot from Dundee, hence the name Fair Maid, a reference to Sir Walter Scott's Waverley novel, Fair Maid of Perth. I like that, cultured yet subtle. David saw the design featured in Sea Spray magazine, and purchased the plans from Eric Cox of Christchurch NZ. In '52 and '53 she participated in the annual Fremantle-Bunbury and return race. I suspect that winning it was David Lesslie's dream, but sadly not to be fulfilled.

David suffered a heart attack a few years after launching the little lady, remained ill, ceased sailing, and his son John (21 when she was launched, now 86 and going strong, a real gentleman) sailed her in the next Fremantle-Bunbury and return race. David died and the family disposed of the boat. I have yet to discover the next owner, but so far we know the following (this is a State Library summary of a discussion I had with them asking for information):

Confirmation of receipt of Question submitted to WA State Library:
I am looking for photographs on the 30-foot Yacht "Fair Maid", which was launched in 1951 and has been sailed and owned by a number of people since including David Leslie, Governor Sir Wallace Kyle's brother, Dr. Barry Hopkins and the lawyer Peter Kyle. A colour photograph was published on the front page of the Western Mail on 17th December 1953 and I would like to find the original of this image or any others of the yacht that may be available.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/3686516

The Trove link is to the Western mail front page, a magnificent photo!

Peter Kyle is the son of Sir Wallace Kyle, but he sailed Fair Maid with his uncle (his father's brother), who owned her. Dr. Barry Hopkins is a famous cardiologist, who cared for Lang Hancock of Iron Ore fame for many years. Another previous owner is litigation specialist Terry Clavey, and prior to him John Gaunt (and in partnership for a period, Bill Perry), and also Errol Bristow, a retired Police sergeant. Terry told me that if we sail Fair Maid to Rottnest or somewhere where there are lots of boaties, somebody will ask, "Is that Fair Maid?" as she is so well known here. Terry acquired Fair Maid in 2006 and owned her until 2016. The next owner was Johan Grobler, and I acquired her from him.

The ownership history so far, in somewhat doubtful order:

David Lesslie:  1951 - circa 1955
Colin Harry Edwards, of Nedlands, Manager.
Kenneth Joseph Reagon, of Perth, Manager.
Thelma Joy Reagon, of Perth, Widow.
John C Martin, of Cottesloe, Barrister.
Eric W Kyle, of Dalkeith, Surgeon.
Robert Sinclair Ryding, of Perth, Manager.
Anthony John Clarke, of Maylands, Manager.
Dr. Barry Hopkins:
John Gaunt (and Bill Perry): circa 1985 to 1996

Cameron Crevola 1996-99
Errol Bristow
Terry Clavey and Allison Wheatley: 2006-Jan. 2016
Johan Grobler: Jan. 2016-July 2017

Sailing, a pretty typical Perth winter's day!

Sunday 6th August, 2017