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Propaganda reaches away ahead of the fleet during the 1988 One Ton Cup |
Propaganda went on to completely dominate a fleet of 24 talent-packed boats, winning four of the five races. It was a remarkable performance, emulating the four win record set by Chris Bouzaid and Rainbow II in 1969. Fair Share finished sixth, amongst eight Farr yachts to finish in the top ten. Both yachts went on to compete in the San Francisco Big Boat Series, Fair Share gaining the upper hand and finishing second, just ahead of Propaganda.
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The Propaganda crew
prepare to hoist the spinnaker in windy conditions on San Francisco Bay
during the 1988 One Ton Cup (photo Philip Macalister/Sea Spray magazine) |
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Propaganda is off! Another downwind shot from the 1988 One Ton Cup (photo One Ton Class Facebook page) |
After the series Fay and Richwhite announced that they would build a second, larger Farr design to campaign alongside Propaganda in the New Zealand trials for the 1989 defence of the Admiral's Cup. With no new boats to speak of, Propaganda and the new Farr 44 Librah were joined by Fair Share. The One Tonners were worked up together in an America's Cup style two boat sail, rig and appendage testing programme. Both yachts were revamped in the stern area to take account of changes to the IOR that allowed for a more upright transom, which allowed crew weight to be carried further aft. Design and rating wise it was necessary however to include a 'false' narrow extension of the transom forward to the point of AGS (after girth station).
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Propaganda is seen here motoring up the Hamble River during the 1989 Admiral's Cup series (photo www.shockwave40.blogspot.com) |
Unfortunately for the New Zealand effort, questions over the rating of some boats, including Propaganda and Fair Share, blew up between the first inshore race and the Channel Race, following a protest by the Australian team. As a technical protest, it centered on the update to the way the changes to the stern were measured. The protest was eventually narrowed down to just the New Zealand boats, and was initially rejected. However, because of different interpretations within different national sailing authorities, a ruling was issued by the Offshore Racing Council which meant that the changes to the decks of the New Zealand yachts would modify their hull date, resulting in a small rating increase, and a subsequent re-scoring of their results.
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The remodelled Propaganda in trials in Auckland ahead of the 1989 Admiral's Cup |
Propaganda enjoyed a noteworthy performance in the second inshore race, when Rick Dodson secured the best start of the fleet after three general recalls, rounding the first mark in 12th place and still snapping at the heels of the 45ft Pinta after three hours of racing.
In the end, however, the New Zealand team did not quite have the edge that they enjoyed in 1987, and finished in a disappointing, but still respectable, third place overall, behind Britain and Denmark.
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Propaganda arriving at Lymington Marina during the 1989 Admiral's Cup (photo www.shockwave40.blogspot.com) |
Propaganda was later bought by a Japanese yachtsman, and she went on to compete in the 1990 Kenwood Cup, where she was skippered by Rick Dodson and finished in 11th place with placings of 33/6/8/12/8/5 (it would be interesting to know the reason for the lowly 33rd placing in the first race).
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Propaganda seen here racing in Japan in 1992, leading Be One, a Taylor 43 (photo Offshore magazine | Facebook) |
Propaganda was later located in Hakata, Japan, and photos can be seen here, and she understood to now be in South Korea.
Updated May 2023
Really a nice story !
ReplyDeleteWe state that the best IOR boats never went at their top at first shot ...
Regarding the 660 lb added, if the rating was a tiny bit higher only, my idea is that this weight was not at the back of the keel but mostly at the head just underwater. At the back the stability would have been increased so much that the rating would have been up to 31 feet and more...