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. 

Quarter Ton rebuild news

A couple of Quarter Ton rebuilds have appeared on the "1/4 ton zeilers" page recently - the upgrade to Innuendo (GBR-7557), the ex-Senator Incitatus, looks particularly impressive - this boat is a James McIlraith design, that was bought by Peter Morton in 2015 and is receiving the kind of attention previously applied to the likes of Anchor Challenge and Bullit, and the Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble.

Another impressive upgrade to an old Quarter Tonner - the original bustle in the stern quarters remains evident, but a new IRC-optimised keel has been added

Innuendo now features a simple and highly refined deck layout

Also receiving some love and IRC optimisation is the 1981 Quarter Ton champion, the Jacques Fauroux-designed Lacydon Protis, which is being prepared for the 2016 UK season.

Lacydon Protis in the wild conditions of the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup

Hellaby (Davidson Quarter Tonner)

Hellaby was designed by Laurie Davidson, for the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup, held in Auckland, New Zealand. She was owned by John Lasher and skippered by Tony Bouzaid, of Waverider fame, and was one of the fastest of the new Quarter Tonners launched for the 1980 series, that included new Bruce Farr designs Anchor Challenge (which won the New Zealand Quarter Ton trials) and Hot Number. Compared to the Farr designs, Hellaby, as a development of Davidson's earlier Quarter Tonners such as Fun, was slightly longer than the Farr boats overall, but with a shorter 'length between girths', and a slightly narrower beam.

Hellaby working upwind during the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup

The new boats were joined by a number of revamped yachts from the local fleet, including earlier Davidson yachts such as Bashful, Blackfun, Continental Fun and Hi-Flyer, and the Whiting Quarter Tonners Strawberry Letter, Smokey Joe and Hatchway Hummer.

Hellaby undergoes some early modifications to optimise her rating under IOR, including bumping of her midship depth

But the local fleet were comprehensively beaten by the Jacques Faroux-designed Bullit, which at the time demonstrated that European design thinking had overtaken the New Zealand style of boat, with 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. 

Hellaby follows Bullit around a windward mark during the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup

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 38 seconds ahead, and went on to finish a full six minutes ahead of the second placed Hellaby. 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, letting Hellaby in to win after she overtook Anchor Challenge on the second reach.

Hellaby and Bullit before a race - note Hellaby's name covered to address Rule 26 (sponsorship) issues (photo Peter Montgomery Collection)

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. Hi-Flyer managed to beat Hellaby by just 12 seconds. 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. Hellaby took second in the fourth race, with Bullit again taking the gun.

Hellaby 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. Bouzaid considered the race dangerous, and said they were lucky not to strike wind against tide at Channel Island. Hellaby at one stage submerged completely after gaining high speeds from a number of waves - the boat was white from bow to stern and Bouzaid, standing as far aft as he could get, had water around his knees while gear on the boat began snapping and popping.

Hellaby in Marseilles, 1981

Hellaby during the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup

Hellaby during the first race of the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup

The race was again won by Bullit, despite rig damage, while Anchor Challenge finished second. Hellaby came in third. With the victory in the final race Bullit secured the Quarter Ton Cup for France, with 116.5 points, well clear of Hellaby in second place on 106.25 points, just 0.75 points ahead of Anchor Challenge, while Hot Number finished fourth.

Mädchen at the 1984 Quarter Ton Cup - the winner of the series Comte de Flandre (F-9083) visible to the upper left

Hellaby went on to contest the 1981 Quarter Ton Cup in Marseille, where she finished fifth in a fleet of 31 boats - she was lying second with placings of 1/6/5/3 before the final Mistral-affected final race from which she retired. After that series she was bought by German yachtsman Horst Dietrich who renamed the boat Mädchen. Dietrich contest the 1984 Quarter Ton Cup in Nieuwpoort, where she finished sixth (of 26 boats). Dietrich sold Mädchen after the 1984 Quarter Ton Cup to Danish sailer Bent Folke Larsen, where she finished seventh in the 1985 Cup with a number of wins and a broken mast after a regatta with winds above 25m/s and a fun couple of legs as the only one carrying a spinnaker. Mädchen was replaced by Whopper for 1986 (3rd), and McDonalds which won in 1987. She had a poor regatta in 1990 (finishing 37th, as SCO) and the boat was later bought for a sailing school in Hamburg and renamed Quatro. Dietrich sailed a Judel & Vrolijk design the following years - also called Mädchen, coming in 5th in Cork in 1987.

Mädchen at the 1984 Quarter Ton Cup (photo 1/4 zeilers Facebook page)

Hellaby has since been optimised for racing under IRC and in the Quarter Ton Cup revival series.

A revamped Hellaby competing in the 2018 Quarter Ton Cup

Hellaby with a revised paint scheme (more aligned with the original) seen here competing at the 2022 Cowes Week (photo Facebook)

The Loss of 'Espada' (GBR-50R)

From the Quarter Ton Facebook page: There was a fire in the Medina Yard in Cowes on 25th January 2016 and very sadly the Farr Quarter Tonner Espada was lost.

Built in 1980 by Geoff Hunt for Michael Evers of West Mersea, she was one of five sisterships from Bruce Farr, another one of them being Anchor Challenge. Mike sold her and she became Silent Movie and lived down in the West Country before being bought by Terry Dinmore in Poole. Morty (Peter Morton) bought her from Terry in 2005 and started a complete restoration. 

Espada featured as one of the top Quarter Tonners of the fleet that contest the revived Quarter Ton Cup every year in Cowes - seen here in the 2014 edition of the series (photo Paul Wyeth, 1/4 Ton Facebook page)

Morty was running out of time to complete her for the Quarter Ton Cup in 2006 and fellow competitors Jim and George Webb, Tony Dodd and Spillers came over to Cowes to help out. Morty successfully compaigned her for two years, winning the Quarter Ton Cup in 2007 and lending her to Jamie McWilliam for Cowes Week 2006. Morty then found Anchor Challenge and passed Espada onto his wife Louise in 2008 who campaigned her for six years. Espada won the Quarter Ton Cup again in 2011 with Colette Richmond and in 2013 with Louise Morton. 

Louise Morton and the Espada crew winning the 2013 Quarter Ton Cup

She was sold in February 2015 to Julian Metherall who immediately prior to putting her away for winter storage had repainted the decks and smartened her up. She will be sadly missed. An iconic Quarter Tonner, much loved by all.

A full list of her results can be seen here, and she features in a previous post here on her original conversion to IRC by designer Mark Mills.

Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2015 - Press Release

The Royal Ocean Racing Club incorporating the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club will host the 2015 edition of the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup from Wednesday 8 to Friday 10 July. The revival Quarter Ton Class continues to go from strength to strength with a number of new boats and new owners joining the fleet for this eleventh edition of the regatta.

Among the new faces attending their first Coutts Quarter Ton Cup will be Julian Metherell, new owner of the hugely successful Espada (1980 Bruce Farr design), winner of the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup in 2007, 2011 and 2013. Also new to the fleet is Ben Daly, who now owns last year's Corinthian winner Illes Pitiuses (1983 Fauroux design), which he has renamed Cobh Pirate in honour of his Irish heritage.

Last year's overall winner Bullit (1978 Fauroux) also has a new skipper in charge as Peter Morton has handed her over to his wife Louise, Secretary of the Class, to replace her beloved Espada. Peter himself has purchased Tiger, formerly ASAP (1989 Fauroux), which won the Corinthian Quarter Ton Cup in 2011 and 2012, meaning he will now have challenged for the revival Quarter Ton Cup in no less than five different boats.

As well as welcoming new friends the event also looks forward to the return of many familiar faces. Rickard Melander's Alice II (1990 Phil Morrison) has undergone a major winter refit and clearly has every intention of breaking her run as fleet bridesmaid. If her winning performance at the recent Vice Admiral's Cup is anything to go by, Sam Laidlaw's Aguila (1990 Judel Vrolick) is another boat to watch this year. Richard Fleck's Per Elisa (1992 Ceccarelli) has also had a lot of work done on her this winter and they are hoping to see a commensurate improvement in their performance.

Bullit - 2014 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup winner

The Vice Admiral's Cup is great indicator of form and with second place going to Alice II, third to Tony Hayward's Blackfun (1976 Laurie Davidson), fourth to Louise Morton on her first serious outing in Bullit and fifth to Willie McNeill's Illegal Immigrant (1991 Ceccarelli) we already some indications of who might be featuring on the podium this year.

Blackfun competing in the 2014 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup

The Coutts Quarter Ton Cup incorporates boats built to all three iterations of the Quarter Ton Rule - the 15ft Rating RORC Rule (1967-1970), the 18ft Rating IOR (1971 to 1978) and the 18.55ft Rating IOR (1979 to 1996). The boats race under IRC to ensure fair racing and in addition to the overall trophy there are also trophies for the first Production/Series boat and the first Corinthian team. New for 2015 is the introduction of a Lower Rating Trophy to ensure competitive competition for the early built (lower rating) boats, which is open to all Quarter Tonners with a rating of 0.899 or below. This exciting new trophy is presented by Roger Swinney, who has been a staunch supporter of the Cup since it's revival owning and racing the Bolero, Ayanami and most recently Innuendo.

Those who take part in this year's event will be presented with a special memento in the shape of a pair of boat stickers featuring the legendary Seamus. Seamus and his Still Crazy After All These Years tag line have been the emblems of the revived Quarter Ton Class for a decade and Geoff Gritton, owner of Panic (1984 Peter Gimpel) in partnership with marine graphics company Clear To See, will present each competitor with the stickers as a reminder of the enduring fun, friendships and great memories that the class creates.

The Notice of Race and Entry Form are now available from the club website at www.rcyc.co.uk. The racing will once again be run in the Central Solent on a mixture of windward/leeward and round the cans courses with up to four races scheduled each day. Registration for the regatta will open at 15.00 on Tuesday 7 July and there will be a Skipper's Briefing at the clubhouse at 18.30 that evening.

The social programme is always a major feature of the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup and this year is no exception. The event opens with the Coutts Welcome Reception at 18.00 on Tuesday evening, after which a Crew Supper will be available. Wednesday will feature a Steak BBQ and on Thursday crew supper is available in the clubhouse. The traditional Coutts Quarter Ton Cup Gala Dinner will be held in association with the Final Prize Giving on Friday 10 July to see out the event in true style.

Further information about the event can be found at www.rcyc.co.uk or by contacting Sailing Secretary Jo Chugg on jc@rorc.org Tel 01983 293581.

Revived Coutts Quarter Ton Cup Winners:

2005 - Purple Haze (1977 David Thomas design) - Tony Dodd
2006 - Enigma - (1977 Ed Dubois design) - Ed Dubois
2007 - Espada - (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Peter Morton
2008 - Tom Bombadil (1982 Doug Peterson design) - Chris Frost & Kevin George
2009 - Anchor Challenge (1978 Bruce Farr design) - Peter Morton
2010 - Cote (1990 Gonzalez design) - Darren Marston & Olly Ophaus
2011 - Overall - Espada (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Louise Morton
Corinthian - Tiger (1989 Fauroux design) - George Kenefick
2012 - Overall - Bullit - (1978 Fauroux design) - Peter Morton
Corinthian - Tiger (1989 Fauroux design) - George Kenefick
2013 - Overall - Espada - (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Louise Morton
Corinthian - Pinguin Playboy (1979 Fauroux design) - Pierre Paris
2014 - Overall - Bullit (1978 Fauroux design) - Peter Morton
Corinthain - Illes Pitiuses (1983 Fauroux) - Dominic and Jason Losty

Espada - Coutts Quarter Ton winner in 2007, 2011 and 2013

About The Coutts Quarter Ton Cup

The revival Quarter Ton Cup was the brainchild of well-known sailors Peter Morton and Tony Dodd. In 2004 Peter was toying with the idea of buying back his old Bruce Farr designed Quarter Tonner Super Q and Tony, the owner of Purple Haze, were keen to increase the number of boats he could race against.

A few phone calls to friends later and the idea of a revival Quarter Ton Cup was rolling. The inaugural event took place in 2005 with 14 boats attending and Purple Haze claiming victory. Each year the number and quality of the entrants has increased with the tenth anniversary event in 2014 attracting a record entry of 33 boats. 


The standard of racing in the fleet is truly extraordinary with many of the best-known sailors in the world joining the racing for the sheer fun of it. Certainly the Quarter Tonners are widely acknowledged as offering some of the most competitive racing in the Solent.

Although the revival started in the Solent, the enthusiasm for Quarter Tonners is universal and there are now active Quarter Ton fleets across Europe and Australasia with more boats being rediscovered and given a new lease of life each year.

The boats are quirky, fun, incredibly challenging to sail well, but very versatile in that they are competitive in general IRC fleets. It's also a class that appeals to youngsters and those on a limited budget who can purchase a boat and refurbish her themselves at very reasonable cost. The fleet is always very supportive of new owners offering endless advice and frequently donating parts, sails and even complete rigs to deserving newcomers.

Quarter Tonners can be challenging to sail!

In 2006 the event partnered for the first time with title sponsor Coutts to become the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup, a partnership that has endured ever since. Coutts most generous support has been vital in making the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup the vibrant and successful regatta it is today.

For the first ten years the event was hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club Cowes. The club's delightful waterside premises and outstanding reputation for race management were the perfect combination to ensure events of the highest caliber. From 2015 the event will be run by the Royal Ocean Racing Club, which now incorporates the RCYC and has taken over its Cowes clubhouse.

Further information about the Quarter Ton Class can be found at www.quartertonclass.org or by contacting Class Secretary Louise Morton on Email louisemorton@me.com

 

2014 Quarter Ton Cup

The fleet on the first day of the 2014 Quarter Ton Cup

Epic is without doubt the best way to describe the concluding day of the tenth anniversary Coutts Quarter Ton Cup. From the opening race where places eight to twenty-three were separated by less than a minute on corrected time, via the day's five dead heats, to the final race showdown where second to sixth place were separated by only six seconds, it was a drama of Wagnerian proportions. Warm sunshine and a southwesterly breeze that built from just below ten knots to over fifteen, ensured perfect conditions and Race Officer Rob Lamb took full advantage to get the final three races of the series completed in rapid order, much to the delight of the competitors. 

Peter Morton's Bullit took out overall honours, the third win for this fast Fauroux design which enjoys the fresher breezes (photo Fiona Brown)

The podium positions all went down to the final race and on the line is was so close that it wasn't until the teams were back ashore and the results had been formally calculated that the top three could be confirmed. Ultimately Peter Morton's Bullit (1979 Jacques Fauroux), crewed by Kelvin Rawlings, Jules Salter, Anthony Haines and Jason Carrington, claimed victory by 6.5 points from Rickard Melander's Alice II (1990 Phil Morrison), crewed by Fredrik Brotell, James Hynes, David Lenz and Tom Wilson, with Willie McNeil's Illegal Immigrant (1991 Ceccarelli), crewed by Willie McNeil, Nigel Young, Toby Mumford, Duncan and Mark Yeabsley, third.


 
A delighted Peter Morton summed up his love for the class and the event saying "It was really close, we were behind after day one, then we got one point ahead after day two and then today we had a couple of reasonable races, but you miss a shift or you miss a mark and you drop five places just like that, its very close. The boats have got character, there were 20 different designers out there today and you just don't get that in any fleet any more. When you look at the names of the designers of the boats and the provenance of those boats and the history that they've all got, you know the current King of Spain's boat is here and all sorts, they are just wonderful little classic boat. There was a lot of good people out sailing from lots of classes and a lot of people have come up and said it's just the best sailing in the Solent. I mean you look at the results and there were half a dozen dead heats, and today there were four seconds between five boats, so it probably is. You've got some world-class yachtsmen out there." (Morton has won the event in three different boats, Espada in 2007, Anchor Challenge in 2009, and with Bullit in 2012, and now in 2014).

Even the legends can come unstuck in the twitchy Quarter Tonners - here Morton and his crew have some spinnaker problems following a broach on the second day

In the Corinthian Division overall victory went by five points to Jason and Dominic Losty's Illes Pitiuses (1983 Fauroux), crewed by Mark Mansfield, Jack Trigger and Adam Mundy, who also finished in fifth place overall. In second was Pierre Paris's Pinguin Playboy (1986 Castro), crewed by Glen Hilquin, Basile Geron, Benois Duchemin and Pascal Rousselin, and Phil Cook's Purple Haze (1997 Thomas), crewed by Steve Rowan, Mark Lewis and Adrian Mountjoy, completed the podium. In celebrating their victory Jason and Dominic, who hail from Cove, Co Cork, Ireland and have attended the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup twice before, paid tribute to their tactician Mark Mansfield, who they credited with giving them the confidence and skills to make a serious challenge at this year's event. 

Aguila leads the fleet to the spreader mark on day 2 (Aguila finished fourth overall) (photo Fiona Brown)

Joining the press team on the water for the day was legendary yachting journalist and Quarter Ton Class Patron Bob Fisher, who was delighted to be out with the fleet once again. Asked how he felt watching the Quarter Tonners race Bob replied; "I had a deep feeling of jealousy! Perhaps I should devote the energies that I spend elsewhere in restoration looking for a Quarter Tonner to satisfy my urges.... They may be old and have, to some, strange shapes, even bumps, but they have a beauty all their own that no doubt attracts a certain type of sailor. He will be the one with a hankering to regain the glories of his youth and the boats, these wonderful Quarter Tonners, provide these not unusual sailors with the most delightful craft in which to pursue their aims." 

Some of the classic bumps and hollows on display in the fleet (Joker - 26th overall) (photo Fiona Brown)

Bob was also guest of honour at this evening's Coutts Quarter Ton Cup Gala Dinner and Prizegiving where he proudly wore the tie of the 1978 Quarter Ton Cup at Sahima, Japan, in which he had finished fifth overall aboard Wings. Other special guests included America's Cup legend Harold Cudmore and double Olympic Gold Medallist Shirley Robertson. The Gala Dinner is a much-loved tradition of the regatta and as always the craic was mighty.

Blackfun rounds the windward mark - she went on to finish sixth overall (photo Fiona Brown)

Another tradition of the event is the fun prizes. This year's recipients included 60-year-old Willem Bosland of The Itch who won the Oldest Bowman Trophy. George and Jim Webb, Jeff Dakin, George Jubb and Tony Dodd of Flashheart who claimed the Oldest Crew Trophy with a combined age of 276 despite the fact that bowman George is only 22. The Marineware Concours D'elegance Trophy, for the best-presented boat as judged by the Race Committee, went to Geoff Gritton's Panic.

Even after some modernisation, the Quarter Tonners remain tricky to sail (photo Rick Tomlinson)

The Kemp Trophy, which is awarded annually by Coutts in memory of Stephen Kemp, who masterminded the Coutts sponsorship of the Quarter Ton Cup and who sadly lost his battle with cancer last year, was presented to Berry Aarts and his team aboard The Itch, who had gone to extraordinary lengths to be here this week after their boat and mast were damaged when the trailer became unhitched and tipped over on the Belgian motorway. Whilst others would have said all was lost, Berry, in true Quarter Ton style, simple saw the situation as a small challenge and two weeks later the boat was here and ready to race. There were also special awards made to Tim Rees, Derek Morland and Kelvin Rawlings who have raced in all ten revival Quarter Ton Cups. 


 
One of the most amazing things about the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup is the calibre of sailors it attracts. In addition to those already listed above this year's crew lists include names like Matt Sheahan, Jonty Sherwill, Kate MacGregor, Annabel Vose, Julian Everitt, Ian Southworth, Led Pritchard, Ollie Orphaus, Robbie Stewart, George and Jim Webb, Jeff Dakin, Tony Dodd, Liz Rushall, Neil Mackley, John Welch, Jeremy Robinson, Dick Parker, Pip Hare, Tom McWilliam and Jamie Boag to name but a few! 

Cri-Cri in the throws of rounding-up on the second day (photo Fiona Brown)

And so the sun has set on the tenth anniversary Coutts Quarter Ton Cup. Its been a wonderful regatta and special thanks must go to the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, Race Officer Rob Lamb and his team, sponsors Coutts, all the volunteers and helpers who give up their valuable time to make the regatta possible and last but not least to the owners and sailors of the Quarter Ton Class. Who knew ten years ago that pulling a bunch of little old IOR boats out of the shed and sprucing them up to go racing would turn into this incredible phenomenon? Bring on the next ten years say all of us! 

Illegal Immigrant (third overall) leads Whiskers (eighth) around a windward mark (photo Fiona Brown)

Overall Top Five

1. FRA7891 Bullit - Peter Morton - (7), 3.5, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4.5 =15
2. SWE744 Alice II - Rickard Melander - 2, 2, 3, 1, (7), 2, 7, 3.5, 1 = 21.5
3. GBR501 Illegal Immigrant - William McNeil - 11, 1, 2, 7, 4, 5, (14), 2, 2 = 34
4. GBR8414R Aquila - Sam Laidlaw - 5, 5, 7, 4, 3, (13), 4, 6, 4.5 = 38.5
5. IRL1392 Illes Pitiuses - Jason & Dominic Losty - 1, (17), 4, 6, 6, 4, 2, 7, 11 = 41

Corinthian Top Three

1. IRL1392 Illes Pitiuses - Jason and Dominic Losty - 1, (3), 1, 1, 1, 2, 1, 1, 1 = 9
2. FRA12130 Pinguin Playboy - Pierre Paris - 2, 1, 2, (3), 2, 1, 2, 2, 2 = 14
3. GBR7070 Purple Haze - Phil Cook - 3, 3, 3, (8), 5, 4, 3, 4, 7 = 33

Results
Photos

Coutts Quarter Ton Cup Blog

Revived Coutts Quarter Ton Cup Winners

 
2005 - Purple Haze (1977 David Thomas design) - Tony Dodd
2006 - Enigma - (1977 Ed Dubois design) - Ed Dubois
2007 - Espada - (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Peter Morton
2008 - Tom Bombadil (1982 Doug Peterson design) - Chris Frost & Kevin George
2009 - Anchor Challenge (1978 Bruce Farr design) - Peter Morton
2010 - Cote (1990 Gonzalez design) - Darren Marston & Olly Ophaus
2011 - Overall - Espada (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Louise Morton
Corinthian - Tiger (1989 Fauroux design) - George Kenefick
2012 - Overall - Bullit - (1978 Fauroux design) - Peter Morton
Corinthian - Tiger (1989 Fauroux design) - George Kenefick
2013 - Overall - Espada - (1980 Bruce Farr design) - Louise Morton
Corinthian - Pinguin Playboy (1979 Fauroux design) - Pierre Paris
2014 - Overall - Bullit (1978 Fauroux design) - Peter Morton
Corinthain - Illes Pitiuses (1983 Fauroux) - Dominic and Jason Losty

 

IOR to IRC conversions

After seeing the transformation of Swuzzlebubble in the previous post, I asked designer Mark Mills for some insights into the conversion of ex-IOR yachts into a race-winning IRC configuration, and he has provided an interesting overview of this process below. Mills was involved in the optimisation of Peter Morton's Farr-designed Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble, and this has followed a number of other successful conversion projects. The keel design used for Swuzzlebubble was also of interest, and so Mills has also explained the theory behind the concave section used in his Quarter and Half Ton projects. Mills' comments might also be helpful for the owners of larger One Tonners who are contemplating conversions to IOR for the 2015 One Ton regatta.

"Our first IOR updating project was in late 2005 for Peter Morton who was looking at some old Quarter Tonners with the plan of doing one up to join the newly revived Quarter Ton class to be run under IRC. Parked in a driveway west of Southampton we found the Farr designed Espada, and through the dirt and grime it was clear she was a beauty. To get her going under the IRC rule we designed a new rig and a new keel, both of which went on to be the templates for other boats joining that class. In the 2013 Quarter Ton Cup we had at least seven boats with our rigs, keels, or both in the top 11, including three-time winner Espada, as well as 2nd, and 4th. 

Espada as found in Southampton in 2005 (photo courtesy Mark Mills)

The revamped Espada being sailed by Louise Morton and crew

Swuzzlebubble's new keel

"IOR designs were very configurable for the location in which they were to race: for example the Italian lake boats tended to be very light and small with large rigs, while boats for windier locations tended to be longer, heavier, and with proportionately smaller sail plans. IRC at this size historically likes displacement and age and lower tech, so these larger boats tend to be better starting points. They now don’t have to conform to the IOR rating limit, and so the larger hull can have more stability and sail area than it might have had originally, while still being efficient in IRC terms, and enjoying a speed advantage up the first beat in any breeze.
 

Peter Morton's Quarter Tonner Anchor Challenge - winner of the Quarter Ton Cup in 2009

"So the first thing is to get rid of a keel designed to produce a high VCG (vertical centre of gravity) in IOR and replace it with a larger lead fin that offers a lower VCG and a more modern foil section. The new fin is probably larger to contain the 700kg or so of the Espada keel, now the class default - usually during the stripping out process of cleaning up the old boat enough junk weight has come out to allow this change with no major impact on overall displacement. The use of a ‘laminar flow’ keel section with a hollow trailing edge is widespread in high performance designs, promoting the attachment of flow over a longer percentage of the foil before turbulence develops. There is debate about how effective this is in practice, but with well maintained foils in clean water they are very capable, and they don’t suffer when conditions are less optimal. There is a health warning that goes with any modification that increases righting moment such as a new keel: this will increase loads on parts of the boat that were not originally designed to accept them, and so professional engineering advice should be sought before doing this.

Swuzzlebubble in the water for the first time after her rebuild - and the wide stay base is clearly evident (photo Peter Morton)

"The new rig design moves to a user-friendly swept spreader configuration that IRC encourages. These runner-less non-overlapping headsail rigs will be a bit taller than the original, usually to recover some of the area lost from the overlapping headsail, which helps firstly to get more sail area up higher in light airs where there is a velocity gradient, and secondly to get a taller spinnaker halyard exit (ISP) to allow the optimal spinnaker area and aspect ratio. New chainplates are not as difficult to add as you might think, often they can be bolted to a prepared area of the topsides with the addition of some additional laminate and a small amount of internal structure. Depending on the generation of IOR the boat dates from, the J measurement may be larger or smaller, and some of the later boats will require the rig to be moved aft to allow a reasonably sized and proportioned headsail.

Swuzzlebubble's deck layout is also part of her overall transformation, making her a truly modern racing yacht (photo Peter Morton)

"Peter Morton after Espada found and restored the Farr Quarter Tonner Anchor Challenge and the Fauroux Bullit and has now just launched the beautifully updated Farr Half Ton Swuzzlebubble - we can't wait to see how it performs."

- Mark Mills, 2014