A Lighter Ton - now an e-book

My book 'A Lighter Ton: The Champion New Zealand Yachts of the 1970s', first published in March 2012, is now available on the Amazon Kindle store as an e-book (here).

The book tells the story of how New Zealand designers, Bruce Farr, Laurie Davidson and Paul Whiting, changed the face of international racing yachts during the 1970s in the level rating offshore classes – the ‘Ton’ boats. It features 76 photographs and 15 drawings, including lines plans.

The book traces the origins of the International Offshore Rule (the IOR), how it worked and its development in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It then examines the emergence of a new and light displacement approach to the Rule, one that allowed for greater speed for less cost, leading to boats that were more exhilarating to sail and would point the way to a more exciting future in yacht design.

Reaction to this new breed was not universally positive, however, and this book follows the changes to the Rule that were designed to safeguard a peculiar status quo, boats that were typically wider, heavier and slower for their size. The issues raised by the new boats came to a head for the 1977 One Ton Cup series held in Auckland, and the Australian Southern Cross Cup series of the same year, and lead to rule changes that would affect the face of offshore yacht design for over a decade. This book is a celebration of the yachts that, although practically ruled out of the sport, showed the potential and promise of a lighter Ton…

See the reviews here.

One of the yachts featured in 'A Lighter Ton' - The Red Lion seen here during the 1977 One Ton Cup