The Mayfly
Vessel numberHV000576
Builder
Reg Fazackerley
Date1973
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 3.66 m x 1.52 m x 0.27 m (12 ft x 5 ft x 0.9 ft)
DescriptionTHE MAYFLY’s hull is clinker built in King Billy pine with celery top pine frames and keel. It has a Huon pine stem and as well as oars and rowlocks it has a small 6 hp Johnson Seahorse outboard motor. At 5 feet width it was easily broad enough to remain stable for casting, the key to successful fly fishing.
At the 'Restoring a Fazackerley' presentation at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in 2013, Fazackerly dinghy coordinator Peta Knott interviewed the owner who gave the following story.
He commissioned the craft after a friend had one built by Fazackerley in Dec 1972. One of the first requirments was to get Reg's approval to see if the owner would be considered worthy of having a Fazackerley. Once the long approval process was over (which seemed to involve going to the bar or going out fishing) Reg made the boat in 2-3 weeks. It has the date of Oct 1973, the owners name and address all recorded under the thwart.
The owner told Reg he wanted a dinghy for fly fishing on the lakes and suggested that a 10ft one would do. Reg said, "You goin up them lakes, I'll build you a 12 footer, same price, you'll need it up there". The price was quoted in pounds shillings and pence despite the fact that decimal currency had been around for some years.
The owner has been determined to keep the dinghy in original condition and didn't even dare to put a draining bung in it. When he wanted a sailing vessel, he built a ply version himself rather than alter the Fazackerley design.The only thing he did change was to go to a blue/green colour on the inside of the vessel. The original colour was battleship grey and looked terrible, particularly when it got a bit of dirt on it.
As noted, it was one of Fazackerley’s hallmarks to carve the owner's name into the underside of a thwart, and this appears on THE MAYFLY complete with a common spelling of the owner’s Christian name, placing two’ n’s’ rather than one for Denis.
The vessel has been looked after by the owner since 1973, and is stored under his house on a trailer ready for each season’s fishing trips.
Reg Fazackerley built a variety of craft but as well-known for the large number of high quality dinghies he made during his career. All were clinker planked with a few simple but distinctive features to the construction. They have become sought after craft in recent years, with a strong group of owners and regular displays at the Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart, coordinated by Peta Knott.
SignificanceTHE MAYFLY is a 3.65m (12 feet) long clinker dinghy built by Reg Fazackerley in Hobart in 1973. It was custom built for its owner for fly fishing in Tasmania and is a typical example of its type.
c 1915
1935
