During the late 1960’s despite the success of their unique hot moulded wooden construction Fairey Marine had been under pressure to build a boat in GRP. Alan Burnard Fairey Marine’s chief designer was given the task of producing drawings for a new generation of Fairey powerboats using this new form of construction.

This new boat the Fairey Spearfish was first seen in public at the 1969 London Boat Show. Funding constraints led to the first boats having hull only constructed in G.R.P with a deck and cabin top in wood. However the new Fairey was an instant success and after completion of just two boats funding was granted to produce a G.R.P deck/cabin moulding. 

The Spearfish offered a softer and far dryer ride than older generation Fairey boats such as the Huntsman 28 and early sales were brisk. However in the early 1970’s the oil crisis together with a crippling rate of VAT on pleasure craft had a damaging effect on sales. However some swift thinking by Fairey management resulted in a crash programme to transform the civilian Spearfish into the Spear(Spearfish-with a hardtop) and concentrate on a product suited to Military, Police and Customs both for U.K and overseas. By the end of production 136 boats had been built, 63 Spears and 73 Spearfish.   

Miss Daisy was built in 1978 as part of Fairey Marine's contract with the MoD for a small patrol craft.  She was sold out of the military in 1996 and was then owned and used as a fishing charter boat based in Exeter.

In 2002  I purchased a very unloved Fairey boat which  was to become Miss Daisy  and embarked on a bottom up rebuild over the next year and a half.

The original Ford Sabre engines were replaced by a pair of Cummins B Series from my Fairey Huntsman ‘Santa Maria’.  With her new engines up-rated to over 300 Hp top speed was about 38 knots. In 2004 she was moved to the south of France where she receives more comments and compliments than any other boat in the marina, (as well as several queries as to whether she is for sale).

My long term aim was to have a boat capable of achieving cruising speeds in the high 30’s and a top speed of over 40 knots.

In 2007 I took the decision to re-engine with a pair of the formidable new Cummins QSB5.9-380 and ZF IRM 220A gearboxes with the target of a final maximum in excess of 40 knots, and a comfortaby high cruising speed.

Click here to see what makes the QSB 380 so special

Learn more about 'The power that turns the propeller'