The Fairey Marine International 14 in North America - 1952 to the 1960's - Part 2

Don McVittie, with wife Red as crew, top dog in the Seattle fleet in the late 1950's, in his Fairey MkVII

Early 1950's - After George O'Day imported the initial batch of Fairey MkI's in 1951, George didn't import many of the successive Marks, the II's, III's, or IV's over the next few years. Class records show a smattering of MkII's, III's and IV's. (I count seven, several of these may have been imported directly by their owners.) It was with the formation of the Chesapeake fleet in 1953 and the decision by the Rochester fleet to move on from the one-design Alarm hull, that jump started demand for new 14's. Starting in 1955, George O'Day would bring in approximately ten a year of the MarkV, VI, VII, and the VIII. These four Marks make up the bulk of the Fairey 14's that raced in North America.

Stuart Walker related his first encounter with the Fairey's. He showed up to the Buzzard Bay Bowl with his first 14, a USOD Alarm and, on seeing the fleet gathered on the lawn, before racing commenced, turned to his wife, Francis, and said, "Winning this regatta will be easy, look how sleek our 14 is compared to these blunter 14's." Stuart was to return home, suitably chastened, after the blunter Fairey's disappeared into the distance, racing in another gear down the planing reaches.

Stuart Walker, of the Chesapeake fleet, sailing his Fairey MkV, Joyeuse. Note the transom sheeting which was standard on the 1950's 14's. Joyesuse had a one-of-a-kind mini-step running full length, 1/2 way up the topsides. 

1956 - “George O’Day says that he has nine Mark VI’s left, two of which will probably be ordered to the Chesapeake shortly.” (Feb OTP)

Graham Hayward of the Royal St. Lawrence YC sailing his Fairey Mk VII. 

1957 - Montreal gets three new Fairey 14’s.  Transplanted Englishman Graeme Hayward, and Dave Johnson are the two top Montreal helms who get the MkVII's.

John Hsu, in his recollections, said the Fairey's were very expensive in Canada because of the import tax; which is odd given that Canada was part of the Commonwealth. One should mention the parochialism of the Canadian fleets. Each fleet seemed to be doing it's own thing in designs and hulls. (The Toronto fleets would stick with the Bourke design through the 1950's and then develop the Buller in the 1960's.) It wouldn't be until the PSI Kirby III appeared in 1968 that Canada would coalesce around one designer.

1957 - George O’Day and Marscot Plastics started molding some fiberglass Fairey Mk VII hulls for two classes, the International 14 and the new one-design Gannet (a decked over lower power 14). The first 30 Gannet’s would go to the Naval Academy for sail-training.

The International 14, with it's slightly heavier hull weight, low surface area, and round bilged hull form proved to be an excellent candidate for a competitive racing hull built in early fiberglass construction. Slightly later, Canadian Roger Hewson would build a one-off fiberglass 14 to his design and Bruce Kirby first design, the MkI , would come out only in fiberglass.

1958 - George O’Day buys Marscot Plastics from Palmer Scott. From then on, George O'Day would become the leading fiberglass manufacturer of sailing dinghies in North America.

1958 - 1958 marks the apogee of the Fairey 14’s in North America. George O’Day wins the Nationals at Alamitos Bay in a Fairey Mk VIII, Bacalao. Graeme Hayward wins CDA (Canadian Nationals) in a Fairey Mk VII (Dave Johnson second in another Fairey Mk VII). Dave Johnson wins the Buzzards Bowl.

1958 - The Newport Beach fleet gets six Marscot-O’Day shells. Leigh Brite and Ken Eldred work on putting the first two together and race in the 1958 Nationals. Leigh Brite and Eldred construction included the first reported use of epoxy resin in 14's, in this case used to bond fittings.

1959 - Roger Welsh bought George O’Day’s 1958 Nationals winning Fairey MkVIII in 1959. With US 603, Roger dominated Southern California Racing and was still winning with this hull in 1965.

1959 - Schock Marine of Southern California pulled a mold from a Fairey MkVII to produce some modified Fairey MkVII hulls beginning in 1960. Designated the Schock design, the bow was made finer and the transom wider.

In 1959 or 1960 - Ben Greene of Bakersfield California fleet pulls a mold off a Fairey MkVIII and produces six or seven Fairey MkVIII fiberglass shells to finish off. Not sure how many were finished. (OTP 62(.

The Fairey Marine International-14 in North America - Part 1 - 1949 to 1951

The interior of a Fairey MkI. Note the lack of buoyancy with the short side tanks and small bow tank. The English were very concerned post-war about the open character of the International 14 and rewarding seamanship in a breeze. A capsize put you out of the race.

This post was prompted by an online article on Fairey Marine, written by English dinghy historian, David Henshall. Fairey Marine, an English company known as Fairey Aviation during World War II, would pivot post war and produce a vast array of dinghies, built using the hot-molded autoclave method, most of them designed by Uffa Fox. They built International 14's, starting in 1949, and continued to bring out new Marks through the 1950's (approximately a new Mark every year), and these Fairey 14's were a major player in the history of the International 14 in North America. (As an aside, I started my 14 career crewing on a Fairey MkV, as a skinny teenager, before the trapezes came in.)

Fairey Marine 14 International 14 - Original Design

The Fairey 14 started life as an Uffa Fox ‘Martlet’ design which Stewart Morris had won the 1947, 1948, and the 1949 POW’s (K 507). However starting with the MkI from the Martlet mold, the Fairey dinghy brain trust  would continuously modify this design through 10 marks, with the Fairey MkX coming out around 1960.  The history is very hazy on who was responsible  for the modifications, but it is agreed that Charles Currey was the primary designer, and possibly Alan Vines and Alan Burnard also had some input. Even though the Fairey Marine International 14 is commonly attributed to Uffa Fox, if we want to be historically accurate, at some point, maybe starting with the Fairey MKIII, with the design sufficiently removed from the original, we should attribute the later Marks to Charles Currey.

1949 - Fairey Marine sends a Works Team to Barnstorm North America

Charles Currey and Tony Warrilow racing "Sunrise", a Fairey MkI, in Bermuda, the last leg of their 1949 North American tour (From Tom Vaughn's International 14 historical tome)

In what is probably the first known factory works team in the history of sailboat racing, Charles Currey with crew Tony Warrilow, in the original Fairey MkI, Sunrise, made a North American International 14 racing tour in the summer of 1949 (Montreal for the Canadian Championship, Essex, Connecticut for the Connecticut Cup, and Bermuda). Charles Currey won in all three regattas. (Not an overall win for the CDA but he did win the long distance race, the Viscount de Tunis Alexander cup.) His crew, Tony Warrilow, was described as a 'Tarzan' and the Fairey MkI was potent when power-reaching, going up against the older Douglas and McLeod Uffa Alarm  and the 1947 and 1949 Bourke's that made up the early post WWII fleet in North America. (This is pure speculation on my part but I wouldn't be surprised that government sponsorship was involved in this tour. The English government was very eager to get their war-ravaged economy back on it's feet, particularly looking to jump start exports to North America.)

1951 - George O'Day starts his famous boatbuilding company by importing Fairey Marine dinghies.

It would take two years but the Fairey Marine finally got their U.S. importer when George O’Day started his company, George O’Day and Associates, by importing Fairey Marine hot-molded dinghies, specifically the International 14, the Firefly, and the Jollyboat. Initially around ten Fairey MkI 14’s were purchased around the Boston area and a loosely connected New England fleet formed. George O'Day was to become a top competitor in the International 14's in the 1950's. (And would win the 1960 Olympic Gold Medal in the 5.5 class at the Naples Olympics.)

From these humble beginnings, as an importer of English hot-molded dinghies, George O'Day and Associates would morph into the largest fiberglass small boat manufacturer in the U.S. during 1960's.

"During this period it [George O'Day and Associates] was purportedly the largest builder of sailboats in the U.S. It employed 350 people, had 450 dealers, grossed $15 million a year, and sold more than 70,000 boats in all."[George O'Day by Dan Spurr, Good Old Boat, May 2002]

Cover of Yachting magazine - October 1960

This cover from Yachting magazine comes from Stuart Walker via Tom Price, including a historical anecdote from Stuart.

"Great picture - I am almost certain that it is George O'Day holding both the mainsheet and the spinnaker guy - his standard pose. He once told a crew - "The only reason you are here is because the rules require it. Stay out of my way!"