The roots of the Company started in 1985. Mr. Albert Obrist, a Swiss industrialist and owner of a large collection of Ferraris, restored under his supervision to original condition, bought the Fife designed schooner Altair. For a number of years Mr. Obrist had felt that a restoration of a classic yacht to the depth and standard of his cars could be undertaken.
His appreciation of Fife’s design aesthetics and quality of build had led him to charter a few Fife yachts in the 1980s. He charted Belle Aventure in 1985 and met Paul Goss her skipper. He decided that Paul possessed the qualities required to undertake the task. Paul along with Duncan Walker, Belle’s mate, joined him for the restoration of Altair which was under taken at Southampton Yacht Services based in Southampton.
The eighteen month restoration of Altair involved work to a level of detail and respect for the original build never attempted before. The final result produced a meticulous restoration which became the bench mark the world over for this kind of work.
Mr. Obrist so enjoyed the process of restoration so much that he asked Duncan Walker to find a suitable Fife hull and set up a restoration facility specifically to restore Fife’s yachts to the highest standards. In late 1989 Duncan found Tuiga in Cyprus. He sailed the yacht back to the UK in spring 1990 and set up the Facility, Fairlie Restorations in Port Hamble.
Duncan gathered together a team, headed by Nick Bowyer who joined him from SYS. The first ten years involved a number of yachts now gracing the classic med circuit, including Tuiga, Fulmar, Kentra, Madrigal, Carron II, The Lady Anne and Siris.
In late 2000 Paul Spooner joined the company in time to be the Naval Architect for the restoration of Mariquita. Before the completion of this last surviving member of the 19Metre class Paul designed a long keel Bermudan cutter for a client requiring a specific design for ease of handling by a small crew for long distance cruising. This yacht attracted great interest in the 2005 Southampton Boat show before being handed over to her owner for a trans-Atlantic crossing to Antigua.
The slow decrease of restoration work over the last few years has led the company to start developing a new Spirit of Tradition range of yachts. These yachts, built using modern timber construction techniques, are designed with modern underwater form and appendages but above the waterline show elegant classic lines and show case Fairlie’s skill in high quality woodwork. These vessels are designed by Paul Spooner whose long association and study of Fife’s work have enabled him to design using curves and shapes that are truly pleasing to the eye.
These new yachts boast a performance to windward envied by Owners of classic yachts. The cost of construction of a yacht is dependant on the volume and displacement so Fairlie can build these yachts at a considerable saving to a long keeled yacht.
