US production moving offshore

Farr 395 to be built in South Africa with IRC model coming in 2005

Farr International, Inc., Argo Boats (Pty) Ltd. and Boating Partners Limited have announced this week the rebirth of the Farr 395.

Argo Boats (Pty) Ltd. (Argo) of Cape Town South Africa will produce the Farr 395 in molds shipped from the USA which were used in the construction of the 36 existing boats. The boats will be built in Argo’s new facility where South Africa’s America’s Cup boats will also be built. Construction will be to the same specifications as previously built boats to preserve the one design aspect and build the USA one design fleets with imported boats. The exchange rate between the US dollar and the South African Rand allows the boats to be built at a very competitive cost and the USA landed price will be lower than the price of existing US built boats.

In addition to the Farr 395 One Design Argo will produce an IRC version of the boat to optimize the design for that rule which has recently been adopted in the USA by several major yacht clubs. It is anticipated this version will also sell well in Europe and other areas where IRC already has strong fleets.

Farr Yacht Design Ltd. will produce the design modifications in time for the first Farr 395 built by Argo to be an IRC version that will be available in the USA for early spring 2005 commissioning. Boating Partners Limited will market and sell the Farr 395 in England while Argo will handle sales in South Africa and Farr International, Inc. will act as master dealer covering the USA, and the rest of the world.

We look forward to reintroducing this fabulous boat to the marketplace and based on its popularity with current owners and their enthusiasm for building the class we anticipate a lot of interest and strong sales. For more information: