Quote from Seabreeze.com forum 15/1/2009 (Peter):
Some years ago I had a magnificent yacht being a 23' fibreglass production trailer sailor which was a Windrush Wildfire. It was originally designed as a 21 footer in plywood by a Perth gentleman by the name of McFarlane or McFarland if memory serves. It was adopted by Windrush Yachts and extended to 23' and I have been told only 57 were produced. There is more to it but suffice it to say, when I rang a broker in Perth to enquire about their value prior to selling mine he related to me that he knew an owner of an original 21' ply version who would sail it from Freo to Rotto, single handed, almost every weekend. They have a cockpit that would be the ENVY of most 40 footers.
I got caught out one day with two teenage crew, experienced, but not on my yacht, when it blew up from 10 knots downwind to the race course to a gusty 25 knot headwind to get home. While all the other heavier displacement and better crewed yachts were bailing up and shortening down I carried full canvas, kept the crew on the rail with feet under the hiking straps and squeezed her up during the gusts. We got wet but we got home before the rest. Brilliant yachts with a buoyant dagger board that allows reduction of draught from 5'6" to 1'6" in an instant. Especially when you bottom out and snap it off.
Her name was "Pancho". Adios Amigos Cisco
There is one locally as well. Owned by a Pommie who raves about it. They did not sell well on the East coast and I think this was purely because of the trailer sailer association rules at the time. They seems to promote the sailing caravan style of boat and to race in their series, boats had to have a certain headroom between the keel and hatch way and I think the Wildfire did not meet the regs. I sailed a Status 19 at the time and was not allowed to compete either. The reality with this size of vessel is you spend 99% of your time in the cockpit. Wildfire with a good boom tent would be a great boat.
If I lived in Perth I would probably sail a converted Diamond.
