SORC 1983 documentary

Here is the video documentary of the 1983 Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC). It features some great sailing footage of the maxis like Kialoa IV, Condor, Nirvana, Midnight Sun and Windward Passage, and the keen battle between the top Class C yachts Locura and Scarlett O'Hara. Also featured are Class B winner Carat and the first of Farr's return to IOR design in this period, Class E winner Migizi.
(unfortunately YouTube has deleted the soundtrack from this video)

Photos of the series by Sharon Green can be seen here, and by Larry Moran here.

2014 Half Ton Classics Cup

Swuzzlebubble, the Farr-designed Half Tonner that competed in her first Half Ton Cup in 1977, won the 2014 edition of the Half Ton Classics Cup, held in Saint Quay Portrieux, France. After two second placings on the first day, Peter Morton and his crew won the next race and then never looked back, going on to win the 40 mile coastal race on the second day, and all three races on the third day to wrap up the regatta with a day to spare. Swuzzlebubble seemed to have impressive speed in all of the conditions experienced during the regatta, and was able to overcome the handicap of having the highest IRC rating in the fleet (0.974). 

The transformation of Swuzzlebubble from her derelict condition in Greece just over a year ago to her race-winning form of today is remarkable, and underlines the pedigree of her original design, prepared by Farr as one of a trio of these breakthrough yachts, and pre-dated many of her competition that arrived for the 2014 series. The performance of Swuzzlebubble perhaps lies in the fact that this design was considered quite long for a Half Tonner, and reflected Farr's thinking at the time about how to provide fair lines around the after girth stations in combination with a lighter displacement hull. From 1979, and following the introduction of a displacement to length factor in the IOR rule, boats had to be heavier to remain competitive, and later boats tended to be deeper amidships and more pronounced distortion in their aft sections. Although she was originally designed as a centreboarder, she now sports a Mark Mills IRC-optimised fixed keel. And Swuzzlebubble is obviously very well sailed, and Morton's win in the extremely close racing in the Quarter Ton Cup a few weeks ago must have been excellent preparation for the Half Ton Cup.
 

Swuzzlebubble shows her impressive upwind form on the first day of the 2014 Half Ton Classics Cup

The Half Ton Classics Class press release from the final day sums up the overall placings (with photography credits to Fiona Brown (and many more here), and video from the Half Ton Classics Cup blog:

Saint Quay Portrieux - 11 July 2014 - The 2014 Half Ton Classics Cup came to a sparkling conclusion today with one final thrilling race off the beautiful North Brittany coast and a delightful prize giving on the waterfront of Saint-Quay-Portreiux. With the breeze a little lighter at around 10-14 knots we saw some different faces at the front of the pack today and the finish was incredibly close, both on the water and on corrected time. Robert Tregear's Per Elisa (1989 Ceccarelli), the last one off Half Tonner ever built, came into her own and gave Swuzzlebubble a run for her money, although they couldn't quite save their time and Swuzzlebubble won by 23 seconds. Third place went to Frederic Waniart's diminutive Maeva (1974 Mauric) who beat General Tapioca for third by a mere 0.16 seconds! Also much happier in today's lighter airs was Checkmate XV who took fifth, beating The Big Picture by 0.53 seconds!

 
Video footage of racing on Day 1

Startline action during the 2014 Half Ton Classics Cup

Our winner, Peter Morton's Swuzzlebubble had already been confirmed yesterday, but still came out to race purely for the joy of it. And our remaining podium positions were confirmed as Bernard Fournier Le Ray's Brittany Drizzle (1978 Berret) evaded one final challenge from her sistership General Tapioca, owned by Philippe Pilate, to claim second place with General Tapioca taking the third step on the podium.

General Tapioca - third overall

At the prize giving each of the skippers was invited to the podium to receive an invitation to the 2015 Half Ton Classics Cup, which will be held in in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, from 17-23 August, and to say a few words about the regatta. They were universal in their praise of the Sport Nautique Saint-Quay-Portrieux for their organisation of the regatta, of the Half Ton Classics Class for their work behind the scenes, and of their crews and fellow competitors for the incredible competition, fun and camaraderie they have experienced this week. 

 
Video footage from the coastal race on Day 2

General Tapioca chases Concorde downwind

Winner Peter Morton not only paid tribute to the organisers and his crew, but to his fellow owners and the incredible work they do in keeping these historic boats in such outstanding condition. He especially highlighted his closest challenger Bernard Fournier Le Ray, who he has known since Bernard built Indulgence, the boat in which Peter won the Three Quarter Ton Cup in 1986. Peter highlighted that Bernard built Brittany Drizzle himself in his garden in 1978 and has raced and maintained her personally ever since, giving Peter much good competition over the years. That she is in outstanding condition some 36 years later and still raced with great success at the highest level is a true testament to Bernard's skill as a builder and sailor and to the longevity of the Half Tonners. Peter concluded by saying he looked forward to racing with the fleet again at next year's event in Nieuwpoort.

Interview with Peter Morton

The Daniel Andrieu design Concorde - ninth overall and winner of The Half Ton Spirit Trophy

And finally we came to the most important presentation of all, The Half Ton Spirit Trophy, which is awarded to the team, which, in the opinion of the Class and the Regatta Committee, truly embodies the extraordinary spirit of the class and the event. For their commitment and incredible personal hard work in keeping their beautiful boat in 100% as original condition, for sailing with great success with an entirely Corinthian crew and for racing her, runners, checkstays, titanium fittings and all, to an incredible ninth place overall, the 2014 Half Ton Spirit Trophy was awarded to deafening applause to Concorde (1989 Andrieu) owned by Francis Marshall and crewed by Robert Libby, Matt and Ivan Jacock, Peter Greenwood, Dick Jackman and Jack Spree - a bunch of Enterprise sailors and fishermen from Loo in Cornwall. A very moved Francis and his entire team came to the podium to accept the trophy and the recognition of their fellow sailors. 

 
Video from Day 3

Per Elisa - the last Half Tonner ever built, finished 14th overall

Concorde on a reaching leg ahead of fellow French competitor Port de Perros Guirec (12th overall)

The next Half Ton Classics Cup will be held in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, on 17-23 August 2015.

Juno (Humphreys One Tonner)

Juno was a One Tonner designed for the 1987 Admiral's Cup for English yachtsman Mike Peacock, who had previously campaigned Cifraline 3. She was a development of the 1985 trend-setting Jade, the One Ton Cup winner of that year and member of the second-placed English team in the 1985 Admiral's Cup. 

Humphreys had sought to retain Jade's impressive two-sail reaching speed in the new design, while adding some upwind emphasis. Juno was considered very light for a One Tonner (displacement of 5,404kg), with a lower centre of gravity than Jade. Although most IOR designers were pushing up freeboards a little at the time, Humphreys pursued the low-freeboard style that marked Jade out from the crowd. However, with Juno he was also able to streamline the cabin slightly - the design required builder Adrian Thompson to do away with the keel H-frame, and instead sling the keel off the solid central area of the hull. The resulting saving in construction depth allowed the freeboard to remain similar to Jade but with a lower cabin-top.

The aft shape of Juno, with the characteristic IOR 'crease' at the aft measurement station

Juno on launching day - notice the elliptical 'MME' keel

Juno working up in Mallorca, Palma Bay, prior to the English Admiral's Cup trials in 1987

The yacht was built from a one-piece male mould, using a divinycell foam core with unidirectional and woven carbon-fibre and Kevlar laminates (the mould had to be broken up inside the boat and removed through her small companion way opening shown below). Her spartan interior featured a navigation console above the centrally-located engine box, while ring frames around the mast were spaced to accommodate battery stowage and twin anchorages for the shrouds.  As was standard with One Tonners by this stage, she sported a tall triple-speader fractional rig, although it was placed slightly further forward than many of her contemporaries. Unlike her contemporaries, she was fitted with a carbon tiller, rather than a 'typical' titanium version.

Juno sailing upwind during her buildup to the 1987 Admiral's Cup (photo Rick Tomlinson/Seahorse)

Early trials, with designer Humphreys checking the B&G Hercules navigation and performance data computer

Juno, skippered by Andrew Hurst, went on to qualify for the English team for the 1987 Admiral's Cup, alongside Jamarella (Farr One Tonner) and Indulgence (Andrieu 44). She finished as ninth yacht overall, with placings of 31/7/16/43/2. Her seventh in the second race (the Channel Race) was particularly commendable, as she had been hampered during the surfing spinnaker run back from EC2 buoy by ankle-deep water in the cabin, as a result of a failed gasket around the engine strut drive. She had a poor first race and a middling third race where, along with Jamarella, she had been part of the pursuing pack and was forced to sail outside the bunch at the gybe mark between reaches.

Juno amongst the One Ton pack during the 1987 Admiral's Cup (photo One Ton Class Facebook page)

She had a disastrous race in the Third Inshore, where she collided with Centurion (ex-Jade) at a windward mark and had to take a 20 percent penalty. This was on top of a poor team decision to all sail for the right hand side of the course on the first leg. Juno bounced back in the Fastnet race finale, however, reveling in the two-sail reaching conditions to take second place. 

Juno in the Queen Ann Battery marina after the 1987 Fastnet race (photo shockwave40 blog)

Juno went on to compete in the 1987 One Ton Cup, where she finished tenth (after placings of 18/10/30/6/6). She also raced in the 1988 Kenwood Cup as part of the British team (alongside Indulgence VI and Yeoman XXVII), with a new higher aspect 'MME' keel and a reduction in her 'E' measurement showing much improved upwind speed. Downwind she retained most of her speed, benefiting from a much thinner keel profile than 1987. Her series was unfortunately brought to a premature end when she was damaged in the fourth race during a windward mark incident when General Hospital, a local Farr 40, sailed into her on port tack. Juno was kept afloat and despite this mishap finished fourth in Class E and seventh overall. She was shipped straight to San Francisco to be repaired in time to compete in the 1988 One Ton Cup in San Francisco where she finished 18th. 

Juno during the 1988 One Ton Cup, just ahead of Australia's Sagacious V

Juno performs a spectacular wipe-out during the 1988 One Ton Cup

Juno as Citroen in the 1989 Spi Quest regatta (Bateaux magazine)

Juno was renamed Citroen after she was bought by French interests. Although she performed with great distinction during the 1989 season, including being awarded the RORC Yacht of the Year, she had a disastrous 1989 Admiral's Cup series where she sailed for the Irish team, finishing near last in 41st place, following results of 24/32/41/38/39/35.

Citroen approaching Lymington Marina after a race during the 1989 Admiral's Cup (photo shockwave blog)

Sometime in the 1990s Juno was converted to an IMS racer at Vision Yachts (and named Tango), which involved a new coachroof, removal of her IOR rating bumps and bustle, with a new Judel/Vrolijk keel and rudder. She was later named Freelance (photos below from the Historiedeshalfs site).

The yacht is now located in Portavadie Marina in Scotland (photos below from the One Ton Class Facebook page). Small windows have been added to the cabin top, and the original Juno name has been reinstated.

Further update (2022, Facebook)

Juno, as seen in May 2024 in Peel, Isle of Mann (photo Facebook)

Article updated June 2024