2269 - Sailing Again

The restoration of the Farr Half Tonner 2 Farr (the ex-2269 from the 1977 Half Ton Cup series, and sistership to Gunboat Rangiriri and Swuzzlebubble), has recently been completed and she was re-launched in early October 2014.

The restoration of 2 Farr has been a long project for her Australian owner Will Baum, who saved the yacht after she was wrecked on a Melbourne beach.

2 Farr had her first sail in October 2014 (the 'G' on the sail denotes the Royal Geelong Yacht Club).

A more recent photograph from 2021 (via Facebook) is shown below, indicating a new mast has been fitted (higher forestay and no jumpers) and a new set of sails.

The history of the yacht can be seen here.

Two Farr, racing in Ireland in 2024 (photo Robert Bateman | Afloat magazine)

More recently, Two Farr has been sold to Irish sailing interests, and has now joined other refurbished Half Tonners, including Swuzzlebubble, in local racing. With an IRC rating of 0.955, and still retaining her original '2269' sail number (with Irish registration), she finished tied on points (but second on countback) to Swuzzlebubble in the IRC2 division of the Wave Regatta, hosted by the Howth Yacht Club in late May 2024.

Two Farr and Swuzzlebubble - back on the same race track again after some 46+ years (photo 'cill123', Sailing Anarchy Forums)

Article updated May 2024

Halfton Class Italia

After the 2014 Laser Masters Worlds in France I travelled to Rome and had the opportunity to have a look at a few Italian Half Tonners, while my family and I enjoyed the hospitality of the Massucci family (Claudio and Roxana) who own the ex-New Zealand Farr Half Tonner Gunboat Rangiriri.

Gunboat Rangiriri - October 2014

Unfortunately Rangiriri's engine was being repaired, having developed a serious fault just before I arrived, so I wasn't able to get out for a sail on this iconic yacht. However it was great to see this Rangiriri in largely original condition, with some adaptations for cruising but otherwise looking almost as she did when she won the Half Ton Cup in 1977. She still sports the name of the Royal Akarana Yacht Club (Auckland) on her transom, and the owners are keen to reinstate the Maori 'tiki' emblem that was also originally painted on the other side of the stern.

Further down the coast, in Anzio, a couple of other Half Tonners had assembled at the marina off Anzio Yacht Club, being the Farr 31 Loucura, winner of the Italian Half Ton Nationals in 2013 and looking in immaculate condition, and the Ceccarelli designed Stern (ex-Stern Weber which finished third in the 1987 Half Ton Cup) - a replacement for Massimo Morasca's 2014 winning yacht Elana Celeste. Other Half Tonners were expected to arrive over the week for an upcoming regatta off Anzio.

Aboard Loucura with Claudio Massucci (left, Gunboat Rangiriri) and owner Fabrizio Gagliardi (right)

Aboard Stern with her new owner Massimo Morasca

While at the Anzio Yacht Club I had the unexpected honour to be presented with a burgee and other official mementos of the Halfton Class Italia, by Massimo Morasca (Class President) and  Marina Maffei (Class Secretary, Prydwen), in appreciation of the coverage of the Association's national regattas on this website. I look forward to seeing the Italian fleet develop further and will watch their results with interest.

Stern competing in the Half Ton Cup in 1987

The Halfton Class Italia burgee

Sovereign (Pedrick Maxi)

Sovereign was a Maxi-class yacht designed by David Pedrick, which was built and launched in Sydney in 1986. She was commissioned and owned by Bernard Lewis, who had formerly campaigned the 12-metre Gretel and the smaller maxi Vengeance (ex-Siska). Lewis wanted a yacht that could take the line and handicap double in the Sydney-Hobart race and be competitive in the maxi world circuit.

Pedrick's design, at 83ft, was then the largest maxi in the world. Pedrick had earlier designed Nirvana, generally considered a beautiful yacht that was reasonably competitive while also having a comfortable fit-out below (and can be seen in this video of the 1983 SORC). This met part of Lewis' criteria for a yacht that could be raced successfully while also suitable for entertaining guests aboard.

A building team was assembled around aluminium boat builder Paul Kelly and Sovereign was launched in late November 1986. She went on to win everything she competed in, except for the Sydney-Hobart of that year when she was forced to retire due to the failure of a bolt in the spreader root connection to the mast.

Sovereign hauled out in Sydney, May 1988 (photo Bob Chapman)

Once this problem was fixed Sovereign bounced back to take line honours in each of the 30 races she contested, winning over half on corrected time. In the 1987 Sydney-Mooloolaba race she finished first, some 80 miles ahead of the next maxi, and went on to be selected for the New South Wales team for the Southern Cross Cup. She secured a rare line and handicap honours double in the 1987 Sydney-Hobart (the first Australian yacht to do so), which formed the finale of the Southern Cross Cup and fulfilled Lewis' dream while helping the NSW team to win the Cup.

On-board photo of Sovereign in the Tasman Sea on her way to New Zealand and onward to Hawaii (photo Bob Chapman)



Sovereign in a tight tussle with Il Moro di Venezia during the 1988 Kenwood Cup (photographer unknown)

Sovereign was later chosen to represent Australia at the 1988 Kenwood Cup in Hawaii, where she met with modest success (finishing sixth in Class A and 25th overall, carrying a rating of 71.72ft) against the first of the new breed of carbon fibre maxis such as Raul Gardini's Il Moro di Venezia and Windward Passage II and other famous maxis such as Congere, Ondine VII and Sorcery. Modifications were planned for within the six weeks available between the end of the Kenwood Cup and the San Francisco Big Boat Series.

Sovereign trails Emeraude and Congere at a wing mark during the 1988 Kenwood Cup (photo Offshore magazine | Facebook) and below, leading Ondine VII, Congere and Il Moro di Venezia

The 1988 Big Boat Series was the last to feature a big Maxi fleet, following a good turnout at the Kenwood Cup, and was a last hurrah for IOR on the West Coast, with a big fleet bolstered by the One Ton Cup that had been held just prior. Sovereign was skippered by Peter Gilmour for the series. Some improvements were achieved, but while lying second overall, a running backstay foul resulted in a breakage to the Sovereign's mast, above the top spreader. A team was assembled within the crew to get the boat racing again within 36 hours, and after an all-night effort the mast was repaired and re-stepped in time for the next race, due to a convenient lay day.

Following the improvements achieved in San Francisco, Lewis ordered a new keel, mast and sails to ensure Sovereign was at her best for the 1989 World Maxi Championships to be held over three regattas at the US Virgin Islands, Newport (Rhode Island) and Palma, Majorca. After winning in both the Virgin Islands and Newport regattas, an offer was made to Lewis in July 1989 by Californian yachtsman Victor Fargo for the boat before she was to be shipped to Europe. It is understood that she was renamed Lady Godiva II, before she was again sold and converted to a cruiser for the Caribbean, and in more recent times was converted to a cruiser in Italy.

Sovereign is now known as Shosholoza (photo Facebook)

(Information for this article is based in part on an obituary for Lewis written by David Kellett that appeared in Sail-World.com in 2004).

Updated December 2023