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Fair Executive Review


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We’ve recently finished our virtual holiday on Fair Executive 2 and I thought it would be worth posting a review of the boat. How can I do that for a virtual holiday? Well we’ve hired the boat twice in the last two years and have booked it again for next year. So I guess that tells you one thing, we like the boat!

However, boats come in different shapes and sizes, so what we look for in a boat you may not. Hopefully this review will give you a flavour of the features of this boat and whether they would suit you.

Fair Executive was built in 2014 on a Funnell 36 Sedan hull. Looking on Craig’s database this is a fairly rare boat with only seven on the broads and four of them in the NBD fleet. It is an updated version of Fair Jubilee with only minor differences. It is a 2+2 berth boat, which means it has one permanent double bed and an occasional double in the form of a bed-settee in the saloon.

As a sedan cruiser, the boat features a raised rear saloon with full patio doors out onto a rear cockpit area. In addition the saloon features freestanding furniture rather than the more common fixed dinette type seating found on most boats. I think these two features really sum up why we like the boat. The domestic type bed-settee is far more comfy than a fixed dinette and the dining chairs (rattan style garden chairs) and table gives great flexibility. They are very comfortable too and can be positioned either inside the saloon making the most of the picture patio windows when dining, or out in the cockpit in better weather. The patio windows provide great elevated views of the broads, even when it’s cold or raining and can be opened to about 2/3 of their width when required. Within the saloon there is a large fitted sideboard offering good storage including two wine racks and a flat screen TV on top. This is connected to a satellite dish giving access to FreeSat TV channels.

Going forward from the saloon, steps take you down to the galley area. This has everything you want, sink, oven, three burner hob, fridge and is a reasonable size for a boat. Going forward again there is a very large bathroom on the port side of the boat. This contains a toilet wash basin and large whirlpool bath. I think this bath is a luxury on the boat and one we did not use. Instead we used the separate shower room on the starboard side of the boat. Not massive, but a perfectly adequate size for the boat.

In the bow of the boat is the master double cabin with a peninsular double bed. Being in the bow the cabin has a slightly low roof and a definite ‘boaty’ feel, but is deceptively spacious. There is good storage and shelving space either side of the bed. This cabin also has a TV.

Outside the main feature of the boat is the rear cockpit which has sufficient space for chairs to sit on and a table to dine at. It also features two cushioned fixed bench seats. A step between these seats leads to a low transom stern. This coupled with higher gunnels down the side of the boat and steps between then means when moored side on there is usually a level step from boat to bank. For stern on moorings, however, if the tide is low it may be a problem getting on and off. We’ve only done the northern rivers and it wasn’t a problem, but if we went south I’d be tempted to ask the yard for a boarding plank to help with the higher tide range.

The boat is steered from within the saloon and there is a comfortable seat for the steerer with good views of the river. A clever design allows this seat to extend and an insert added to make space for two. The boat has a standard single leaver control as well as bow thrusters and GPS speedometer. The steering position is inside and there is no outside alternative, which I know many people like.

So it all looks good so far, so any drawbacks? Well the obvious one is airdraft. At a quoted 8’10” Fair Executive is one of the tallest cruisers available for hire on the Broads. So Potter Heigham, Beccles Old, Wroxham and Wayford Bridges are clear no nos, but then they are to many other cruisers these days. But what about Ludham Bridge with a quoted clearance of 8’6”? Well in practice generous official statistics mean you will probably get under with the bridge gauge reading anything over 8’ which means you will get under Ludham most of the time. I should add a disclaimer here. If the gauge is below the official airdraft of the boat, approach with caution and use a crew member to view the actual clearance of the bridge and don’t be afraid to back away if in doubt. Also think if the clearance is tight will you get back through – are river levels rising or falling? If you don’t believe me about the 8’ clearance then check out kevnheidi on sister boat Fair Jubilee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORf3i6jYpyw . Ludham bridge is at about 43mins into the video.

I suppose the only other drawbacks I would comment on are really minor niggles. We have hired in April when the weather is variable. If it’s cold and raining and you have the patio doors closed and heating on, then if you go to boil the kettle for a brew it does steam up all the windows. A demister would be great. We take one of those extended handle ones from the car. Also related to this, when it’s raining it’s very tempting to open the window by the steerer for ventilation, but there is no gutter above it and water has a habit of gathering on the roof and then coming through the window right onto the steerers seat!So that’s the boat, what about the boatyard. Faircraft Loynes is part of Norfolk Broads Direct. Well all I can say is we were impressed with the yard. The welcome was warm and even before we arrived for the first time they were very helpful on the phone with information about the Broads. On arrival you are given a goody bag with some basic provisions (tea, coffee, milk etc) a map and a guide as well as a bottle of bubbly. The yard has recently changed hands, but it has been bought by a previous owner who has also run many other successful broads hire businesses (and indeed designed this boat!), so I don’t expect the standard of service to drop.

Overall I would recommend Fair Executive and NBD as a boat for two, unless the bridge restrictions would be an issue to you.

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Thanks for a very well written review and photos. One thing that's always put me off the design is the enclosed nature of the helm position and lack of sunroof. This contrasts with many older sedans where large sun roofs were the norm. Did you find that a disadvantage? 

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I think a hatch or sunroof directly above the steerer might be nice, although with the generous headroom and the amount of glass you don't feel too enclosed anyway. The amount of headroom you lost to fit in the sunroof at that point might be counterproductive. I don't think as steerer, you would really notice a large sunroof further back where the butterfly hatches are. What did make me feel enclosed was the inability to open the side window when it was raining and misting up. Fortunately we didn't have too much rain so I could have it open most of the time.

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Great idea to go on your virtual holiday and then to give us the boat review. I was interested to read this as it's a style of boat that we haven't hired yet. We have looked at the Broom Captain a number of times but not ended up going for it. I was checking out the photos and I don't think it has the steps at the side that help with getting on and off at side-on moorings. Zircon Emblem has these and I found them very useful, even on the northern rivers.

I hadn't thought about stern on moorings being an issue at low water on the southern rivers. 

We tend to hire in October and March these days so this design looks as if it would be good for colder weather. But the air draft does put me off a bit. We've had flybridge cruisers a couple of times and not been able to get up the Ant because high water levels made Ludham Bridge a little precarious for getting under and being sure of getting back. So I'm not sure whether the air draft on this style of boat would be an issue for the swing bridges at Reedham and Somerleyton, or the bridges going into Norwich.

Interested in anyone's thoughts on this.

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5 hours ago, SwanR said:

I hadn't thought about stern on moorings being an issue at low water on the southern rivers.

I'd be interested to know the experience of anyone on the southern rivers with a similar style hull.

5 hours ago, SwanR said:

We tend to hire in October and March these days so this design looks as if it would be good for colder weather. But the air draft does put me off a bit.

It is nice and warn and you still get great river views through the patio windows, only issue is the misting of the front & side windows when you go t make a brew which I've mentioned. As for Ludham Bridge, well I've said in a previous post I'd not even heard of the bridge when we first booked this boat, but since then I've done some research. So I took a tape measure and actually measured the boat - its about 8'6" in reality, although this will vary with how much water, fuel etc is in the tanks. I also compared the actual reading on the bridge gauges to the readings on the EA stations at Ranworth and Barton Broad. I recon if these are both below 0.5m you should get through Ludham, although as I said before if its close exercise extreme caution. Usually when the rivers are fairly benign, the EA gauges at Ranworth and Barton are fairly close. However, as the Ant rises in flood, there is a marked difference between the two. Does Ludham Bridge act as a throttle? I've also downloaded the full data from the EA stations and looked at a full years worth. So the data for March would suggest about a 50/50 chance of getting through Ludham, so maybe avoid this boat if you want to get up the Ant. October you would have a 70% chance of getting through. Worth a risk of booking? We've been both times in April and got through and the risk is similar to October, but I do accept there is a chance we wouldn't get through.

 

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  • 1 year later...

Fair President will at normal low tide pass under Ludham bridge , it will not however pass Wroxham ,Potter Heigham, Beccles or Wayford bridges .

Bridges such as St Olaves , and Great Yarmouth again at low tide 

As far as things to pack , I would recommend a sharp kitchen knife , an easy to clean frying pan , a torch , and a good can opener 

In March another good thing to have is an electric oil filled radiator for when you are on shore power , do not use on the inverter though .

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As others have said, you should be able to get under Ludham Bridge unless the river levels are high. One word of caution though. I think that the boards giving advance notice of the clearance may have been changed since the OPs 2000 review. 
The tide runs quite fast at St Olaves, so if you want to avoid that bridge you can always go up the Yare instead and then take the New Cut across to St Olaves. It comes out just upriver from the bridge. 

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Off season, river levels can be much more variable. I would suggest checking the river levels here https://check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk/station/6216 I recon around 0.5m is the limit at Ludham for Fair Executive. It should be quiet in March so if in doubt you could approach the bridge dead slow (either against the tide, or slack water) and use one of your crew to eyeball the clearance.

As for things to take, the boat has no demister - we have one of those long handled ones for the car which is very useful, especially off season when you put the kettle on to make a brew.

Most of all, enjoy - its a great boat.

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If you are thinking of heading South. Do check passage times through Gt Yarmouth http://www.norfolk-broads.org/tides/tide_report.asp you can insert the date for your trip. I haven't done the trip myself yet, but thought about it last year. I spoke to the Rangers at Gt Yarmouth YS and they advised aiming for passage at low tide rather than slack water in a boat with high air draft. The YS doesn't open until 30 March (unless anyone knows better) and there are no safe moorings for over 2 hours up the Bure, so given limited daylight, crossing options may be limited.

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1 hour ago, RS2021 said:

 . . . . . . . . . . . so given limited daylight, crossing options may be limited.

By the end of March, we’ll be past the vernal equinox, so more daylight hours than hours of darkness.

1 hour ago, RS2021 said:

. . . . . . . . . . I spoke to the Rangers at Gt Yarmouth YS and they advised aiming for passage at low tide rather than slack water in a boat with high air draft. . . . . . . . .

That’s what we do.  The rangers advised us to pass through Yarmouth at low, rather than slack, due to our airdraft, which is 8’3”.

Passage to the southern rivers does look possible at the end of March, both north to south and back later in the week.75833E72-6F42-48F2-88E2-85AD7790DF5C.thumb.jpeg.8de1c0a574693a1b49f0e38782189968.jpeg

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