Quarter Tonners at the Vice-Admiral's Cup 2016

12 Quarter Tonners lined up for the 2016 RORC Vice-Admiral's Cup (20-22 May), including the top four teams from 2015. Sam Laidlaw's Aguila was back to defend last year's final race win, along with last year's runner up, Rickard Melander's Alice II, as well as Tony Hayward's Blackfun and Louise Morton's Bullit (third and fourth respectively last year).

Louise Morton's Bullit, early leader of the Quarter Ton division in the 2016 Vice-Admiral's Cup (photo RORC/Paul Wyeth)

Day 1

Bullit placed third in the first race and went on to win the last two races to lead the Quarter Tonner Class ahead of Sam Laidlaw's Aguila. Blackfun was third.

"We had a really good day today despite the tricky conditions with wind against tide and breaking our pole in the first race was not ideal" commented Morton. "We did have a couple of wipe-outs but we were not alone, Quarter Tonners can be a handful downwind. Well done to Stuart Childerley and his team for getting six classes off for three good races each, I am sure the race committee was as tired as us by the end of the day."

Windward mark action in the Quarter Ton division at the RORC Vice-Admiral's Cup (photo Rick Tomlinson/Sailing Anarchy)

Day 2
Bullit started of the second day of racing with a bullet and a second to take a firm grip on the class, but was adjudged over the line at the start of the last race of the day and having restarted correctly slipped to ninth place. Bullit still leads the class but only by a single point from Sam Laidlaw's Aguila. Tony Hayward's Blackfun remains in third. Rickard Melander's Alice II is fourth having scored two podium finishes today and Eric Reynolds' Magnum Evolution won race five to end the day in fifth position.

Joker bashes her way upwind on Day 2 of the Vice-Admiral's Cup (photo Rick Tomlinson/1/4 ton zeilers Facebook page) 

"Bullit is going well but we can still catch her" commented Aguila's Brett Aarons. "Bullit is a bit larger than Aguila, so she goes a bit better in the heavier air but tomorrow looks to be a bit lighter, so we definitely have a chance. The standard of racing in the Quarter Ton fleet is as good as it gets in the Solent. The boats may be old but a lot of time is spent getting them into perfect condition, and as we sail at about the same speed, it is just like one design racing."

Bullit in action on Day 2 of the Vice-Admiral's Cup (photo RORC/Rick Tomlinson)

Day 3
Aguila won the very last race to take the series by a half point. Aguila, designed by the German design duo Judel/Vrolijk in 1990, was helmed by Sam Laidlaw; all of his crew, from the Isle of Wight, were not born when the boat was built. Bullit had led the regatta from the first day and agonisingly lost the title by just half a point.

Aguila on her way to winning the Quarter Ton division of the 2016 Vice-Admiral's Cup (photo RORC/Rick Tomlinson)

"Very tough close racing" summed up Laidlaw. "I felt that we were capable of beating them in both races but if it hadn't been for Magnum Evolution getting between us, we would have lost by half a point, so we were very fortunate in that respect. This fleet produces really close racing, which is also good fun and bodes well for the Quarter Ton Cup."

The immaculate Aguila, winner of the 2016 Vice-Admiral's Cup Quarter Ton division - seen here during the 2016 RORC Easter Challenge (photo RORC/Paul Wyeth)

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

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

Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2015

10 July 2015 - Cowes, UK - The Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2015 finished in spectacular style with four windward leeward races in champagne sailing conditions. Going into the day Louise Morton's Fauroux designed Bullit (winner of the Cup in 2014) had a ten point lead over nearest rival Sam Laidlaw's Aguila on 17 points, with Eric Reynolds Everitt designed Magnum Evolution third on 21 points and Tony Hayward's Blackfun, designed by Laurie Davidson, one further point back in fourth. 

Bullit with a solid lead during racing on day 2 of the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup 2015

Blackfun and Bullit went at it hammer and tongs in the first race of the day with Blackfun just managing to take control on the final run to win by eleven seconds on corrected time with Bullit second and Aguila third. But that was to be about the last time Bullit saw anyone's transom all day as the team went into overdrive with great starts, text book first beats and pitch perfect defences to lead each of the subsequent races from the off, winning race six by 38 seconds from Blackfun and Magnum Evolution who tied on corrected time for second, and race seven by 46 seconds from husband Peter Morton's Tiger (Fauroux) with Willie McNeill's Illegal Immigrant (a Ceccarelli design) third. 

Blackfun - secured her best ever result in the Quarter Ton Cup series with a second overall

As Bullit crossed the line of race seven Louise and her crew of Charlotte Lawrence, Colette Richmond, Lauren Eatwell, Bethan Cardan and Tom Dodson laid claim to the 2015 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup with a race to spare. Even though they had no need to race the final race the Bullit crew were having too much fun to go home and couldn't resist racing the last race. And what a race it was as the fleet revelled in the fresh Solent conditions and glorious sunshine. Again Bullit led from the outset and at the line she pipped Magnum Evolution by 25 seconds with Tiger taking third. For Louise this was her second Coutts Quarter Ton Cup win, her first being in Espada in 2013 - Espada and Louise's crew also won the trophy in 2011, but sadly on that occasion Louise was unable to sail because of a broken leg.

Bullit leads the fleet downwind on day 3

Bullit may have had the regatta sewn up early, but the battle for the remaining podium places went down to the wire as the fleet enjoyed some of the closest racing to be found anywhere in sailing. The introduction of the discard after race six shuffled the pack somewhat and going into the final race Blackfun lay second on 17.5 points, Aguila was two points behind in third and Magnum Evolution had dropped into fourth, eight points behind Aguila and potentially out of the running. But if there's one thing we know about Quarter Ton sailing it's that you should always expect the unexpected. As Bullit claimed her fifth win of the series, it was Magnum Evolution who followed her across the line in second with Tiger third. Blackfun crossed in fourth to secure second overall, but all eyes were on Aquila as the crews did their mental arithmetic to see if she had hung onto third place. In fact it took the careful calculations of the scoring system to confirm that Aguila had finished eighth by just four seconds, her worst score of the regatta, meaning she was now tied on 29 points with Magnum Evolution. It was actually on count back that Magnum Evolution was awarded third place overall leaving Aguila with the leather medal. Magnum Evolution's result is all the more remarkable since she is one of the few boats in the fleet still largely in her original IOR configuration.

In the Corinthian Division for all amateur crews Pierre Paris's Penguin Playboy, crewed by Raphael Paris, Amme Lienhardt, Batile Geran and Nicolas Guillon, put in another great day to add three firsts and a fifth to their scorecard and claim Corinthian victory by six points from Paul Gibbon's Anchor Challenge with Robbie Stewart's Enigma taking third. This was the second time that Pierre and Pinguin Playboy have engraved their name on the Corinthian Trophy, the first being in 2013.

Pinguin Playboy took out the Corinthian Trophy

Alongside her third place overall Eric Reynold's Magnum Evolution, crewed by Tom Taylor, Charles Gibbons, Julian Everitt and Piers Hugh Smith, also claimed the new trophy for the Low Rating Division, donated by long time Quarter Ton Class Revival supporter and owner Roger Swinney, which she won by 13 points from Tom Hill's Runaway Bus with Enigma third.

The Everitt design Magnum Evolution

After racing the fleet gathered at the Royal Ocean Racing Club's delightful Cowes clubhouse for a Gala Dinner to celebrate a hugely successful regatta and honour their winners. The competitors were joined by a number of guests including Quarter Ton Class Patron, revered yachting scribe and past Quarter Ton Cup winner Bob Fisher. Tributes were paid to the race committee, led by Rob Lamb, which did an astonishing job of running eight races despite the loss of an entire day's sailing. Quarter Ton Class Chairman Peter Morton highlighted the quality of the race management team by noting that two of the members have been selected to be on the race committee for the forthcoming Louis Vuitton America's Cup World Series Regatta in Portsmouth. Peter also took the opportunity to thank all of the teams who had travelled to Cowes to be part of the event. As he collected his prize Frenchman Pierre Paris responded by saying how much he and his crew love sailing on the Solent with the Quarter Ton fleet and confirm that they will be back again next year.

Peter paid particular tribute to event sponsor Coutts whose association with the Quarter Ton Class is now in it's tenth year. Coutts and their guests have been on the water every day of the regatta supporting the sailors and enjoying the fabulous spectacle of these historic little yachts being sailed at the very top level by some of the best sailors on the planet. John Goss of Coutts explained that throughout the week they and their guests had also been raising funds for Sail for Cancer and he asked Geoff Gritton of Panic, one of Sail for Cancer's great supporters, to come forward and accept a donation of over £1,400 on behalf of the charity.

The Coutts Quarter Ton Cup prize givings are famous for featuring some very special prizes alongside the main trophies. The Marineware Trophy for the Concours D'elegance was this year awarded to Rickard Melander's Alice II, which underwent a major refit this winter and is looking quite stunning. The prize for the oldest crew once again went to Jim and George Webb's Flashheart with a combined age of 264, while the youngest crew award went to Olivia Dowling's Catch with a combined age of just 152. The Oldest Bowman trophy was awarded to 50 year old John Paxman of Panic. A Whiskers Special Award was presented by Lincoln Reading to the boat which had seen the most improvement in their results from last year to this and was won by Richard Fleck's Per Elisa who finished seventh overall, up eleven places from 2014. 

The Kemp Plate, which is presented in memory of Stephen Kemp who was responsible for bringing Coutts to the Quarter Ton Cup and who sadly lost his battle with cancer two years ago, does not have a specific purpose, but rather it finds its winner organically each year rather in the manner of Harry Potter's sorting hat. This year the Kemp Plate was presented to Matt Haslam of Blackfun for a truly outstanding achievement. Peter Morton explained that Matt had been so engrossed in his mobile phone that when he reached the bottom of the pontoon ramp at Cowes Yacht Haven on his way to the boat he failed to turn either left or right, and instead walked straight off the end of the dock, much to the amusement of the assembled fleet.
 
And finally came the presentation of the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup to Louise and her crew. Having paid tribute to the Bullit crew's achievement in general and to Louise in particular for her second win, Peter then jokingly asked for his boat back (he won the 2014 event in Bullit before gifting it to Louise last winter). In her acceptance speech Louise reiterated her husband's praise for the race committee, thanked her fellow competitors for a fantastic regatta, thanked Tom Dodson for "Risking his reputation to sail with us," praised her crew for their incredible support and commitment and wryly thanked Morty for the boat. 

And so the sun has set on another Coutts Quarter Ton Cup. Full results, photos, video and blog updates from the event are available at the Quarter Ton Blog, and further information about the class can be found at www.quartertonclass.org.

Overall Top Five Results

1. FRA7891 Bullit - Louise Morton - 1,2,(3),1,2,1,1,1 = 9
2. NZL3311 Blackfun - Tony Hayward - (12),1,1,8,1,2.5,7,4 = 24.5
3. GBR7259Y Magnum Evolution - Eric Reynolds - (8).5,6,2,4.5,2.5,8,2 = 29
4. GBR8481R Aguila - Sam Laidlaw - 4,4,7,23,5,4,(8) = 29
5. GBR7557 Tiger - Peter Morton - 5,6,8,(9),5,8,2,3 = 38

OVERALL RESULTS
PHOTO GALLERY
EVENT BLOG

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