Don Fairbrother Canoe
Vessel numberHV000799
Builder
Don Fairbrother
Datec 1960
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 3 m × 0.8 m (9.84 ft × 2.62 ft)
DescriptionThis plywood canoe built by Don Fairbrother is about 2.8 m long and 800mm wide. It has a plywood shell made of many small offcuts scarphed together to form each panel, and is supported by stringers, frames and chines. It has a fore and aft deck, and is fitted for sailing and paddling. For sailing a rudder is set on pintles at the stern, there are removable port and starboard fittings for leeboards, and a clever removable mast-step that slots in behind the foredeck bulkhead and sits on a frame. The sail was an old VJ jib, while the rudder was shaped with the same VJ profile. The stem has his typical slightly rounded profile he used as a signature on his VJs.
Don built this at his Mowbray Rd Lane Cove workshop where he built his many VJs in the 50s and 60s. It was built for the family to use and has remained with the Fairbrothers through two generations, and had plenty of use.
It now needs minor repairs to the planking, a new leeboard and sail and another coat of varnish to be ready for more adventures with the next generation of Fairbrothers.
SignificanceThe Don Fairbrother Canoe was built in Sydney NSW in the 1960s. It is a plywood canoe built by Don Fairbrother for the children in his family to use. Don was one of the principal VJ class dinghy builders in Sydney at that time, building the last of the plywood hulls before fibreglass versions became standard. This unique canoe carries many aspects derived from the VJs, has his own hallmarks in the details, and is a remarkable piece of construction using offcuts and whatever was left over from other boats. It has remained with the family throughout its life and is currently being restored.
1959
1935
