27 January 2015

One Ton Revisited 2015 - Update

The One Ton Revisited regatta gets underway in just under a month's time and will be hosted by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. The most recent entry, Kevin Kelly’s Impact, has brought the number of yachts to eight.
Impact - the latest entry for the 2015 One Ton Revisited regatta
Impact is a John Lidgard 'Imp' design with Kelly a stalwart of the Panmure Yacht & Boating Club. Her crew for One Ton Revisited will include Andy Ball and Ian McKenzie as well as sailmaker Kenny Fyfe. Ball was tactician on Ian Gibbs’ Swuzzlebubble when she finished fifth in the 1977 Half Ton Cup, in Sydney. He filled the same roll when GibbsSwuzzlebubble III finished top individual points scorer in the 1981 Admiral’s Cup. McKenzie is the son of the late John McKenzie, former commodore of the RNZYS (1975/76) and a highly respected offshore racer in his hard-chine Spencer design Sirius, while sailmaker Fyfe is a former, multiple R-Class champion who has raced everything else from Quarter Tonners to Bob Graham’s 48ft Davidson design Snow White II.

Wai Aniwa - arrived in Auckland from Wellington over the Auckland Anniversary weekend
Impact will join other entries listed in the previous update, being Panther, Pacific Sundance, Rainbow II, Result, Revolution, Wai Aniwa and Young Nick. Rainbow II has been undergoing an extensive refurbishment and is due to be re-launched at Pier 21, Westhaven, on 2 February. The group weigh-in to obtain IRC ratings will be held on 3 or 10 February.

Rainbow II at Pier 21 with mast stepped and ready for launch on 2 February
The skipper's briefing gets underway at 1610hrs on 27 February (RNZYS), followed by a cocktail welcome function. The series of five races starts on 28 February and finishes on 7 March. The prizegiving will be a public affair, using the Volvo stage and hospitality facilities in Viaduct Harbour. Trophies will be handed out by Bruce Marler, who was the commodore of the RNZYS and a driving force behind the decision to send Rainbow II to Heligoland to challenge for the One Ton Cup in 1968 and 1969. Prizes will be awarded to the overall winner of the series, to the highest placed 'classic' and 'modern' One Tonners, and the yacht that gets the most guns in the series. There will also be a Prix D'Elegance award for the best presented yacht and crew. 

Pacific Sundance has had a new paint job in readiness for the One Ton Revisited regatta
The latest press-release for the One Ton Revisited regatta advises of another event associated with the series:

"The dramatic events that, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, surrounded Chris Bouzaid and the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron winning and then defending the One Ton Cup, were the launch pad for this country’s remarkable rise to dominance of world ocean racing and its attendant marine industry.

Some 25 years later, they culminated in New Zealand and the Squadron winning yachting’s greatest prize – the America’s Cup.

Not many people realise that those first faltering steps to sailing pre-eminence also launched two more Squadron members – Peter Montgomery and Bill McCarthy - on to an unsuspecting sailing public. Both became household names throughout New Zealand – Pete as the “voice of yachting” and Bill as sportscaster and then television presenter of TVNZ’s national news.


The S&S design Young Nick
We’re bringing all three back together – Bouzaid, Montgomery and McCarthy – to present a special evening that will be a precursor to the One Ton Revisited regatta (25 February to 7 March inclusive). Peter will be MC and Chris the guest speaker as we take a trip down the One Ton Cup memory lane that will feature rare footage of the 1969 and 1971 One Ton Cup events assembled and presented by now-video producer and editor Bill.

Then, as a special bonus, another Squadron member, Larry Keating, will give us a sneak preview of his yet-to-be released international television series that, in high definition, reveals the America’s Cup as it has never been seen before – great history and tradition, powerful players, intrigue and dirty tricks, warts and all.

It should be a night to remember!!!"

In addition to the passage and Gulf courses, organisers will be staging short-course harbour races in conjunction with the Volvo pro-am races on 12 March and 13 March, and with the Volvo In-Port race on 14 March.

Regatta details are available from the
RNZYS.

Click on the 'One Ton Revisited 2015' label below to get the latest race results, and click here to see a TVNZ Sports feature (4 March) on the regatta.


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