One Ton Revisited 2015 - Press Release 27 November 2013

An interesting press release just issued on 27 November 2013:
 

The One Ton Cup

Chris Bouzaid and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron are seeking an indication of potential interest in a proposed 'One Ton Cup Revisited' regatta, in Auckland, New Zealand, in February/March 2015.

The regatta would celebrate the (near) 50th anniversary of the One Ton Cup switching from metre class yachts to offshore racers, using an international rule (RORC) to measure and rate contestants. This was when interest in the Cup went global and led to One Tonners being regarded as the Formula One class of ocean racing.

The current thinking is to cater for RORC and IOR One Tonners that were eligible for Cup competition between (and including) the years 1965 to 1983.
 

Wai Aniwa - winner 1972

The IRC Rating Rule would be used to equitably handicap the fleet which would be raced in two classes – RORC and IOR yachts 1965 to 1971 (inclusive), and IOR yachts 1971 to 1983 (inclusive).

Bouzaid, of course, twice won the One Ton Cup – in the S&S design Rainbow II, in 1969 (off Heligoland), and in the Carter-design Wai-Aniwa, in 1972 (off Sydney).

The RNZYS has had a long involvement in the modern era of the event, first challenging with Rainbow II in 1968. Since then, it has contested the Cup no less than 12 times, in seven different countries. In the process, it has won the Cup on five occasions and hosted the event twice.

The current proposal for the “Revisited” regatta would be to mirror the One Ton Cup of old - i.e. there would be three inshore races, a short ocean race and an ocean race-proper. In deference to contestants and boats, however, the inshore races would be of approximately 20 miles length, while the short ocean race would be a 40-miler (approx) and the ocean race a 100-miler (approx).  

Resolute Salmon - winner 1976

There would be a Prix d’ Elegance and other innovative awards, with an opening ceremony and prizegiving that would do full justice to New Zealand’s legendary record for celebrating major sailing occasions.

There would also be a New Zealand Millennium Cup super yacht and One Ton Cup Revisited weekend at the beautiful Hauraki Gulf island of Kawau, with its famous Mansion House which, in the mid-to-late 1800s, was the residence of the then Governor of New Zealand, Sir George Grey.

This will be a high-profile sailing period in Auckland.

The Finn Gold Cup will be raced off Takapuna Beach in February, 2015, while the Volvo Ocean Race fleet is scheduled to arrive in Auckland (from China) on or about around 26 February, 2015, and leave for Itajai, in Brazil, on 15 March, 2015. The proposed 'One Ton Cup Revisited' would be an important and integral part of this major celebration of sail. 

The Red Lion - winner 1977

Could those interested in the above please communicate, by email, that interest, with brief details of the One Tonner that might/would be involved, to Alan Sefton at alansefton@xtra.co.nz

Pendragon - winner 1979

  

Agnes (Norlin One Tonner)

I was pleased to hear recently from the son of the famous Swedish yacht designer Peter Norlin, who has recently bought one of his father's early designs, Agnes, designed and built in 1975 to rate as a One Tonner (27.5ft IOR at that time). This design was a re-invention of a theme used in Norlin's debut design and 1969 Half Ton Cup winner Scampi, and a larger development of his 1974 Quarter Tonner Accent, featuring relatively short measured waterlines and relatively full overhangs that translated into longer sailing length as the wind increased, and allowed the immersed hull length to become a primary performance factor.

Agnes was described by Norlin at the time as a beamy boat at deck level but narrow at the waterline, considered a classic combination for progressive stability. Norlin built Agnes from 25mm carvel-planked mahogany on bent oak frames and, as a nod to the particular conditions of her home port, jokingly remarked that her bow would withstand moderate ice encounters. Agnes was probably the last yacht ever built in Sweden in a traditional and professional wooden yacht building yard (the Plym yard, with roots going back to the 19th century). The yacht builders were mainly seasoned veterans who knew that Agnes would effectively close Sweden's great wooden yacht building tradition.

It was originally intended to enter Agnes in the 1975 One Ton Cup to be held in Newport, US, but construction took longer than expected and so Agnes (after just  a couple of hours of sailing in home waters with borrowed sails) was taken to the 1976 SORC, where she raced in the One Ton division, alongside 19 other yachts. On arrival in Florida the boat proved to be fast, especially in a breeze and when power reaching, but with a flat spot in light airs and choppy seas.

Agnes achieved some fame for her designer when she went on to win her class at the 1976 SORC, with placings of 1/4/1/2/9/1 (the ninth being the result of a premature start), beating the Holland 36 Silver Apple, and America Jane III (which would go on to finish second in the 1976 One Ton Cup) and more remarkably finishing third overall. The division win came in the final race, the Nassau Cup race, when the owner of Silver Apple hired Dennis Conner, whose yacht Charisma had been dismasted earlier in the series, to try to claim the title from Agnes. After a poor start, Agnes managed to pass all her competitors on a tight reaching leg and secured victory in the race, and the series. This was the second SORC class victory of a Norlin-designed yacht, following Bengt Jornstedt's 1971 Class E win with the Scampi Smuggler.

Agnes is hauled out for a hull scrub before the 1976 SORC - Peter Norlin is seen bending towards the keel

Agnes sailing off Florida in her favourite conditions during the 1976 SORC

Norlin sold Agnes soon after the SORC to Bob Barton who raced her successfully across the US for a couple of years. In the 1977 SORC she was beaten only by the Farr One Tonner Sweet Okole.

 












The Agnes design concept was part of what Norlin described as his 'A-series' of yachts, and she had a number of successful cousins druing the 1974-77 era. The cold-moulded Accent won the Quarter Ton Cup in Malmo in 1974, and a Half Tonner Zett (Finland) proved fast in the Half Ton Cup in La Rochelle in that same year, but suffered from gear failure in both long races, which were very windy affairs. Instead, Norlin himself managed to take third place with the five year old Scampi. The larger Amoress II contested the Three-quarter Ton Cup in 1975 in Norway, and could have won the series had the crew not made a serious navigation error in one of the long races, losing the entire fleet from a clear leading position. As a result she finished third overall. 

Amoress I, sistership to Amoress II (seen to windward), suffered several gear failures in the 1975 Three-Quarter Ton Cup, but finished second in two of the races

The Swedish One Tonner Stress was the last notable Norlin design in his A-series, and won Cowes Week in 1977. In the 1978 One Ton Cup held in Flensburg, Germany, she was the top masthead yacht, finishing seventh overall.

Norlin's son Markus bought Agnes recently together with a couple of friends after finding her in Western Canada. She is still in fairly original configuration, with some cruising amenities added. Markus is aiming to bring the yacht up to club racing standard, with some new sails, improved deck hardware, running rigging and attending to some of the inevitable structural repairs inherent in a wooden yacht of this age. My thanks to Markus for providing some of this interesting history about Agnes and other Norlin yachts.

Agnes as she is today (photo Markus Norlin)

Brava (Farr One Tonner)

This article was intended to be about the Farr One Tonner Brava (photo left) following recent contact from her current owner. In researching her history, however, it became apparent that the boat was part of a distinguished lineage of yachts owned by Italian yachtsman Pasquale Landolfi, who was an enthusiastic campaigner on the international offshore racing circuit. And so this article attempts to provide an overview of all of the Brava's but with a focus on the One Tonner, one of Landolfi's most successful yachts.  

Landolfi began his Admiral’s Cup campaigns in 1981 with his first Brava, a 44-foot alloy yacht designed by Rome’s Andrea Vallicelli, which was the first Italian-designed yacht to contest the Cup since 1975 and had finished fourth in the 1980 Sardinia Cup. Italian sailors were at the time much emboldened by their third equal placing in the storm-tossed Admiral’s Cup of 1979, and were prepared to spend considerable sums on buying the best, and that included Californian skippers, with Tom Blackaller, straight from his SORC series aboard Louisiana Crude, signing on for Brava. 

Brava (left) struggles to finish in the first race of the 1981 Admiral's Cup

Unfortunately, however, Brava had a disappointing series in the seventh placed Italian team, with her series opening with a retirement after passing the wrong side of the finish mark unable to stem the tide to return. A protest in the third inshore race saw Brava finish further down the points ladder. 

With that experience behind him, Landolfi played a major role in Italy’s efforts in the 1983 series, when they finished second behind the all-conquering German team, and the original Brava, back for her second Admiral’s Cup, was one of the top boats finishing third equal. Skippered this time by US sailor Gary Weisman, her overall result was helped no end by a brilliant performance in the Fastnet Race, when she found a lane of breeze that she rode all the way from Land’s End to the Rock which she rounded in first place, a full four hours ahead of the 50 footer Bla Carat.

The original Brava seen more recently as Hero

Brava - the Vallicelli One Tonner racing in the 1984 Sardinia Cup

Brava seen here during the 1985 SORC (photo Facebook)

Despite their strong showing in 1983, the Italian team dropped heavily down the standings to 12th in the 1985 series, although Brava was the top boat in the Italian team, a new One Tonner again designed by Vallicelli. Landolfi did not make it into the Italian team for the Admiral’s Cup in 1987 or 1989, but commissioned a new One Tonner from Bruce Farr that year. The new boat, Design #223, was optimised for slightly stronger winds than other boats as a development of the success of Australian yacht Joint Venture III (Design #214), and designed to excel in all the important areas - upwind, downwind in heavy air and reaching in all conditions.  

The slippery shape of Brava, Bruce Farr's Design #223 - note the relatively smooth run aft and the hard point in the topsides at the rated beam measurement point

Landolfi’s new Brava went on to win the light airs-afflicted One Ton Cup in 1989, while suffering from a broken mast in the 1990 event. Brava placed second in 1991 behind US yacht Vibes (a further development of Brava). By this stage, Landolfi had become the top One Ton owner in Europe, supported by many of great yachting luminaries in her crew, such as Francesco de Angelis, her regular skipper, and Torben Grael. 

Brava returns to the dock after one of the inshore races during the 1991 Admiral's Cup (photo Shockwave40)

As part of their preparation for the 1991 Admiral’s Cup, the Italian team walked off with the 1990 Sardinia Cup, winning the series with a day to spare. This team effort was ably supported by Brava which finished second overall. The Italian’s had launched their boats nine months ahead of the Admiral’s Cup and their status as hot favourites looked more secure when team yacht Larouge won the Two Ton Cup in Kiel, and Brava was the runner-up in the One Ton Cup in Nieuwpoort in Belgium. 

Brava (left) leads the group of One Tonners in the 1991 Admiral's Cup - from left Corum Diamante (FRA), APAB (GER), Vibes (USA), Port Pendennis (GBR) and Zurich (DEN)

Brava at the dock during the 1991 Admiral's Cup (photo Shockwave40)

Brava during the 1989 One Ton Cup

The 1991 Admiral’s Cup was scored on the basis of three divisions, the 50 footers, Two Tonners and One Tonners. Brava finished top of the One Ton Cup division with consistently high placings, and Italy looked good to win the Cup going into the Fastnet Race finale. Landolfi added Rod Davis to the Brava crew, sensing the One Ton battle might be the tightest in the race and crucial to the final outcome. However, although Brava managed to beat Vibes overall, the Italian team lost out to an impressive display by the Corum-sponsored French team in the Fastnet race, who came back from fourth overall with better navigation and weather analysis in the Fastnet to win the series from Italy by just .62 points.

Landolfi sold Brava to a Russian owner and she competed in the 1990 One Ton Cup as Maestro. He commissioned a new Brava for the 1992 One Ton Cup (Brava Q8), which she won, and went on to race in the 1993 Admiral’s Cup, and as part of an immaculately prepared team packed full of talented sailors. Italy led the series from the second race, building up considerable momentum in the early and middle stages. This was despite problems for Brava Q8, including an entanglement with a start mark in the first race from which the crew mounted a remarkable recovery to finish second, and then a dismasting in the third race. 

Brava racing in Dublin Bay in the 1990s

 But the Italian team’s hopes all fell apart in the fifth race when their 50-footer Mandrake had a spectacular collision with the Dutch yacht Pro-motion that saw both boats nearly sink, and ruled them out of the rest of the regatta. Brava Q8 was skippered in the series by Paul Cayard, but de Angelis, sailing aboard Mandrake, was brought aboard for the rest of the series because it became obvious that they would need to drive the heart out of Brava Q8 if the now two-yacht team were to stand a chance. Unlikely as that sounds, in the 1993 series the Cup was based on the best of a team's two yachts, rather than all three, in order to allow two-boat teams to compete. However, further calamity arrived when Larouge lost her rig in the Fastnet race which ended any chance of Italian victory in the series, and dropped the team to fourth overall.

Brava Q8 - shortly after dropping her mast in the third race of the 1991 Admiral's Cup, and below, rounding a windward mark in the same series

Brava Q8 went on to win the One Ton Cup in 1993. After that, and following the demise of IOR and the One Ton Cup soon after, the Royal Ocean Racing Club adopted the IMS rule for the next Admiral’s Cup held in 1995, and used the ILC46, ILC40 and Mumm 36 classes for what was to be the last edition of this great regatta. Landolfi built a new ILC40 Brava Q8, and in 1995 Italy was at last victorious, winning the Admiral’s Cup with a strong come-from-behind performance in the Fastnet race, and Brava Q8 won the ILC40 division.

Brava Q8, the ILC40, in the thick of the action during the 1995 Admiral's Cup, with team-mate Mamma Mia (Mumm 36) to leeward

Brava Q8 rounding a leeward mark just behind US yacht Pigs in Space in the 1995 Admiral's Cup

Landolfi’s 1989 One Tonner was sold to an Irish syndicate sometime after the 1993 Admiral's Cup and One Ton Cup, and they continued to race her in the Solent. Brava was bought by her current owner in 2000, and when his family moved backed from Britain to Switzerland, Brava was relocated to Lake Constance where she is currently stationed in Romanshorn, registered as SUI-7880.  

Brava is still active on the local racing scene in Lake Constance and remains very competitive. Most recently, Brava won two major races in ORC1 such as the “Rund-Um” which is the most important race on Lake Constance, after finishing16th overall from over 350 competitors, including catamarans and the Libera Class A’s.  

Brava is maintained in impeccable condition as can be seen in the following photographs.

Brava after her most recent repaint, and still sporting her original keel and rudder configuration

Silver Shamrock III (Holland Half Tonner)

Silver Shamrock III was Ron Holland’s first centreboard yacht, designed for the 1977 Half Ton Cup which was held in Sydney just before the Southern Cross Cup series of the same year. Given the pedigree of its designer and crew, which included Harold Cudmore and Butch Dalrymple-Smith, the tiger-striped yacht was expected to perform strongly in the series. The boat was constructed in a highly developed timber and carbon fibre layup, with a fractional rig. Her maximum beam was more amidships compared with her main competition, namely the Bruce Farr-designed boats such as a Gunboat Rangiriri and Laurie Davidson's Waverider. She also carried a degree of tumblehome, and a transom only half the width of the Farr and Davidson boats - the stern was distinctive in the way that it tapered to a narrow rounded tuck. 

Silver Shamrock III racing during the 1977 Half Ton Cup (photographer unknown)

Despite her lightweight construction, she displaced twice that of the Farr and Davidson boats, weighing in at some 7,000lb. Some of that displacement was attributable to last minute additions of ballast to bring Silver Shamrock III up to her Half Ton rating (21.7ft IOR). The crew ran out of time with the boat and the ability to optimise its rating. Approximately 625lb of ballast was added to the boat, and this was considered, not surprisingly, to affect the yacht's reaching performance.

Holland had adopted a different approach to the more upright centreboards of her lighter displacement opposition, with the centreboard case piercing the deck for’ard of the mast and the centreboard angling back at a reasonably acute angle. 

An unusual sight on an ocean-racing yacht - Harold Cudmore and crew fitting the centreboard to Silver Shamrock III before racing in the 1977 Half Ton Cup

As with the preceding One Ton Cup held earlier in Auckland, the Half Ton Cup proved again the superiority of the lifting foil. Within the first 10 minutes of the first race, the 22 boat fleet split into two divisions – the six centreboarders in ‘division 1’ and the keelers in ‘division 2’. With nothing between Silver Shamrock III and her main opposition (Gunboat Rangiriri, Swuzzlebubble, 2269 and Waverider), the 250 mile ocean race finale became the decider - this after Silver Shamrock III had a near disaster in the short ocean race when her mast fell over the side just 400 yards of the finish line.

Silver Shamrock III during the 1977 Half Ton Cup (photo DB Yachting Annual)

Silver Shamrock III needed to finish two places ahead of either Gunboat Rangiriri or Waverider in the long ocean race to win the contest. It was a light wind affair, and Silver Shamrock III gave herself the best possible chance by finding more breeze in the early stages and clearing out to an unassailable lead, leaving the regatta result hinging on the placings astern. Both Swuzzlebubble and Waverider held too close into the windless Botany Bay, which let Gunboat Rangiriri in for the second place she needed to win the title, finishing some three hours behind Silver Shamrock III, and just beating 2269, to take the Half Ton Cup from Silver Shamrock III by the narrowest of margins – just one point, with placings of 5/1/2/2/2 against Silver Shamrock III’s 1/4/3/5/1.

Silver Shamrock III climbs out to weather after a start in the 1977 Half Ton Cup, with Newspaper Taxi (3223) to leeward and Gunboat Rangiriri astern (3426) (photo Ajax)

That Silver Shamrock III dropped her mast in the short ocean race was therefore a deciding factor in the outcome of the regatta, although it was also fortunate that Silver Shamrock III lost her mast so close to the finish and lost just one place. Had it gone a few miles earlier, it would have been very costly. The loss of an earlier mast on Silver Shamrock III before the series also demonstrated the lengths that crews were going to in order to shave weight in all areas, and not just the hull. It was Holland’s view that in the first incident the bottom of the mast was probably due to too much chemical milling. During the contest itself, the toggle system attaching the runners to the mast seemed to have failed, similar to a problem experienced by B195 in the One Ton Cup. Still, Silver Shamrock III was exceptionally well sailed by defending champion Cudmore, and proved to be at her best in light winds, winning the first race as well as the long ocean race finale.

Silver Shamrock III follows Swuzzlebubble out to a start in the 1977 Half Ton Cup

The difference in performance between Gunboat Rangiriri, in the light corner, and Silver Shamrock III, in the heavy corner, or, as Farr put it at the time, “about as heavy as people want to go these days”, was minimal, and showed the IOR was coping with the differences in displacement concept, at least in the light to moderate conditions that prevailed off Sydney. They represented the development of two entirely different boat types to a similar pitch and were very similar in performance, and similar over a wide range of conditions, although Shamrock was faster downwind in the light, while the Farr and Davidson boats were faster downwind in the fresh. Between those extremes, observed Farr "they were so similar they really could have been the same design."

Silver Shamrock III leads the fleet back to port, with Gunboat Rangiriri and Waverider astern

Silver Shamrock III went on to sail for the EEC (the former European Economic Community) team in the Southern Cross Cup series (with Pinta and Variag), while Swuzzlebubble stayed on to compete in the New Zealand team (alongside the centreboard One Tonners Jenny H and Smir-Noff-Agen). Although they had been similar in speed in the Half Ton Cup, in the stronger breezes of the Southern Cross Cup the heavier Silver Shamrock III proved to be no match for the lighter Swuzzlebubble, with placings of 20/6/12 before the Sydney-Hobart race, compared to Swuzzlebubble's 9/4/2. 

Silver Shamrock III battles her way out of Sydney Harbour in light and choppy conditions at the start of the 1977 Sydney-Hobart race

Both boats, however, failed to finish the storm-afflicted Sydney-Hobart race, which saw only 70 yachts finish of the 130 that started. Silver Shamrock III suffered minor damage to her frames and withdrew. Cudmore commented when he reached the fishing port of Ulladulla, “We are not out to kill ourselves – the storm was very bad and we didn’t want to take any risks.” The other two boats in her team managed to finish, and helped the EEC team to a fourth placing overall. 

Silver Shamrock III (photo Peter Cavill)

Silver Shamrock III was sold in Australia (and replaced by a less successful version, Silver Shamrock IV for the 1978 Half Ton Cup held in Poole). She was found on a swing mooring in 1982 in Sydney Harbour by Australian sailor Peter Cavill. She was transported to Brisbane for a big renovation, including shallowing the cockpit to make it self-draining. The original 'mackerel' paint scheme was too difficult to replicate so the Unchu (Clipper Cup yacht) design was adopted instead. With a shortage of time and money the boat was re-launched for the local Gladstone race, with the Stern rig which promptly fell over 1 hour into the race. 

Silver Shamrock III showing good upwind form in the 1980s, possibly with the older Stern mast (photo Peter Cavill)

Cavill then put in a narrower and lighter triple spreader rig and some new North sails and started winning everything he entered, except the downhill coastal races. She was sold in 1985. Some years later it came into the hands of the Hodder family, by which time the centreboard case was falling out. The un-ballasted centreboard was changed for an elliptical keel and the mast was modified to be keel stepped. It was sold in the early 1990s, and her whereabouts are unknown, with some variability in her eventual fate judging by the comments below. 

Silver Shamrock III with a new paint job and new rig (photo Peter Cavill)

Update: Photo below of Silver Shamrock III (April 2024) on the hard at Airlie Beach (photo Facebook)

Article updated May 2024