# Nicholson 345



## yoda (Jul 31, 2013)

Hi,

I am the owner of one of the 26 Nicholson 345's built in 79/80 and I am trying to find out where the other 25 have gone. I have now contacted 4 other owners but am keen to find the remaining owners. If you know where any are please do let me know so I can try and contact the owner. Many Thanks.

Neil


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## copacabana (Oct 1, 2007)

Neil, they made quite few of these boats in Brazil under the name "Fast 345" by Fast Yachts. I believe a team from Nicholson came to set up the tooling and they were built to the same high standards. They still have a cult following here and are commonly used today for club racing and cruising. One of the Brazilian ones circumnavigated without any problems. Sailnet moderator Faster (Ron) has one of the Brazilian ones. If you are looking for info on the ones made in Brazil as well, he would be a good person to contact. 

Cheers and welcome to Sailnet!


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## tdw (Oct 2, 2006)

copacabana said:


> Neil, they made quite few of these boats in Brazil under the name "Fast 345" by Fast Yachts. I believe a team from Nicholson came to set up the tooling and they were built to the same high standards. They still have a cult following here and are commonly used today for club racing and cruising. One of the Brazilian ones circumnavigated without any problems. Sailnet moderator Faster (Ron) has one of the Brazilian ones. If you are looking for info on the ones made in Brazil as well, he would be a good person to contact.
> 
> Cheers and welcome to Sailnet!


Fast is off cruising at the moment. He's due back in a few weeks.


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## saibot (Aug 18, 2013)

Hi Neil,

We own a 345 hull nr. 01. We are currently refitting her. She is located in Lyme Regis. Let me know if you find out more about the other owners.

cheers, Tobias


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## jppp (Jul 13, 2008)

My boat partner has a connection with a guy in the UK. He seems to be the unofficial historian for Camper Nicholson. This guy gave us hundreds of pages of documentation on our vessel. He had records of when our boat was built and when arrived in US and who it was delivered to (broker)and who bought her. He knew where most boats went and when. I'll ask my partner for contact info when he gets back from taking his son to college. We were curious about the same thing. Found 2 others. Only 12 303's were built. Sadly now I can confirm one less. Loved that boat. Amazing sailing and built quality. No need for a bilge pump on this dry boat. I lust for a Fast 345


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## yoda (Jul 31, 2013)

saibot said:


> Hi Neil,
> 
> We own a 345 hull nr. 01. We are currently refitting her. She is located in Lyme Regis. Let me know if you find out more about the other owners.
> 
> cheers, Tobias


Tobias

Thanks for getting back to me, Is your boat called Blue Moon? I pass Lyme Regis reasonably often and would like to see her, is she in a yard or at home? Please do contact me at neilpearson2285 at hotmail.com.

Neil


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## tdw (Oct 2, 2006)

The Fast man is back. Has he seen this thread ?


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

Thanks for the heads up, Andrew

I think, though, the OP is primarily interested in actual Nicholson boats.. I corresponded briefly years back with a William K who hung at at Boat Design Forum and had just bought an N 345. I've lost that contact information, unfortunately.

The Fast boats varied over the years, but were much more 'cruisified' than their Nich predecessors, with more storage, more joinery but fewer pilot and pipe berths. They also widened the aft double somewhat. After our Hull #41, they went to masthead rigs and this caused some more minor mods to interior cabinetry and shroud tie bar locatation. I've also seen quite a variety of aft cabin configurations. Browsing the Brazilian sites is an interesting diversion.

Here's our interior for comparison:


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## yoda (Jul 31, 2013)

Faster

Many thanks for the picture of the interior of your boat. Sorcerer was built with cupboards on the stbd side and a pipe cot to port. I am slowly transforming what was quite a bare interior to one more suited to cruising. I had to replace all the hatches and windows last winter and while I have nearly completed the re-trimming on the inside have yet to get round to curtains. I suspect I have 2 or 3 more winters work to do before I get anywhere close to where I would like to be! your boat is certainly well loved from what I can see.

Neil


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

I don't know if the Nich's were built the same as the Fast's but you may want to check out Fasters thread about rebuilding the keel/bilge reinforcements in his boat. It was a year ago.


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## yoda (Jul 31, 2013)

SloopJonB said:


> I don't know if the Nich's were built the same as the Fast's but you may want to check out Fasters thread about rebuilding the keel/bilge reinforcements in his boat. It was a year ago.


Thanks SloopJonB, I have seen that thread and the Nic's don't seem to have the same problem (although I still have plenty of others to sort out!!!!)

Yoda


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

yoda said:


> Thanks SloopJonB, I have seen that thread and the Nic's don't seem to have the same problem (although I still have plenty of others to sort out!!!!)
> 
> Yoda


Yeah, the story I've gotten is that Fast Yachts redesigned/modified the floor grid specs vs what Nicholson was doing.. However with over 100 built and still going strong and being very popular down there they must still be OK...

Yoda - we're quite fond of our unique (around here) boat, and have nearly got her to the state we want after 9 years of use and upgrading. Does yours have the marinized VW engine?


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## yoda (Jul 31, 2013)

Faster said:


> Yeah, the story I've gotten is that Fast Yachts redesigned/modified the floor grid specs vs what Nicholson was doing.. However with over 100 built and still going strong and being very popular down there they must still be OK...
> 
> Yoda - we're quite fond of our unique (around here) boat, and have nearly got her to the state we want after 9 years of use and upgrading. Does yours have the marinized VW engine?


SloopJonB

Sorcecer was fitted with a Vetus M3.10 about 20 years ago which is a great engine. I have not yet struggled for power (only 20hp) and have no complaints about it. The control panel is a little tired but hope to sort that out this winter. In time I will investigate the fitting of a 'Halyard' aquadrive to help reduce vibration and noise.

Yoda


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## svnoregard (Apr 11, 2015)

Don't know IF anyone is still following thread but I am selling s/v No Regard hull #13 if there is any interest. Original CN 345...located in Lwr NY Harbor/Raritan Bay.

Please contact Jerry Van Campen 9086120172


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## yoda (Jul 31, 2013)

Jerry

Please contact me by email if you don't mind. Neilpearson2285 at hot mail . Com (excuse the deliberate mdoifications to avoid spam) Thanks.

Neil


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## nautidog (Sep 27, 2016)

Hello,
I own a Camper & Nicholson 345.
I thought there were only 25 built but here I see 26.
Maybe Bluefin is 26...if not , 27 ?
There is no hull #.

I believe she's the last one built in England. 
I would also like to find info on other 345s from owners. Interior, deck & cockpit pics.
Bluefin is registered as a 1985 but was launched in England in 1984 several years after production ceased. Hull Id# DLZAMO390785
There is a plaque that says
"BLUEFIN,
Built by
Camper & Nicholson's
Yachts LTD
Gosport England, Jan. 1984"

The PO said she was a custom build for the President of CN.
He wanted a race boat & chose the 345.
Bluefin started off as either a hull that was never finished or they used the molds for one more hull.
I have some paperwork with the boat supporting this including the ships log of her voyage to America from England.

She was built lighter, marine ply decks, thinly sheathed with teak. 
There are no combings, the V berth is just a storage area for sails.
It's a fractional rig with the traveler in front of the companionway hatch.
The cockpit is larger. The area directly behind the companionway hatch is low not deck height. There are 2 large lexan windows,1 port & 1 stbd. The little aft cabin port does not exist.

There are 8 self tailing Lewmar winches & running backstays. 2 sets of sails, one set is very light & a spinnaker .
She's in bad condition but I've stabilized her. The decks are gone & most of the interior has been removed.
1/3rd of the decks are now Coosa board, working aft.
The all new Coosa decks will be sheathed w/ 2 layers of double biaxial glass & epoxy.
9 /10 people would have scrapped her for the sail gear & the YANMAR 3ym30 .
But.... I'm a sucker for a fun project.?

The plan is to get Bluefin back to a usable barebones racing by next spring.
She's also available as a project boat for a motivated person..

I work in yacht restoration near Annapolis,MD

My email is nautidogwoof @yahoo.com
Thanks, ...Kevin


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## Faster (Sep 13, 2005)

nautidog said:


> Hello,
> I own a Camper & Nicholson 345.
> I thought there were only 25 built but here I see 26.
> Maybe Bluefin is 26...if not , 27 ?
> ...


Hey Kevin

Interesting post. We own a 1984 345 but one of the Brazilian-built Fast Yachts models. I'm surprised to read that yours was built in that year, as I was led to believe that all the tooling had gone to Brazil by then. Our hull# is 41, fractional rig, presumably the 41st 'Fast' as the HIN letter sequence is different from CN. If that's correct then one would have to think the tooling went south in the early 80s at the latest.

From the pics I've been able to track down it's apparent that Fast did things quite different, finishing the V berth are to some extent initially, and more completely later on (we have a V berth but still the same fabric-on-rods below the berth level). We also have significant storage where the CN had pilot berths, and our aft berth is slightly wider. There are also other differences re the aft storage lockers/cockpit lockers etc.

Under Fast they also evolved to a masthead rig which resulted in further changes below.

It sounds like your hull was just that, and the factory deck was never put on. I wonder if CN ended up with a leftover hull....

Anyhow will be interested to see pics as your project progresses.


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## David F (May 17, 2021)

I also own a 345 CN in Thailand. She was in bad condition when i bought her 4 years ago. its slow progress, but looking to get her finished by end of year. 
not sure of hull number but will look and report back.


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## Tom Edelbroek (Aug 31, 2021)

yoda said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am the owner of one of the 26 Nicholson 345's built in 79/80 and I am trying to find out where the other 25 have gone. I have now contacted 4 other owners but am keen to find the remaining owners. If you know where any are please do let me know so I can try and contact the owner. Many Thanks.
> 
> Neil


Hi Neil,
I have bought the nicholson 345, sea witsh
we are nou cleaning up te bout and repair. We have a big problem with the idler wheel.
may you know an adress were we can find some.


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