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It was always Hartley Boats ambition to have a good strong range of boats for single-hander sailors. With the success of the Supernova and then the Byte we had been looking for several years for the right boat to extend our choice to customers.
The day we received the phone call offering the sale of the Blaze Copyright and tooling we jumped at the chance to acquire this boat. We had observed this class grow and watched the boat sail on the water and, we were excited at the prospect of taking this boat into the future. It was an alternative to the Supernova and was a great fit for our range.
We were very excited, not only would we have a small single-handed race boat with an established Byte Class Association with a full training and racing calendar but, a boat that was raced throughout the world.
A boat that would fit our requirements with a helm weight range of between 55kgs and 75kgs. Even better, with a simple change of bottom section of the mast and a change to the small sail, you now have the ideal boat for helms with a weight between 35kgs to 65kgs.
We were very excited, not only would we have a small single-handed race boat with an established Byte Class Association with a full training and racing calendar but, a boat that was raced throughout the world.
A boat that would fit our requirements with a helm weight range of between 55kgs and 75kgs. Even better, with a simple change of bottom section of the mast and a change to the small sail, you now have the ideal boat for helms with a weight between 35kgs to 65kgs.
The desire to have the best range of single-handed boats in the Hartley stable came true when we were offered the build rights, moulds, tooling and patterns for the Contender.
We were disappointed that unlike other classes we could not buy the copyright and be fully in charge over future policy and the destination for the Contender. With other Contender builders throughout the World, would we be able to sell our boats and compete?
We were happy with selling the boat into the UK market but the challenge to allow the Contender sailors to choose the boat of their choice gave us a challenge. In a very short time, we agreed a deal. Just to have an already fantastic range of single-hander boats, the Byte, Supernova, Blaze and now the World’s best single-hander trapeze boat, the Contender, would make the whole team very proud.
To say Hartley Boats were pleased to add the Gull to our existing range would be a lie. When we bought the Wayfarer and Wanderer copyrights from the Proctor family, Roger asked me “do you want the Gull?”. The response for this 11ft (3.35m) little boat which I had seen many times in different locations was, “not for us, this was not a boat I have aspirations to build”. Again, Roger insisted it was a great boat, sells well and sails fantastic, you should take it. Reluctantly we did, we bought the tooling and produced and sold Gulls for several months.
Unlike both the Wayfarer and Wanderer, we did not re-design the boat to avoid spending the many thousands of £’s involved in producing patterns, moulds and templates needed when you produce a new boat, no, not for this average boat! All this changed, the day we delivered and completed a handover of a Gull to a new owner at a Sailing Club. "Come and sail with me it’s a great day, good winds and I am a novice sailor, I would enjoy you helming my new boat".
The H10 Racer is an ideal boat for racing, this boat is designed that with the right wind conditions to get up and plain and be an exciting sail. In big winds with all the boats design benefits the boat is an outstanding performer giving any new racing owner the confidence to push the boat to its limits but with the knowledge the boat is easy to handle in these windy conditions
This new generation of rotor-moulded boat has been designed by Phil Morrison, not only to last the rigours of time but to be the most outstanding 10ft (3.04 m) dingy ever designed and with unique sailing benefits and qualities to become in time a world leader.
We offer a very simple upgrade kit, which includes kicker, ratchet blocks and racing main to the standard H10 Cruiser, with these changes the boat becomes a great racing boat.
The H12 Racer is an ideal boat for racing. This boat is designed that with the right wind conditions the boat will get up and plain and be an exciting sail. In big winds, with all the boats design benefits the boat is an outstanding performer giving any new racing owner the confidence to push the boat to its limits but also with the knowledge the boat is easy to handle in these windy conditions
This new generation of rotor-moulded boat has been designed by Phil Morrison not only to last the rigours of time but to be the most outstanding 12ft (3.65 m) dingy ever designed, with unique sailing benefits and qualities to become in time a world leader.
We offer a very simple upgrade kit, which includes kicker, ratchet blocks and a racing main which when added to the standard H12 Cruiser changes the boat into a great racing boat.
The H12.2 Racer is an ideal boat for racing, this boat is designed that with the right wind conditions it will get up and plain and be an exciting sail. In big winds with all the boats design benefits, the boat is an outstanding performer giving any new racing owner the confidence to push the boat to its limits but, with the knowledge that the boat is easy to handle in these windy conditions and has a choice of either asymmetric or symmetric spinnaker.
This new generation of rotor-moulded boat has been designed by Phil Morrison not only to last the rigours of time but to be the most outstanding 12ft (3.65 m) dinghy ever designed, with unique sailing benefits and qualities to become in time a world leader.
We offer a very simple upgrade kit, which includes kicker, ratchet blocks and a racing main that are added to the standard H12.2 Cruiser and with these changes, the boat becomes a great racing boat.
This was Hartley Boats hardest decision, would a similar sized boat to the Wayfarer affect the long -term sustainability of the Wayfarer’s future?
After many discussions we decided to go ahead with this 15.5ft (4.7m) rotor-moulded boat and in fact, we decided to look at its competitors first. The Wayfarer, the number one training boat found throughout the Country and shipped all over the world, together with the other rotor-moulded successful training boats.
We had the test results from the Wayfarer but needed to test and sail other rotor training boats to find out their strengths and weaknesses. After several months of testing we had our list of strengths and three difficult problems we needed to overcome. Having talked to many sailing schools, their general opinion was that when the boat was capsized the centreboard was too high making it difficult to right the boat in big winds, the shrouds flex and then load the genoa with far too much power, making it very difficult to control. Finally, a large rotor-moulded boat with large flat surfaces after several years of work, numerous cracks appeared.
This boat is the very reason Hartley Boats exists today and we have built the whole company around this first boat over the past 20 years. It was actually a mistake that we became the builder.
I bought a second hand Kestrel from Blackwater Sailing Club and dad and his seven-year-old son, both novices, started to sail and capsize nearly every time we sailed the boat at our local club.
We then decided to enter the National Championship to be held at Sunderland Sailing Club on sea water. First race, strong winds and gusting with massive waves that I was not used to. I wanted to stay on shore but my crew convinced me that we could only get wet. Out of control and on the first gybe my crew and I went swimming and had to be rescued and returned to shore.
Hartley Boats love with the Osprey started over fifty years ago when I was invited as a youngster to crew for Wally Gardner, an excellent sailor, at his local club. Thrilling, exciting speed and challenging, the beer tasted twice as good. “Crew for me at the Nationals asked Wally?” “No, I am not experienced, I will let you down”. Wally’s response was, “I will look after you, you will be ok”.
My first time at sea was to be in Filey with wind strength of force 6 and above, 85 entered but only 30 launched, within a few minutes around 20 had capsized or had broken equipment. This was the strongest wind a championship race had even been sailed in for an Osprey Nationals. Both of the local life boats were launched to retrieve the sailors from boats. This was going to be a challenge but I was fit and up for the challenge, would my old helm Wally be up to it! He was getting on a bit, after all he was going to turn 40!
A twin trapeze lightweight skiff for exceptionally high performance. The rebel skiff has stunning off wind speed thanks to the extra-long bowsprit and generous kite. With a slender easily driven low volume hull the boat performance fantastically upwind too. Want an absolute thrill ride? Sail the Hartley Boats Rebel.
This boat comes with a 4 year Hartley Boats Warranty and with the team always putting themselves in their customer’s shoes, you are guaranteed the quality, service and satisfaction that you deserve. Click here to find out more.
When I received the phone call from Kevin at Beer Boatyard offering the tooling to build the new Streaker I was unsure about this boat and it’s future, coupled with the effect it might have on our very successful Supernova. My response to Kevin was ‘give me a few days to consider the boat and I will be back to you with a (no thank you) or I will make you an offer you cannot refuse’.
Over 20 years ago Hartley Boats were lucky enough to be offered a single-handed race dinghy. With no other-single hander racing boat in our stable, we jumped at the chance to buy the copyright, moulds and tooling for the Supernova.
As many Supernovas were sold each year the class was well supported and we immediately believed if we were to invest in new designs and tooling, we could make this boat into a very special and successful racing class.
After six months of rigorous testing and sailing the boat, we produced a list of changes and improvements we wanted to make to the original boat. We were by this time lucky enough to have worked with Phil Morrison our Naval Architect on other boats and he confirmed that he would be pleased to work with us on the Supernova.
If your requirement for a racing boat is a double-hander that in the right sailing conditions will get up and plain and be a very exciting ride and, if you want a comfortable seating position, a deep floor for your legs, a high boom to make tacking and gybing easy but most importantly a boat that can handle any wind conditions, a boat that is so STABLE you can stand two average adults on the side-deck without the boat capsizing. A boat that you can push, sail hard and even make the odd mistake and the boat will not capsize, it will just look after you.
Why buy a Wayfarer Racer?
If your requirement for a racing boat is a double hander that in the right sailing conditions will get up and plain and be a very exciting ride, if you want a comfortable seating position, a deep floor for your legs and a high boom to make tacking and gybing easy but, most importantly a boat that can handle any wind conditions, a boat that is so STABLE you can stand two adults on the side-deck without the boat capsizing, a boat that you can push, sail hard and even make the odd mistake and the boat will not capsize, it will just look after you.
A boat that if big seas and big winds are forecast, you can sail with the knowledge the boat is built for and can handle those conditions and you will be safe, you will come off the water with a smile. The improvements made to reduce the buoyancy in the side tanks on the new Hartley Mk4 was a game changer. Should you get the gybe wrong and the boat capsizes, the boat does not float as high as many other dinghies, this makes the centreboard lower in the water, easier to climb on and pushing less air in the side tanks make the boat come up easier. The difference being, the new Mk4 Wayfarer is not full of water when righted, just push down the bailers and get on with your racing.
