Exceptional Fairey Huntsman 31 Aft Cabin.
Class winner in 1972 London to Monte-Carlo powerboat race.
Outstanding recent renovation.
'Double Century' is a Fairey Huntsman 31 Aft Cabin worthy of its own chapter in the history of powerboat racing.
Purchased by David Palengat of Allied Domecq from Fairey Marine
Exceptional Fairey Huntsman 31 Aft Cabin.
Class winner in 1972 London to Monte-Carlo powerboat race.
Outstanding recent renovation.
'Double Century' is a Fairey Huntsman 31 Aft Cabin worthy of its own chapter in the history of powerboat racing.
Purchased by David Palengat of Allied Domecq from Fairey Marine and entered in the 1972 London to Monte-Carlo powerboat race with race number 200. He skippered Fairey Huntsman 31 'Double Century' crewed by the Pearce brothers of Mermaid Engines finishing 6th overall after rescuing the crew of another boat.
Thus, 'Double Century' was the Guest of Honour at the 1973 London Boat Show.
Fairey Huntsman 31 'Double Century' benefits from a recent painstaking restoration (over 500 pictures document the work) which included back to bare wood inside and out. New: FPT 280 hp engines, handed transmissions, shafts and props giving 36 knots.
All new wiring and piping. Awlgrip epoxy paint.
Faultless off-shore passage in Summer 2021 from Southampton to Dartmouth and return on a Fairey Owners Club outing. The engines are fully-serviced and only 77 hours from new.
Fairey Huntsman 31 'Double Century' is in turn-key condition.
Ready to use and enjoy with new anodes for the new season.
Located in a locked workshop in Southampton.
Part 1 Registered for secure transfer of title.
What Makes 'double Century' Unique
1. Fairey Huntsman 31 Double Century was built by Fairey Marine with the sole purpose of entering the 1972 London to Monte-Carlo power-boat race. Proven improvements were put into her build at the factory such as:
the addition of 2 laminates to the hull making 9 in all
the installation of a 'ring beam' in the forward cabin to improve stiffness
bolting the longitudinals to improve stiffness.
There was extensive testing of the boat and systems before the race. Double Century and the owner appeared in a film made about Fairey Marine (link available on request).
In 1973 the boat took part in some powerboat races in the Mediterranean.
The iconic picture of Double Century, with its later side exhaust, was taken in Poole Harbour during testing on the measured mile.
2. The Fairey Huntsman 31 is regarded as the boat to have given that it was the personal brainchild of Alan V Burnard of Fairey Marine who wanted to improve on the sea-keeping qualities of the Huntsman 28. He did that very successfully as H31s are drier with a softer and more pleasant ride.
3. Very few ex-race Huntsman 31s survive and fewer still have been so lovingly renovated from bare wood with new: engines; gearboxes; shafts; propellors; wiring, plumbing, etc.
4. The owner/vendor has many unique items from that race including the scrutineer's record; fuel carnet; race instructions; courtesy pennants for the countries visited en-route; hand-held bearing compass; and propellors, all adding to the provenance.
5. David Palengat's son has created this profile of his late father's boat (link available on request).
Additional Information About The 1972 Race
The following information comes from contemporary documents and the Broker interviewing the Pearce brothers who ran Mermaid Marine Ltd and being the engineer and navigator aboard 'Double Century' in the 1972 race:
- they carried their own spares in case they were needed (although they weren't)
- in the Bay of Biscay they stopped to rescue the skipper and crew of Fairey Huntsman 31 'Spirit of Michaelhouse' which sank. For the rest of the race 'Double Century' had on board these additional personnel and possessions
- finished 6th overall due to the delay in the above rescue
- the race was 2,540 nautical miles which took 102 hours 38 mins at an average speed of 24.7 knots. The longest (and perhaps the most exposed leg) was Cowes to Brest at 231 nautical miles.
Broker's Comments
When Editor of the Journal of the Fairey Owner Club I met the owner and viewed 'Double Century' towards the end of the extensive renovation. Also, I met the Pearce brothers who ran Mermaid Marine in 1972 and crewed on this boat in the London to Monte-Carlo race..
The Vendor's renovation won the Perkins prize of 'Overall Winner' at the Summer 2017 Club rally at Gosport. In 2018 the boat won the Mermaid prize for best engine installation.
It was a pleasure and an honour to crew for the owner onboard 'Double Century' for the faultless offshore passages from Southampton to Dartmouth and return in June 2021.
The boat has a modular 'camper top' cover which includes a bimini and a spray cover. In addition, there is an 'all-over' cover to protect varnish and paint from both UV and rain.
By any measure this is an outstanding boat, both in today's condition after its £100K renovation and for what was achieved 50 years ago.
Additional Details About The Inventory
This section provides more details about the boat's equipment, adding to items noted elsewhere:
Brown all-over cover to protect the: gunwales; teak decks; and the painted superstructure of cabins, all from the effects of sun and rain
Blue 'camper cover' which is modular by design giving an enclosed space to the cockpit and, by undoing side panels, providing a bimini-style roof for shade
Six fenders and lines
Three mooring lines
Anchor with chain and line
Calorifier for hot water - shore-power mains only
Navigation equipment includes Raymarine C8 MFD Plotter, ST Graphic, Tri-Data, plus IVOM M505 VHF radio plus Speed and Depth transducers.
