As informed by the pervious owner the Gunslinger had some history. Built in Suffolk in 1978 and brought by one of the banks (Halifax or Natwest) she was a survivor on the infamous Fastnet race of 1979, the horrific ordeal was documented in a book written of the race, the long and short of it was, she got caught up in the brunt of the storm, getting caught broad side, she rolled, snapping the hollow aluminium rudder stock off. Taking on water the crew thought the boat was sinking so set about abandoning the boat to the life raft. Upon the first crew member entering the raft the tether snapped, sending the life raft cartwheeling down wind, the crew member was lost at sea, the boat and remaining crew survived. One of the big safety things coming out of the race was in a sinking situation step up to the life raft, i.e. the boat, if still floating is the better place to be (unless she is on fire). Additionally gunslinger was replaced with a stainless steel rudder.
From what I can recall the boat passed through ownership to a guy in Dartmouth before the previous owner in Falmouth, who raced the boat intensively with over 100 starts in a year. It was clear she was a seasoned old girl, demonstrated by the desperately needed interior wardrobe change, but everything else, apart from routine up keep she was fully working as the delivery trip showed!
aboatlife 