Swirly World In Perpetuity

Swirly World In Perpetuity is a small sailboat which has been used by Andrew Fagan to make a series of solo voyages.

Swirly World In Perpetuity

Nation	New Zealand
Designer(s)	Gary Appleby
Builder	Michael Brien
Launched	1972
Owner(s)	Michael Brien Andrew Fagan
Specifications
Length	5.21 m (17.1 ft)
Beam	1.74 m (5.7 ft)
Draft	1.2 m (3.9 ft)
Mast height	7.2 m (24 ft)
Crew	1

The yacht was designed by Gary Appleby, a New Zealand apprentice boatbuilder, and was constructed by Michael Brien, who launched it in 1972. According to Fagan, Brien was "an all-rounder and used to be a cabinetmaker and [he] had made an immaculate job of [building] the boat."[1]

The yacht's hull has a chine construction, made of plywood sheathed in Dynel. Measurements taken during a 2019 refit showed that it measured 5.21 m (17.1 ft) from stemhead to transom, with a 1.74 m (5.7 ft) beam and a 1.2 m (3.9 ft) draft.[1] It is a sloop with a masthead rig, with the mast itself being 7.2 m (24 ft) tall. The yacht was originally equipped with a 5.15 kW (6.91 hp) Honda inboard motor, this has since been replaced with a 4.8 kW (6.4 hp) Lifan petrol engine, fitted with a centrifugal clutch.[1]

Fagan purchased the vessel in 1985 and used it to make a series of solo long-distance voyages.[2] These included sailing from Auckland to Raoul Island and back; Auckland to Wellington via the west coast of the North Island, and a double crossing of the Tasman Sea as part of the 1994 Solo Trans-Tasman Race. These voyages were written about in Fagan's book Swirly World: The Solo Voyages, published in 2003.[1][2]

In 2007, Fagan completed a 3,000 m (3.0 km) circumnavigation of New Zealand with the yacht, with the route taking in the subantarctic Auckland Islands. This voyage is detailed in Fagan's 2012 book Swirly World Sails South.[1]