Design and Construction
The 18R measures 5.80 meters overall with a 5.15-meter waterline, a 2.20-meter beam, and a 1.20-meter draft, displacing 650 kilograms. Its 280-kilogram keel is a lifting unit whose design the builder states greatly improves stability and safety anchor. The boat is trailerable and quick to rig thanks to a removable rigging system, traits that suit a club racer or trainer that lives on a trailer between events. The regular FarEast 18, by contrast, uses vacuum-infusion for hull, deck, rudder blade, and keel fin with a PVC-foam core and a lead ballast bulb; the 18R shares the same designer and builder and the same Harken and Seldén hardware, but the racing version replaces the enclosed cabin with an open deck optimized for racing.
Rig and Handling
The 18R carries a fractional sloop rig with mainsail, jib, and gennaker on Seldén riggings and Harken deck gear, with an 8-meter mast and a stated crew of four. The removable rigging system makes the boat easy and quick to rig, and the open deck gives a clean working platform for short-handed buoy work. The parent 18 shows the performance envelope these numbers serve: in four knots of breeze upwind it managed 3.8 knots while tacking through roughly 90 degrees, and above 15 knots of true wind on a reach it was expected to exceed hull speed and plane at 10 to 12 knots. The 18R's lighter displacement and racing deck suggest a similar or sharper profile in breeze.
Accommodations
There is effectively no accommodation to speak of in the 18R: the builder specifies an open deck, and the boat is built around racing rather than cruising. The regular FarEast 18 is the better reference for the platform's enclosed-cabin side, with four feet of headroom under the companionway, three feet of sitting headroom in the forepeak, and a 92-by-55-inch berth — but those creature comforts are absent by design in the R model. What the 18R trades away in cabin space it recovers in deck clarity and launch speed.
Known Issues
The related design's test program found a mainsheet diameter judged too small on the test boat, and the cruiser version lacks a foredeck hatch or secondary opening for venting the interior. The open-deck racing layout of the 18R removes the sealed-cabin venting concern entirely.
Refits and Ownership
Ownership centers on the trailerable package: an optional outboard supplies auxiliary power, the lifting keel and removable rigging make storage and transport straightforward, and the Harken and Seldén components are standard marine replacements. The boat's simplicity is its maintenance virtue — few enclosed spaces, no cabin to leak, and a deck laid out for frequent rigging and derigging.
The Verdict
The FarEast 18R is a purpose-built small keelboat racer that borrows the FarEast 18's stable hull and lifting-keel logic but commits fully to the racecourse. It is light, quick to set up, and easy to move by road, with a ballast keel that the builder credits for real gains in stability. For a sailing school or a buoy-racing owner it is a tidy, uncluttered tool; for anyone wanting a cabin or cruising comfort, the regular FarEast 18 is the sibling to consider.
Pros
- Lifting 280 kg keel improves stability and safety anchor
- Open, racing-optimized deck with Harken and Seldén gear
- Trailerable and quick to rig via removable rigging
- Targeted, simple sportboat design for training and buoy racing anchor
Cons
- No cabin or sheltered accommodation
- Mainsheet diameter concern noted on related test boat (not 18R-specific)
