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| Windquest comes head to wind as she is hit by Carat VII (right) |
The two boats were locked together, Carat’s bow stuck in one of Windquest’s staunchions (photo, right), and Capricorno, coming in on starboard, had nowhere to go. She barrelled into the intersection between Carat and Windquest, costing Capricorno the first four feet of her bow.
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| Carat VII is wedged firmly into Windquest's starboard quarter (photo Guy Gurney) |
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| Carat VII, Windquest and Capricorno locked together, with Capricorno's stem broken away (photo Guy Gurney) |
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| The damage to Capricorno's stem is clearly visible here, along with puncture marks along her starboard topside (photo Guy Gurney) |
This raised serious questions about Capricorno's berth on the French Admiral’s Cup team later that year, and whether for that reason or not, that place was taken by Corum Saphir (although this could have been the same boat, after repairs).
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| 50-Foot racing circa 1991 |
Abracadabra didn’t feature in the results in Key West, but claimed a clear victory in Miami, with impressively consistent scores of 1/2/3/1/2/4, yielding a 13 point win over the second placed Nelson/Marek designed Insatiable, while the new Farr-designed Mandrake (Design #224) was third. Abracadabra had undergone slight modifications before the 1991 series – more ballast was added, and a new lighter rig had been stepped.
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| Typical close quarters racing in a 50-Foot World Cup event, circa 1991 |
The beginnings of some disquiet within the class at the escalating costs of commissioning a modern 50-footer led to president of the International 50-Foot Class Association (IFYA) Wictor Forss taking the unprecedented step at the Miami owner’s meeting of recommending that the class become one-design. Forss presented the owners with a pair of drawings of how a new one-design 50-footer could look – featuring light displacement with good upwind stability, a deep fin keel with a bulb, 10-12 person crews, and unhindered by the continual changes of the IOR. A panel of six owners was formed at the meeting to study the feasibility of going one-design.
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| More close quarters 50-Foot racing, with Container on the outside of Windquest |
Skyrocketing costs aside, the racing remained as good as ever. Abracadabra took a third consecutive win in the Lymington leg of the World Cup, held in July 1991 as part of the Oracle IOR Regatta, and ahead of that year's Admiral’s Cup. Juno V kept the pressure on Abracadabra right to the end, and took second place, followed by the new Container. The presence of the 50-footers in the 1991 Admiral's Cup had been assured when the organisers had earlier decided that each team include a One Tonner, a Two Tonner and a 50-footer, reflecting the typical composition of teams in the 1989 event (although the need to field a 50-footer hardly encouraged more teams to attend).
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| The Australian Frers-designed Cyclone |
The eight 50-footers in the Admiral's Cup were Corum Saphir (the top 50-footer of the regatta and part of the winning French team), Mandrake Krizia (Italy), Champosa VII (USA), Juno V (Britain), Container (Germany), Tuborg (ex-Container 89, Denmark), Will 91 (Japan) and the Frers-design Cyclone (Australia).
Container's owner Udo Schutz had a new boat built for 1991 - although she was scarcely different from her predecessor, she had grown a little in length to suit the new 40.5ft rating limit for the class that the IFYA had introduced in 1991. The Danes had chosen the old 1989-vintage Container to fill the 50-foot berth for their team. Another name change reflected her new sponsor, Tuborg. However, while the old Container had been a mainstay of the Dane's impressive second placing in 1989, Tuborg was off the pace in 1991 after suffering a collapsed mast step and significant loss of rig tension, with the problem only diagnosed halfway through the 1991 series. Tuborg became the weak link in the Danish team's disappointing sixth place.
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| Tuborg - the 1989 Container, sailed for the Danish team in the 1991 Admiral's Cup (photo shockwave40) |
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| Rating details for four of the Fifties in the 1991 Admiral's Cup (Bateaux magazine) |
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| Results for the 50-foot division in the 1991 Admiral's Cup (Regate magazine) |
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Juno V after finishing a race during the 1991 Admiral's Cup (photo shockwave40)
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The final regatta for the 1991 World Cup was held in Miura (Sagami Bay), Japan. As with the 1989 series held in the same venue, only four races were possible for the 13-boat fleet when a large high pressure system prevented completion of the scheduled seven races. Mandrake won the series (1/4/3/2), with Champosa VII second (7/2/1/4). Cayard and Abracadabra were third on countback (with Champosa VII), with Container and Juno V taking fourth and fifth. Abracadabra's third place was however enough to give them World Cup honours over Juno V and Mandrake.
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| The poster for the Japanese regatta as part of the 50-Foot World Cup (Facebook) |
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| Mandrake slips along in light airs during the 1991 World Cup in Japan, with Champosa VII and Juno V visible on port (Offshore magazine) |
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| Abracadabra crosses behind Mandrake during the 1991 Japan World Cup series |
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| The Farr-designed Springbok in some tight leeward mark action (photo Facebook) |
After the Japan series the issue of one-design was tabled following the deliberations of the feasibility study, and the owners unanimously voted for a radical change in boat design. It was decided that, beginning with the 1995 circuit, the IFYA would scrap its adopted IOR measurement rule and become a one-design class, which would be a collaboration of the top 50-foot designers (Farr, Reichel/Pugh, Nelson/Marek and Judel/Vrolijk). It was intended that the boat would be designed for offshore grand-prix racing, but not to a formula-driven IOR design, although it would be raceable under the IMS rule. The new design did not come to fruition, however, with the IFYA eventually following the IOR into sailing oblivion, and seemingly taking any momentum for a new type of boat with it.
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| Champosa VII (1992 IFYA World Cup champion) douses her spinnaker ahead of a leeward mark during the 1991 Admiral's Cup |
The 1992 World Cup was won by Morita's latest Champosa VII, another Reichel/Pugh design, skippered by John Kolius. Champosa VII had struggled in the 1991 Admiral's Cup, and despite being an update of Abracadabra, she had not been able to reproduce the form of the two-time World Cup champion, or that of the top Farr 50-footers, which at that time included Will for Japanese owner Ryouji Oda (Design #211), Juno V, Springbok and Mandrake.
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| Australian 50-Footer Ragamuffin in power reaching conditions during the 1993 Admiral's Cup |
The original Will was followed for 1991 by a new design (#260). The Farr design notes for the new Will described the changes from earlier generation boats - "Design 260 has a higher sail area to wetted surface ratio and lower drag keel and rudder arrangements. She has significantly higher stability and lower displacement. The deeper keel will give a large performance improvement in stronger upwind conditions without any loss downwind, particularly as refinements in keel shape improve downwind speed". Will 91 performed strongly in the 1991 Admiral's Cup to be the second in the 50-footer division. |
| The Fifties racing on the Solent ahead of the 1993 Admiral's Cup - right to left is Mandrake, Champosa, Heaven Can Wait, Ragamuffin (ex-Will '91), Indulgence (ex-Juno V), Container, Corum and Carat (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing) |
In what was the last of the 50-foot World Cup circuits, coinciding with the final demise of the IOR, the 1993 event was won by Carat VII Citroen. The 1993 Admiral's Cup was also the last one sailed under IOR, and the eight 50-footers that sailed were Container (for the winning German team), Ragamuffin (Australia, the ex-Will 91), Corum Saphir (France), Mandrake (Italy), Champosa VII (Japan), Indulgence (Britain, the ex-Juno V) and Jameson 3 (Ireland, the ex-Heaven Can Wait) and Pro-motion VII (Netherlands). The series was notable for the incredibly close win by Germany over Australia (by 0.25 points), but also for the serious collision between Mandrake and Pro-motion VII in the fifth race (photo, right) that saw both yachts forced to retire for the remainder of the regatta (see Reuters footage here).
Part 1 of this series can be seen here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.
Updated April 2024
In what was the last of the 50-foot World Cup circuits, coinciding with the final demise of the IOR, the 1993 event was won by Carat VII Citroen. The 1993 Admiral's Cup was also the last one sailed under IOR, and the eight 50-footers that sailed were Container (for the winning German team), Ragamuffin (Australia, the ex-Will 91), Corum Saphir (France), Mandrake (Italy), Champosa VII (Japan), Indulgence (Britain, the ex-Juno V) and Jameson 3 (Ireland, the ex-Heaven Can Wait) and Pro-motion VII (Netherlands). The series was notable for the incredibly close win by Germany over Australia (by 0.25 points), but also for the serious collision between Mandrake and Pro-motion VII in the fifth race (photo, right) that saw both yachts forced to retire for the remainder of the regatta (see Reuters footage here).
Great series of articles on the 50s
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