One Ton Revisited - Press Release 23 August 2014

Two of the “royals” of New Zealand offshore racing – John and Kevin Lidgard – have joined the line-up for the One Ton Revisited regatta in February/March 2015. Successive generations of the Lidgard yachting dynasty, father and son John and Kevin are to crew for Bevan Hill on the John Lidgard-designed and built Result. The 36ft 2in (11.02m) Result was constructed, of kauri/kahikatea (glassed), for the 1977 One Ton Cup in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf.

The John Lidgard designed Result during the 1977 One Ton Cup

One of John Lidgard’s many great moments in a highly-distinguished offshore racing career was in 1971 when he skippered New Zealand’s Southern Cross Cup team that comprised Pathfinder (Brin Wilson), Runaway (John Lidgard) and Wai-Aniwa (Chris Bouzaid). That trio notched up an unprecedented (and, one suspects, never-to-be-repeated) 1, 2 and 3 in the Sydney-Hobart classic to also clinch New Zealand’s first win in the Southern Cross Cup teams’ series. That would have been particularly satisfying for John Lidgard – designer, builder and skipper of Runaway and captain of the team - quite a “fourfecta”!!! 

Pathfinder racing in Auckland in 1971 (Pathfinder is now based in Seattle)

Another newcomer to the fleet is the S&S design Young Nick, which was also built for the 1971 One Ton Cup defence in the Hauraki Gulf. She was commissioned by industrialist, the late Lou Fisher, and skippered by former Rainbow II tactician (now yacht designer) Alan Warwick. Young Nick is in top condition with owner/skipper Craig Hopkins seeking training partners to work up with him before the event (anyone interested, Craig’s email address is craig@edesiamarket.co.nz).

Young Nick during the 1971 One Ton Cup trials

With the entry deadline looming, organisers know of a number of would-be entries that are working their way to putting their hats in the ring. So, to be as inclusive as possible, the RNZYS has agreed to accept late entries, right up to the eve of the series, at the Squadron’s absolute discretion and with a 10% loading on the regular entry fee. To facilitate this, an official amendment to the Notice of Race will be issued in the next few days (view the Squadron's One Ton Revisited page here). 

The Farr 1104 Revolution

In the interim, we will be meeting next week with the Volvo Ocean Race stopover organisers to discuss how we can play our part in what will be a Festival of Sail while the round-the-world racers are in town and, particularly, how the One Ton Revisited yachts can that be best-accommodated in the build-up races to the Volvo restart on 15 March, 2015.

Meanwhile, the One Ton Revisited entries to date are Pacific Sundance (NZL 5281), Rainbow II (C96), Result (2998), Revolution (NZL 4697), Sextett (GER 1785), Wai Aniwa (1280) and Young Nick (1185).