The Farr 280 One Design has obvious appeal – impressive good looks, spectacular speeds, the cachet and confidence of being the latest one-design from Farr Yacht Design, and a high quality build and finish by Premier Composite Technologies.

Farr Yacht Design has an unequalled reputation when it comes to creating successful one-design classes including the Farr 40, Farr 30 (formerly Mumm 30), and most recently the Volvo Ocean 65, which has produced boats so equal that podium positions on trans-ocean legs have been separated by mere seconds.

The Farr 280 is already establishing itself as the one-design of the future: enjoying level-rating racing at this year’s Quantum Key West Race Week, and its own one-design start at Charleston Race Week – the largest keelboat regatta in the USA. In Europe the prestigious Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week expects four Farr 280 entries at this world-famous regatta, which takes place in August from 8-15, 2015.

However, for the earliest adopters of the new Farr 280 One Design, the boat’s appeal goes far beyond first-past-the-post racing. We caught up with 10 teams on the burgeoning circuit – from the USA, UK, Italy, Switzerland, Turkey and Dubai – to find out more.

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We are delighted to announce that another Farr 280 will be joining the UK fleet this summer. Richard Rankin is the lucky new owner and will take delivery of his boat ‘Pandemonium’ in time for Cowes Week this summer.

Richard also test sailed the C&C 30 but the Farr 280’s high build quality and fun factor won him over,

“The Farr will be fun to sail, full stop. Then there’s a lot to learn if you want to be competitive. I think that’s interesting, to have something you can get better at, but actually enjoy it anyway.”

Ease of ownership and boat handling were also important factors when choosing his new boat,

“I used to have a 12-Metre, and gave it up last year. The Farr 280 intrigued me as something completely different, the other end of the scale. I’ve got two children and they’re 24 and 22, and I feel really comfortable with them taking it out with their friends, as opposed to something bigger and more complex that I’d worry about.”

Richard’s first event on the Farr 280 will be Cowes Week when we expect to see four boats line up against each other in what promises to be an exciting week of racing.

With two more Farr 280’s joining us here in the UK this summer, it’s clear to see that the boat lends itself very well to travel and allows crews to campaign international events with ease. It’s the perfect size to fit inside in a 40ft high cube container making the process of moving boats by ship simple to manage and keeping costs down.

The Farr 280 is also simple to tow. Over the winter we transported hull #3 by road from Cowes, Isle of Wight to Dusseldorf Boat Show and then on to her new owner in Switzerland. The boat’s cradle can be mounted on a specially designed trailer that holds the boat safely at an angle which brings it within road legal dimensions here in Europe and can be pulled behind any large car or 4×4.

This ease of transportation provides Farr 280 owners with the opportunity to sail their boat in many different locations and we look forward to seeing many Farr 280’s travelling between events both across Europe and internationally.

Activate Switch, a full service communications agency from Cowes, Isle of Wight, has been contracted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, to manage all of the shoreside festivities for the prestigious Rolex Fastnet Race for the third time.

The expert and experienced events team from Activate will provide, on behalf of the Rolex Fastnet Race management team, 24 hour shoreside service for the 90th anniversary of the event which will see over 300 yachts sailing 600 nautical miles from Cowes to Plymouth in August 2015.

In 2013, Activate worked closely with the RORC to move the event’s base from The Barbican to Mount Batten Peninsula so that all of the competing yachts could be berthed in one  location and in 2015, the plan is to build on the success of the last event. Activate will create an event village, with state-of-the-art facilities, including luxurious media and hospitality lounges for race organisers and sponsors, high quality catering, modern toilets and showers for the competitors and a 24 hour bar for everyone to take full advantage of!

The culmination of the event will be the prize-giving, ceremony, complete with air display and a rocking crew party for more than 1,000 competitors, to be staged in the Rolex Fastnet Race, village.

Activate Switch runs a number of high profile marine events as well as provides graphic design, branding, sponsorship and corporate hospitality services. Anyone wishing to find out more about how Activate Switch could help their event should contact Joe Hall via info@activateswitch.com or call 01983 200901.

After a safe trip back from Dubai, a brand new Farr 280 has arrived in the UK. Named ‘So Steamy’ she has been well received by her new owners Nick and Annie Haigh who have been breaking her in during the second weekend of the Warsash Spring Championships. With her fluoro green branding ‘So Steamy’ is hard to miss and certainly turned heads on the water!
After a full weekend of racing, the crew were enthusiastic about the boat and they had lots of fun on the water. Racing in a class with yachts over 10ft bigger, conditions were no doubt tricky for ‘So Steamy, but we look forward to seeing ‘So Steamy’ going head to head with similar sized performance yachts in the High Performance Class at the Vice Admiral’s Cup later this month.

The PCT built Carkeek 40 MKII, ‘Rebellion,’ has arrived in the UK. This is one of the first really high performance IRC racing boats to enter the UK for some years. With fast lightweight boats now starting to rate better under IRC and RORC’s announcement of a high performance class in this year’s Vice Admiral’s Cup, we look forward to seeing more fast planing boats like the C40 appearing on UK waters soon.

Demand for this size of performance race boat is strong and PCT expects to complete the build of hull #3 by mid-summer 2015.

‘Rebellion’ is due to compete at the Warsash Big Boat Series, Vice Admiral’s Cup, IRC Nationals, Round the Island Race, RORC Channel Races, Cowes Week and the Rolex Fastnet.

Last month we took the brand new TP52 ‘Platoon,’ built by our client Premier Composite Technologies, for a spin. Check out this video of her doing sea trials in Dubai. “Platoon” will competing in the TP52 Super Series this year. Contact joe.hall@activateswitch.com for more information about ‘Platoon’ and PCT’s high spec boat yard in Dubai.

The first full season for the Farr 280 class is off to a flying start, with victories won and competitive racing planned under a range of handicap systems.

In January, four Farr 280s competed in Key West Race Week in the PHRF 1 division. ‘RED,’ racing in their very first regatta with the boat, won the division on handicap, coming out on top of the 280 one design ‘class within a class’ whilst also beating a Farr 30, C&C 30 and two J/122s.

Over the five days of racing on windward-leeward courses, conditions varied from 5 to 18 knots of wind. Reviewing the results from Key West, the 280s performed very well against the fleet in light to moderate conditions (up to 10 knots), and also excelled on the final day of racing in 16 to 20 knots.

Meanwhile in the U.K., the Vice Admiral’s Cup – a highly popular three-day event organised by the RORC/Royal Corinthian Yacht Club in Cowes – will include a high performance division for the first time in 2015. The rating band for entrants will be determined by displacement-to-length Ratio (DLR), to create a high performance class of planing designs competing against the Farr 280 for fast and spectacular racing, under IRC. This should create excellent opportunities for the Farr 280 – both race results, and rating studies, have demonstrated that the 280 will excel when competing against similar boats.

The Farr 280 is also planning to create a significant impact at the world famous Aberdeen Asset Management Cowes Week Regatta, from August 8 – 15 when Farr 280’s from the UK, Europe and Dubai will be racing for the first time in a big fleet. We welcome all new Farr 280’s to come and enjoy this event, which is going to be great fun and highly competitive.

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BOOK A TEST SAIL…
Test sails for anyone interested in joining this exciting and rapidly expanding new one design fleet will be available from April 2015. Contact joe.hall@activateswitch.com to reserve your test sail.

Nautor’s Swan has again engaged the services of Activate Switch Limited, following the company’s successful event support at the Swan European Championships 2013.

This time, Activate has been tasked with designing and building a stand at the prestigious Luxury Yacht, Jet and Prestige Car Show at Old Billingsgate in the City of London – 8th :10th April. Positioned in the middle of the largest financial centre in Europe, and just a short distance from some of the world’s most exclusive residential districts, this event is designed to attract London’s elite.

Scheduled to coincide with a time when many of London’s wealthiest international residents and visitors are ‘in town’, just after the start of the ‘Flat’ racing season; this event is perfectly timed for when many people buy yachts, book-up their summer yacht charters or purchase new cars for the fine weather ahead.

To fit in with this refined environment, Activate Switch has designed an understated Nautor’s Swan display from which to feature and promote their beautiful range of exclusive and fabulous sailing yachts. From 53’ to 115’ in length, the range is comprehensive. Designed by the Frers Design Team, in Milan, the boats are recognised as the world’s best blue-water sailing yachts; combining performance with beauty and comfort.

If you have an event that requires an empathetic approach, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Call Joe Hall on 01983 200901 or email joe.hall@activateswitch.com

With only six months to go, our preparations are well under way to set up and manage the Rolex Fastnet Race 2015 Race Village and Crew Bars in Plymouth.

The Rolex Fastnet Race sees more than 300 boats race 600 nautical miles from the UK’s sailing mecca of Cowes, around the Fastnet Rock, with a finish in Plymouth Sound. Celebrating its 90th anniversary, this historic and prestigious event expects an illustrious welcome for all of the crews taking part and we are delighted to be a part of it.

With thousands of sailors expected to visit Plymouth at the end of the race, our expert events team will provide a convenient temporary clubhouse, 24 hour crew bars, catering outlets, showering and toilet facilities and hospitality lounges to help make sure crews have everything they need to hand after such a demanding race at sea.

The Royal Ocean Racing Club first commissioned Activate Switch to look after the Rolex Fastnet Race, shoreside programme, in 2011. Since then the event has had to grow, to accommodate the substantial increase in boats taking part and this year, the event ‘sold out’ within 20 minutes of the online system opening! With the race village now firmly established at Plymouth Yacht Haven and on the Mount Batten Peninsular, we are looking forward to welcoming the competitors and visitors to enjoy the ambience and celebration of this incredible yacht race.

For more information about this event, or to get involved, please call Joe Hall on 01983 200901 or email joe.hall@activateswitch.com.

Sailing World Boat of the Year 2015

Yachts & Yachting’s Best Performance Boat Under 40ft

As the sole UK agent for the newly launched Farr 280 sports boat, we’re delighted to announce that the yacht has won two prestigious marine press awards in recent weeks. Not only has it been named Sailing World’s Boat of the Year for 2015, it has also won the Yachts & Yachting Magazine’s best performance boat under 40ft category.

Judges from Sailing World Magazine commented:

“As a dynamic and technical boat on all points of sail, it’ll be fun in the light stuff, but especially good when the wind gets cranking.”

They also praised the high quality boat construction and advanced hydraulic rig tuning.

Yachts and Yachting Magazine awarded the boat an impressive 9/10 in their test sail review and commented:

“It’s a thoroughbred boat that offers the enticement of plenty of challenges to those who seek to get the very best out of it…this is a Grand Prix boat without the hassle factor.”

The award comes after a successful season for the Farr 280 in the US with regatta wins under PHRF, ORCi and HPR rules. The class is quickly developing globally and we look forward to welcoming a strong fleet to the UK this year.

To find out more about the Farr 280 contact Joe Hall on +44 (0)1983 200901 or email info@activateswitch.com