Farr 50' 50 1985

She is a Custom 50, design #155, commissioned by olympic gold medalist David Forbes and built by McConaghy Boats of Australia. She was Farr's first attempt to bring his successful smaller IOR designs to the IOR 50 Grand Prix stage. Since her debut in 1985, she has traveled the world racing and supporting many people with her comfortable cruising interior, excellent sailing abilities and her charm that always brings people together. 

As you step onto her open transom you are met with twin wheels, a two-speed winch on each quarter for the running backstays and a primary three-speed winch for the main sheet. This begins the journey back to the "glory days" of sailing. The center cockpit beckons you forward into the winch farm with four more three-speed primary and secondary winches. While standing here on center stage you can't help but think of charging upwind with 15 people on the rail, racing to be the first to the windward mark. Now-a-days, Great Expectations is thriving in her retirement. She still loves charging upwind but now she does it blissfully at 7.5kts with only 8kts of breeze and one competent couple. She has been cruised like this for many years with the previous owners in Alaska and the current owners have done several summer excursions but have yet to venture farther than the San Juan Islands. 

The 2022 Quantum mainsail offers better control in windy situations with the ability to reduce sail under the running backstays. For light wind, summer days, the main at full hoist totals an impressive 736 square feet of sail area. The interior layout is bright and draws you below. The salon area is perfect for a few couples to have dinner and conversation all night. Time and time again Great Expectations has hosted cocktails after a leisurely sail around Puget Sound or after a blustery day of racing around the buoys on someone else's boat, she always welcomes you home with her toasty interior and warm (or frosty) beverages. Pride of ownership shows but the time has come for the owners to move on and for Great Ex to enjoy her retirement under new ownership. 

HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

2023 Decks repainted and new non-skid and all sail tracks removed and re-bedded 

2021 bottom stripped down to barrier coat and rudder bearings replaced

2020 Quantum carbon M6 mainsail with taffeta backing

2018 Victron Multiplus 2000 inverter/charger

2018 Full river AGM batteries 830 Ah 

2017 Rod rigging replaced

Interior Description

Beginning forward, the forepeak is devoted to storage for sails, lines, and fenders. This area is also great as a walk-in closet for drying out any wet gear from the day out on the water. The large foredeck hatch makes retrieving large items easy with the assistance of a halyard.

The enclosed head is just aft on the port side. The sink has a telescoping handle for hot showers and there is plenty of storage for all your crew's toiletries in the cabinet above the sink. There is a sturdy inlaid teak seat for any underway use. The head is also plumbed with a radiator for the Webasto system so it will stay toasty for your shower if this system is in use. 

Opposite the head on the starboard side are two large storage cabinets concealed by louvered teak doors. The forward one has three shelves, suitable as a pantry. The aft one is geared towards a hanging locker. The Victron inverter is mounted here to monitor its status. Beneath the locker is another Webasto radiator, which will dry anything out in a hurry. 

The U shaped galley is compact and suitable for underway meal prep with a large countertop. The sink, stove and countertop are all very accessible from one space. Behind the stove are two large cabinets with sliders to keep everything inside while underway, so you won't get any surprises when opening them. The double basin sink has a single action Scandvik faucet with extendable sprayer. A simple Forespar water filter is mounted furthest inboard for filtered drinking water. Against the mast the owners built a custom shelf/fruit basket. The fridge and freezer are located outside of the galley, just aft of the companionway, which makes it easy for a few extra hands to help out or fetch their own beverages while not being in the way. 

Opposite the galley, on the starboard side, is a large storage cabinet. This space has room for cookbooks, pots and pans, dishes or all of the above. The engine control panel is in this area as well.

The engine box is on centerline just aft of the mast, concentrating her weight in the center of the boat and also affixing it to the structural web frame in the boat. There is a large sink over the top of the engine with pressurized salt water. When not being utilized as a sink it is another great area for storing less frequently used galley items. This sink top provides lots of space for food prep by two people simultaneously. The large African Sapele slab cutting board can slide to the forward or aft end of the sink. The other board has fiddles to keep everything on it while underway. Placing a piece of non-skid mat there makes this very useful for sandwich prep while charging up wind.

The center (primary) companionway enters at the foot of the engine compartment and underneath the ladder holds a box with the boat's batteries. She is equipped with four 6-volt Full River L-16 AGM batteries and one Full River Group 24 AGM starting battery. Fresh wiring, batteries and Victron inverter/charger were all installed in 2019. 

Midships on port and starboard in the main salon are settees with shelves above them. Below the settees furthers the storage on the boat. On both sides there is a Webasto forced air cabin fan. Moving further aft on the port side is another seating area with a removable table. Across on the starboard side are two pipe berths for extra accommodations or storage while cruising. All of the settee backs lift up to create a larger twin bunk for extra accommodations. Centerline, under the center cockpit, the large, heavily insulated, fridge and freezer compartments. They are both accessed by the countertop and run off of one cold plate in the freezer section and transfers cold air by a small cutout. The electrical panel access is here through a door over the top of the fridge countertop.

All the way aft on the starboard side is the enclosed owner's cabin. The cabin has two storage cabinet areas for easily accessed clothing or documents. The bunk is suitable for two people and the hatches allow for good ventilation or easy communication from the navigator while underway. The nav station is here with the DC panel, Standard Horizon VHF, and Victron smart battery monitor. The B&G system head units still occupy this area and have a multitude of settings to extract the data. The flip top chart table holds navigation items and has a comfortable forward facing seat with storage below. 

The port side aft bunk is through the other door in the cabin to the port side. The aft companion way enters here through a smaller hatch and allows for easy watch transfer without going forward on deck. This double bunk has a removable pipe berth above it for storage or more crew. The owners cabin also has this also, though it has been removed and is in storage. Both cabins have excellent light from the portholes and no shortage of overhead lights. 

The titanium steering quadrant and Webasto heater are both accessed through the access port at the foot of the bunks and into the lazarette. 

Galley:

• Stainless Hillerange 2 Burner stove & oven
• Scandvick faucet with sprayer 
• Xintex Solenoid valve control 
• Forespar water filtration system
• (3) 5 lb propane tanks
• Alder Barbour refrigeration 
• Stainless double basin sink
• Hot & Cold pressurized fresh water
• Hot water from the hydronic heating system, 110v and engine exchanger by way of 'summer loop'
• Pressurized salt water
• Overhead LED galley light
• 110v outlet with USB charging

Electronics & Navigation:

• B&G Hecta Depth Sounder
• Standard Horizon Explorer VHF (2017)
• Masthead VHF COAX wire (2017)
• Magnetic compass
• LED Lunasea Masthead Anchor light and wire(2017)
• LED Bow and Stern lights (2017)
• Nav station 12v USB charging port
• Simrad Autopilot 

Electrical systems:

• 12v DC and 120v AC 
• 30 Amp shore power service
• Smart Plug shore power port (2018)
• 50' 30 Amp shore power cord
• (4) Fullriver 6v Group L-16 Deep Cycle batteries (wired in series to create 12v service 2019)
• Fullriver DC-85 Group 24 engine start battery (2019)
• Wiring from batteries (2019)
• Shunt and grounding bar (2019)
• Victron Multiplus Compact 2000w inverter/charger (2019)
• (2) 150amp Balmar alternators
• Victron Energy Battery Monitor (2019)
• (2) Balmar external regulators
• Balmar Centerfielder
• Pro Mariner- 30 Amp Galvanic Isolator (2019)
• Galley 110v outlet with USB charging port (2019)

Mechanical systems:

• 85 HP Volvo TMD-30 (3,500 hours est. [no hour meter]) regular fluid changes
• Fiberglass wet exhaust lift box (2018)
• 3 blade Max-Prop
• New stuffing box packing (2023)
• Stainless steel exhaust elbow (2018)
• ~170 gallons of fuel in (4) stainless tanks
• Racor fuel filter
• Fuel transfer pump
• Hart systems tank tender
• Whale low profile 1100 GPH bilge pump (2020)
• Automatic/Manual bilge switch hard wired to the battery (2020)
• Bilge-B-Dry system
• Village Marine 12 GPH water maker (Not in service)
• Webasto DB2010 diesel hydronic heater, radiators and blowers with thermostat 
• 6 gallon hot water heater (110v, hydronic heating and engine)
• Freshwater stern shower 
• Jabsco head and pump with new hoses and Y valves (2023)
• Plastic 22 gallon holding tank and hoses (2019)
• Rule shower sump pump box and hoses (2018)
• (2) Shakewell seacock and blind caps (2016) 
• Single basin sink with extendable nozzle for showering 

Deck & Hull

Great Expectations hull construction and materials are unique to this era of Grand Prix level race boat. She is constructed using a vacuum bagged Kevlar/epoxy layup with a Divinycell core. A structural, deep aluminum ring frame joins the hull and deck; it is comprised of two frames connected by a center longitudinal member. The forward frame supports the partners and mast butt. The longitudinal piece supports the engine and keel, running aft to join the hull and deck together. This creates an extremely stiff structure and prevents excessive twisting or movement in the deck while underway in heavy weather. 

Her underbody is a fairly typical example of mid 80's IOR specifications. She has a reasonably shallow forefoot with mostly round sections from bow to her rudder. She has the traditional IOR bustle at the rudder and is flat aft to her transom. Midships she is quite narrow at the waterline flaring out to full beam reasonably quickly. This design provides a narrow, slippery form while on an even keel and helps maintain great secondary stability when she powers up in breeze. Her keel and rudder are both "modified elliptical" in profile with a beautiful foil form. She is a well mannered boat with a very predictable motion even when being pressed hard or in less than desirable sea conditions. In 2021 Great Expectations underwent a full bottom job; stripping her bottom down and re-applying two layers of new barrier coat and two layers of Sea Hawk Cukoat. Her rudder was also dropped and re-faired and new Jefa self aligning rudder bearings were installed. 

Great Expectations has a deck layout that mimics many other IOR boats of this time. She has an open transom with twin wheels and the main sheet run aft to this after cockpit area. The center cockpit has two self-tailing primary winches and just aft are the secondary three speed winches. All halyards are run through spinlock clutch organizers and can be tailed on any winch that is available. 

Just forward of the mast is the foredeck with a large deck hatch for passing up spare sails or equipment from down below. The windlass is just forward of this with recessed controls in the deck and the chain flakes nicely into its own compartment below, accessible by a removable bulkhead in the forepeak. Her side decks are ever so slightly angled down which makes the windward one flat and advantageous when moving about the boat. 

During the 2023 deck project clutches, the five opening hatches, tracks, blocks and fairleads were stripped off the deck and re-bedded. For the refinishing process, the deck was sanded down to just before the layer of kevlar, removing 30 years of non-skid and paint. A single layer of fiberglass was put down to seal the deck from future water intrusion prior to applying fairing. A combination of West System 406 colloidal silica and 404 high density filler was used for fairing, two coats of AwlGrip High Build epoxy primer and finally two coats of AwlGrip Aqua Mist were applied with non-skid. The aqua mist is a nod to her IOR pedigree. 

• Lewmar 2500 Windlass
• 70lb CQR anchor on the bow roller
• 300' 3/8" galvanized chain
• 85lb CQR in storage
• 30lb Danforth in storage
• Spool of Poly line for stern tie
• Spool of 3 strand line for stern tie
• Aluminum Reaching strut
• Carbon fiber spinnaker pole
• Aluminum spinnaker pole
• Spectra Lifelines (2017)
• ProFurl (easily removable drum for non cruising mode)

Sails & Rigging

• Quantum Fusion M6 mainsail with double taffeta backing (2020)
• A1 spinnaker- good condition, cruising sail
• 100%- good condition non-furling
• Drifter #1- fair to good condition, non-furling
• Various other jibs and spinnakers in fair condition from her racing days
• Rod rigging and terminals (2017)
• Spreader ends (2017)
• Spectra Running Backstay lines with low friction chafe cover (2018)
• Antal running backstay low friction rings (2018)
• Spectra check stays (2018)
• Antal check stay low friction rings (2018)
• 5mm Spectra backstay (2017)
• Spectra lazy jacks (2017)
• Spinnaker halyard (2018)
• Mainsheet (2020)
• Jib sheets (2020)
• 2 Jib halyards (2020)
• Main halyard 2x1 purchase (2020)
• Antal low friction main halyard shackle
• Cunningham (2020)
• Spinlock line clutches
• (2) Lewmar 550, self-tailing 2 speed, running backstay winches
• Lewmar 650, self-tailing, 3 speed, mainsheet winch
• (2) Barient 21, self-tailing, 2 speed, traveler and vang winches
• (2) Lewmar 650, 3 speed, secondary winches (non self-tailing)
• (2) Lewmar 550, self-tailing, 3 speed, primary winches
• (2) Lewmar one touch winch handles
• Multiple double and single older style winch handles
• Spectra rudder stops (2016)

Miscellaneous & Safety

• Zodiac aluminum bottom 10' RIB 
• 2018 Mercury 2-stroke 9.9 hp outboard
• Throwable horseshoe 
• (2) type V throwables
• Four pack Type I lifejackets
• Immersion suits in need of inspection but in good condition 
• Summer cockpit awning 
• Wheel covers
• Stainless dodger frame