Vibes (Farr One Tonner)

Vibes - One Ton Cup winner 1991 (photo Farr Yacht Design Facebook page)

This is the Bruce Farr designed One Tonner Vibes - commissioned in 1990 for US sailor David Clarke for the 1991 One Ton Cup and Admiral's Cup series. She was built by Cooksons in New Zealand and was fast out of the box - she went on to win the One Ton Cup that year, and made the US team for the 1991 Admiral's Cup which finished third overall, with Vibes finishing as the third One Tonner, behind Brava and Port Pendennis.   

Vibes sailing downwind alongside the Frers 50-footer Cyclone during the 1991 Admiral's Cup (photo Derek Stroud)

Vibes after the finish of a race during the 1991 Admiral's Cup (photo: shockwave40 blog)

Vibes seen here during the 1991 One Ton Cup (photo Bateaux magazine)

Vibes was later sold to the Japanese, and she was renamed Cha Cha. She went on to race in the 1993 One Ton Cup in Cagliari, Sardinia, where she performed a spectacular nose-dive in the first race, as seen in this sequence of photographs taken by Sandro Re below. 1993 was last hurrah for the prestigious One Ton Cup trophy under the IOR, and reflected the end of the line for top flight IOR racing.