- Fairline Mirage
Fairline Boats are based in Oundle, UK. In the past they built boats of all sizes, but always aimed at the luxury cruiser part of the market and designed for coastal rather than river usage. Nowadays they have abandoned the small boat market and concentrate on high class luxury motor yachts for the very rich (see their current website) and together with names like Princess, Sunseeker and Sealine make up some of the most prestigious brands on the market.
The Fairline badge still still holds prestige even on the smaller boats they produced in the past. They have a strong reputation for high build quality and durability and this is reflected in the high residual values for older Fairlines.
The Mirage is one of Fairline’s medium sized range of coastal and inland cruisers, a range which included the smaller Fury 26, Sunfury and Sportfury as well as the larger Sedan 32 and flybridge Corniche. The hull was rated for a speed of 30kts and the vast majority were outfitted with twin Volvo Penta AQ145 petrol engines. The remaining few were a mixture of other engine options which varied over the years in which the Mirages were produced. Artisan, pictured here (thanks to Martin Smith), is an example of a twin petrol model that was more recently converted to diesel using powerful modern turbo diesels, though in the case of Artisan actually Ford Lancing engines (road engines, with a marine conversion).
Mirage specifications:
- Length (incl bathing platform): 31ft
- Beam: 10ft 3
- Draft: 2ft 5
- Air Draft: 8ft 5 (plus any equipment)
- Weight: 5 tons
- Design Speed: 30kts
- Total Produced: 528
- Production Years: 1975-1986
The Mirage has developed a reputation for excellent sea-keeping abilities and several Mirages have been known to join fleets of other vessels in cruises to France and the Netherlands to visit continental waterways.
In the end, the Mirage design suited us so well that both of our boats have been of this design.