Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2017

Winds ranging from 5 knots to 27 knots provided a thorough test of competitors at this year's Coutts Quarter Ton Cup, held in Cowes on 13-15 September. Few teams were able to maintain consistent performance across such a wide range of conditions and for most it was a very high scoring series.

Some of the 2017 Quarter Ton fleet assembled on the hard (above) and in the marina (below) at Cowes

However, Sam Laidlaw's Aguila dominated the front of the fleet throughout the championship and put up an impressively flawless performance on the last day, winning all three races. Laidlaw's team of Brett Aarons, Dan Gohl, Tom Forrester-Coles and Robbie Southwell, finished the series as overall winner, counting just nine points from seven races.


Speaking after racing Sam Laidlaw was delighted to have finally got his hands on the legendary Quarter Ton Cup, "I'm really excited, because we've had a number of attempts at this and been in the top three on several previous occasions. The crew have been fantastic. Brett has done a great job of looking after and preparing the boat and has been sailing with me for a long time now. With Dan on the bow, Tom on the jib and Robbie too we've got a very solid team.

Cote approaches the top mark during racing on the second day of the 2017 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup (photo Paul Wyeth)

"We couldn't have had two more different days. It's been a really well run regatta. It was a pity there was no racing on Wednesday, but I think it was the right call. The courses were very good and Rob Lamb did a great job, particularly in getting 4 races in on Thursday which was a real triumph.

The fleet gets underway during the second day of the 2017 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup (photo Paul Wyeth)

"We haven't really made any changes to the boat for this season. We lost our mast in Cowes last year so had to replace that, but otherwise we've just had a lot of time in the boat, working on our crew work and making small tweaks rather than anything major. It's the crew who do all the work, I just sit at the back and steer!"

Winner of the 2017 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup - Aguila (photo Paul Wyeth)

Apart from a shocker in the final race, Ian Southworth's Whiskers also sailed a consistent regatta, counting predominately first and second places to finish in second overall on 14 points. Third overall was taken by Mark Richmond's Cote on 29 points and fourth by Paul Gibbons' Anchor Challenge on 32 points.

Pinguin Playboy - the winning Corinthian entry (photo Paul Wyeth)

Pierre Paris's Pinguin Playboy is the winning Corinthian entry, ahead of Robbie Stewart's Hellaby and Jeff Dakin's Flashheart. 

As well as the main prize for the overall winner of the Quarter Ton Cup, the event also awards a raft of other prizes. The Roger Swinney trophy for boats other than the winners of the Open and Corinthian Divisions rating lower than 0.910 was won by Whiskers.

Terence Dinmore's Captain Moonlight won the prize for the oldest crew, with a combined age of 334 years, and Willie McNeill's Illegal the youngest (167 years). The oldest bowman, winning the walking stick, is 59-year old Led Pritchard of Whiskers. The concours d'elegance for the best-presented boat went to Lincoln Redding's Lacydon Protis.

The report by quartertonclass.org and full results are here.

A further review of the series and the differences in racing between the Quarter Ton and Half Ton fleets from the Irish Afloat website is here. 

Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2016

The 2016 edition of the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup was held on 15-17 June in Cowes, and was won by Louise Morton and her crew aboard Bullit, whose name will now be engraved on the trophy for the fourth time, a record only equalled by her husband Peter Morton. The podium for the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2016 is completed by second placed Blackfun, designed by Laurie Davidson for the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup in Auckland where she finished 8th, which was helmed this year by 2007 Etchells World Champion Oscar Strugstad who got a late call up to stand in for owner Tony Hayward; and Sam Laidlaw’s Aguila, which was designed by Rolf Vrolijk, in third.  Below is a gallery of photographs (by Fiona Brown) that capture some of the close racing in the event, and some of the thrills and spills of the first day when the breeze was on.

Illegal leads (right to left) Anchor Challenge, Bullit and Blackfun during a race on day one

Illegal (5th overall) comes to grief on a downwind leg during blustery conditions on day one

The distinctive curved sheer of the Joubert Nivelt design Whiskers (4th overall), to windward of Blackfun, on day one

The Jacques Fauroux design Tiger (11th overall)

Another Fauroux design, Cobh Pirate, sets its spinnaker skyward on day one (13th overall)

The winner of the 2016 Quarter Ton Cup Bullit (with Hellaby in the background)

A packed startline on day two

The revamped Laurie Davidson and ex-New Zealand Quarter Tonner Hellaby (above and below) - Hellaby finished 16th overall

Coutts Quarter Ton Cup moves to Royal Yacht Squadron

Coutts Quarter Ton Cup: 2016 marks the tenth anniversary of Coutts' title sponsorship of the revival Quarter Ton Cup. Since it was first run in 2005 the event has gone from strength to strength and Coutts' support since 2007 has been vital in helping to achieve that success.

The Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2016 will be hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, from Wednesday 15 to Friday 17 June. As always the event will combine some of the closest and most exciting inshore racing anywhere in the world with a fun social programme and great class camaraderie.

Another new development for this year's event is the introduction of an additional class. Class Chairman Peter 'Morty' Morton explains the reasoning behind this. "What has occurred over the past few years is that the prototypes and past class winners have been upgraded considerably and in an attempt to encourage the production and older boats back to the event the organisers intend to run a second class provided sufficient numbers enter, known as the cruiser racer class. This will be for boats of a rating of 0.89 and below and for boats such as a GK24, Bolero, Quarto, Farr 727's, Eygthene 24's, Trapper 300. We know there are literally hundreds of those around and hopefully enough of them want to enjoy the regatta. They will be racing for the Roger Swinney Quarter Ton Trophy and it is intended that a round the buoys course will be set for them".

The refurbished Cobh Pirate competing in the 2015 Quarter Ton Cup

The Quarter Tonners have suffered two sad losses in the past year. Roger Swinney, a founding member of the revived Quarter Ton Class, first with the 1979 David Thomas designed Tsunami, which he renamed Ayanami, and then later with the 1986 McIlraith designed Innuendo, sadly passed away in November. His joie de vivre and love of the Quarter Tonners made him a hugely popular figure with his fellow sailors and he will be much missed.

Another much loved member of the class lost recently is the legendary Espada, a 1980 Bruce Farr design and winner of no less than three Coutts Quarter Ton Cups, which was destroyed in a boatyard fire in January. Morty is working closely with Espada's owner Julian Metherell to find him a replacement in time for the season.

In happier news Robbie Stewart has tracked down and bought Hellaby, the Laurie Davidson design that came second to Bullit in the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup in Auckland. Our photo above (courtesy Erle Williams) shows Hellaby on her way to second place at the 1979 Quarter Ton Cup with Johnny Lasher helming, Tony Bouzaid navigating, Erle Williams trimming and Joey Allen on bow.

Lacydon Protis, Bruno Trouble's 1981 Fauroux design which won the Quarter Ton Cup in Marseille that year, was found by Morty in Italy and has been bought by Diarmid de Burgh-Milne. She is currently undergoing a full refit at Casse Tete Marine ready for the 2016 season.

Lacydon Protis during the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup

Fauroux is very much the designer of the moment when it comes to boats changing hands. Tiger, his design from 1989, has been bought by Tom Daniel. Thomas Prower joins the fleet with his purchase of the 1981 Lancelot. Olly Ophaus has bought Howard Sellars and Mike Till's 1977 Bullet and Jo Roberts has acquired the delightful Menace, designed by Fauroux in 1981.

The Stephen Jones design Wings competing in the 1978 Quarter Ton Cup

The fleet is also very much looking forward to welcoming back Dutchman Berry Aarts with a restored Wings, which was built to a Stephen Jones design for the 1978 Quarter Ton Cup in Japan.

The Notice of Race, Entry Form and further information will be available shortly on the Quarter Ton website.

Addition information about the event can be obtained from Quarter Ton Class Secretary Louise Morton on louisemorton@me.com or +44 (0)7769 972979.

Quarter Ton Cup 1981

The 35-boat fleet that assembled for the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup in Marseilles, France, included qualifiers from the well-attended French and Italian selection trials (a total of 70 boats competed in these two events), and several boats from other countries. The winds ranged from Force 2 to Force 11 (4 to 60 knots), and in the last race of the series, only three boats were able to reach the finish line.

Protis, winner of the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup

The pre-regatta favourites were the many custom and semi-production boats designed by Frenchman Jacques Fauroux, whose Bullit had won the previous two editions of the Cup. Fauroux sailed one of his designs, La Concorde, which, like many other of his boats in 1981, had less extreme stern sections than Bullit, in response to changes in the IOR. The best competition for the Fauroux boats promised to come from the Italian Willy Willy, designed by the Fontana/Maletto/Navone team, and from New Zealand, the Davidson-designed Hellaby that had finished second to Bullit the previous year. 

Cifraline in trouble on a downwind leg during the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup

The opening race was an Olympic triangle sailed in Marseilles’ South Bay in a 17-33 knot easterly. Hellaby took the start and kept the lead throughout the race, with a careful cover over a new custom Fauroux design, Protis which was co-skippered by Bruno Trouble (interestingly, Protis was the only boat in the fleet to carry an inboard engine, which allowed her to be a little bigger and to carry a little more sail area). As the wind freshened, Hellaby extended her lead and won by more than two minutes, with Protis second, and Petite celte, another Fauroux design third, and Willy Willy fourth. 

Adelaide - her ability to carry her spinnaker during the fourth race gave her a big advantage over the rest of the fleet

The second inshore race, sailed in similar conditions to the first, was won by Adelaide, yet another Fauroux design, owned and skippered by Dominique Caparros, who had co-skippered Bullit in 1979 and 1980 and had Adelaide built from the same mould. She led the race convincingly from Protis, while Willy Willy finished fourth and Hellaby sixth. 

The photo to the left is of Lorraine, another new Fauroux design owned by Hong Kong sailor Gilbert Ng and skippered by Helmer Pederson. The photo was taken by Beken of Cowes, on the first day of racing - another reef was needed on the second day and was too fresh for the photographers.

Due to the hard going in the first two races, only 29 entries began the 80-mile middle distance race, which started in much lighter conditions, with La Concorde taking the early lead. Protis moved up to second on the next downwind leg before passing La Concorde to move into first, a position that she would not relinquish. La Concorde was subsequently disqualified for rounding a mark incorrectly. 

Protis during typically fresh downwind conditions during the 1981 One Ton Cup

In the next race, another Olympic triangle held in West Bay, the seas were less rough but the wind was much stronger than the previous inshore races. Adelaide again showed excellent speed in these conditions, gaining the lead early and setting her spinnaker on the reaching legs and opening up a huge lead in dramatic planning conditions. Several other boats tried setting spinnakers and suffered broken masts as a result. While Protis held second place at the start of the run, she too broke her mast after setting her spinnaker. 

Protis - possibly during the first race, and before the more wild conditions of the second and fourth inshore races

The start of the third triangle race (photo Frederic Allain/Seahorse)

Only 21 boats started the 180-mile final race, and four more dropped out in the early stage. The fleet beat their way east in a moderate breeze towards St Raphael, the only mark of the course save for the requirement to stay seaward of the islands along the shore. Protis, which had been allowed to install a new and stronger mast after her fourth race mishap, took over the lead on the first leg and turned the St Raphael mark early the next morning. La Concorde, the early leader, reclaimed her position at the head of the fleet as they worked their way southwest to the islands again. 

Willy Willy

As the fleet entered the last stage of the race in the late afternoon, a mistral wind began blowing from the west at 35-60 knots. Willy Willy, built of plywood, broke some frames and retired as did a number of others, including La Concorde and the New Zealand crew on Hellaby, who professed to never having encountered winds of mistral force before. 

Protis above and below caught in the mistral wind in the fifth race

Greg Dagge from Lorraine recalls that by evening they were just holding station off the Isle de Hyeres against huge waves that were coming off the land. They were in a good position when the compression strut between the chainplates gave way and they were forced to retire, but sailed back to Hyeres under bare poles and incredibly recorded speeds of up to 18 knots.

New Zealand's Hellaby, sailed by John Lasher and which finished in fifth place overall

Another photo of Cifraline in trouble on a downwind leg

By early evening, there were only three boats left in the race. Gyptis, a Jezequel design, was anchored far to the east and would not finish for two more days. Cifraline, a steadily improving Daniel Andrieu design, was battling with Protis which, unbeknownst to the crew, now only needed to finish the race to win the series. Both boats managed to beat past the dangerous Cape Sicie, but then found it so rough that they ran back into the lee of the Cape and anchored for most of the night. They began racing again in the morning, but since Cifraline weighed anchor half an hour earlier, she made it home against the still heavy mistral ten minutes ahead of Protis.

Gyptis

Her second place in the final race gave Protis the Cup, and Fauroux his third consecutive Quarter Ton title. Cifraline finished second and Gyptis third. Willy Willy was fourth, while Hellaby finished the regatta in fifth place. 

Protis during the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup (photo Seahorse magazine)

Protis as seen in 2015

 

Protis has continued her winning ways in Cowes during the running of the modern Quarter Ton Cup series (photo Facebook)

Article updated February 2024

Bullit (Fauroux Quarter Tonner)

Bullit, the Jacques Fauroux design that won the 1979 Quarter Ton Cup, was in the news again recently, after winning the Quarter Ton division in the 2013 Vice Admiral's Cup, hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. Bullit (now with an IRC rating of 0.905 instead of her original 18.55ft IOR) has been another impressive restoration project by Peter Morton, who had previously returned Anchor Challenge to her former glory (and then some!) and went on to win the 2009 edition of the revived Quarter Ton Cup, and did it again in 2012 with Bullit.  

Bullit on her way to winning the 2013 Vice-Admiral's Cup (photo Fiona Brown)

This latest win in the Vice-Admiral's Cup, against 14 other top Quarter Tonners, augers well for Bullit's chances in the Quarter Ton Cup which will be hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club on 15-17 July (update - Bullit has won the 2014 Quarter Ton Cup). 

Bullit viewed at her arrival in Auckland for the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup (photo Alan Sefton/Seahorse)

Bullit is the name of two of the seven yachts built from the same mould - Morton's Bullit won the Quarter Ton Cup in San Remo in 1979. The second Bullit had a longer stern scoop added and she made quite a splash when she arrived in New Zealand for the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup, hosted by the Panmure Yacht and Boating Club. 

Bullit berthed off the Panmure Yacht and Boating Club (photo Murray Buckman/Facebook)

The local fleet were comprehensively beaten by the lightweight flyer, which at the time demonstrated that European design thinking had overtaken the New Zealand style of boat. Bullit featured more of a dish shape, with less depth and more beam, a longer stern overhang and an ability to surf downwind much more easily than her rivals. Fauroux had created a boat of the same measured length as the New Zealand boats, yet with less hull depth and more beam, while giving nothing away in terms of sail area.  

Bullit rounds a weather mark just ahead of Hellaby, her dish shaped sections are clearly evident

As another point of difference, the boat carried no internal ballast, all her 1,060lbs of ballast was carried in the keel, and her all up weight was some 140lbs less than the Farr design Anchor Challenge, sailed in the 1980 series by Roy Dickson. The long stern overhang, that gave the yacht some 2ft of extra length, would incur a rating penalty the following year, but the boat was designed only to win the 1980 series.

Bullit eases her way downwind - a long transom left little room for the cockpit! (photo Gary Baigent/Sea Spray)

The moment of truth arrived after the top mark in the first race. Bullit rounded second, behind Australian entry Bashful, but by the wing mark was 38s ahead, and went on to finish a full six minutes ahead of the second placed Hellaby, the latest Davidson design and sailed by Tony Bouzaid. After a repeat performance in the early stages of the second race, sailed in fresh conditions, one of Bullit's spreaders failed and the crew were forced to reduce sail, finishing third behind Hellaby and Anchor Challenge.

Bullit nurses her damaged rig on her way to the finish line in the second race (photo Gary Baigent/Sea Spray)

Bullit was able to reinforce her superiority in devastating fashion in the 140 mile intermediate race, where she beat the second placed Hi Flyer (another Davidson design, and sailed by Helmer Pederson) by almost 47 minutes in the 24 hour long race. The race was sailed in 15-20 knot winds which suited Bullit perfectly. She repeated the performance in the fourth race, steaming away on the reaches and runs after rounding the first mark in fourth place.

Bullit approaches the start area during the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup

The 220 mile long ocean race was sailed in very fresh conditions, with 40 knot gusts at the start and a forecast that did not provide much hope for an improvement for a fleet faced with two roundings of Channel Island. Again, Bullit set a blistering pace in the initial downwind work, but many of these small boats suffered knockdowns and a nervous, if not scary, time while out in the vicinity of Channel Island.

On the beat from Channel Island Bullit's mast began S-bending, and had to nurse the yacht on starboard tack and soon fell behind Anchor Challenge. The following morning, however, Bullit was close behind and, carrying just a storm spinnaker and reefed main, she sailed through the lee of Anchor Challenge and went on to finish the race in a little under 42 hours and took the win by a margin of 31 minutes.  

The second placed yacht in the series, the Davidson design Hellaby, sailed by Tony Bouzaid

Bullit's victory would have been greater had she not suffered rig and internal hull damage which forced her to slow down - they wanted company in case something drastic happened. With the victory in the final race Bullit secured the Quarter Ton Cup for France, with 116.5 points, well clear of second placed Hellaby on 106.25 points, just 0.75 points ahead of Anchor Challenge. 

The 1980 Bullit is understood to be currently located in Tahiti, as seen in the photo below.