Half Ton Cup 1976

A film of the 1976 Half Ton Cup has been recently found. This regatta was held in Trieste, Italy, and attracted some 70 yachts. It was a light air series, so the sailing footage is not very dramatic, although the musical score tries hard to give it a lift, but it is interesting to see the wide range (and shape) of yachts competing, and at times the close proximity of the spectator fleet. The footage appears to cover the first two Olympic races, and part of one of the offshore events.


The 1976 Half Ton Cup was won by the Ron Holland-designed yacht Silver Shamrock, which can be seen leading the fleet at the first weather mark. New Zealand was represented by Ian Gibbs' Paul Whiting design Candu II, which was not at her best in the prevailing light winds, and finished sixth overall. Details of Candu II and other photos from the 1976 Cup can be seen here.

Howzat (Whiting Half Tonner)

In 1976 New Zealand designer Paul Whiting was beginning to win world attention as a result of his success at the Quarter Ton level with Magic Bus and his Half Tonner Candu II. Auckland yachtsman Allen Walbridge commissioned a new Half Tonner from Whiting, which was essentially a development of Candu II but with a longer and more cruising-oriented cabin. The 31 footer was named Howzat - not just a cricketing reference but also a representation of the moment of truth when various measurement challenges were overcome in the midst of IOR rule changes and a Half Ton rating of 21.7ft was achieved.

Such challenges included the need to place her 12hp engine not just for'ard of the mast, but actually in the bow. This provided sufficient bow down trim to gain a critical rating benefit, but as can be imagined it made the boat particularly cranky downwind.

Howzat on launching day, Westhaven Auckland (photo Allen Walbridge Collection)

Profile drawing of Howzat (courtesy demi-coques website)

Howzat was raced extensively in Auckland regattas and some of the offshore classics, including the Auckland to Gisborne race. Her first major series was the 1977 South Pacific Half Ton Cup. By this regatta the hot favourite was another new Whiting boat, the centreboarder Newspaper Taxi, which won all but one of the races. Howzat finished fifth overall, with placings of 5/3/11/3/6. 

Howzat during the 1977-78 season (photo Allen Walbridge Collection)

Howzat alongside the Paul brothers' Farcical off the now-demolished Hobson Bay dinghy lockers sometime in the late 1970s (photo Allen Walbridge collection)

Howzat then went on to contest the New Zealand Half Ton Cup trials later that year, a series which was dominated by yet another new generation of yachts, the Farr centreboarders Gunboat Rangiriri and Swuzzlebubble and the Davidson centreboarder Waverider, and Howzat was out of the running for selection but enjoyed close racing with other 'second division' keelers such as Instinct and Farcical. 

Howzat during the 1977 Half Ton selection trials (photo Maritime Museum)

Mast reinforcements after withdrawing from the Tonga Race 1978

Soon afterwards Howzat contested the Southern Cross Cup trials, coming up against her centreboard Half Ton competition as well as their bigger One Ton sisters. Howzat initially gave a good showing in the fourth race, running second on corrected time in the early stages but fell back later after a big wind shift. Still, she had a consistent regatta, just finishing out of team contention in fourth place overall. Howzat went on to race in the 1978 Tauranga to Vila race, and then the 1979 Auckland to Tonga race - in the latter she suffered almost complete rig failure near the Kermadec Islands, but a jury rig arrangement saw them arrive back in Auckland safely.

Howzat inTauranga after a race from Auckland

She nearly made the Southern Cross Cup team in 1979, but after leading the series she was forced to withdraw from the final race after failing to find Groper Rock in fading light, big seas and high winds, and finished the series in fourth place overall.

Above and below - Howzat has been part of the racing scene in Tauranga before being recently transported back to Auckland

Walbridge has recently found his former charge in Tauranga and she has just been transported back to Auckland for a full refit. This will include repainting the yacht in her original colour scheme, and the fitting of a new keel and rig, in a similar manner to her earlier sistership Candu II. I will be following Howzat's refit with interest and will post updates on her progress here.

Howzat on arrival at the Okahu Bay boatyard, August 2013 (photo Heath Walbridge)

Later in August, the keel and rudder are off, the skeg has been cut out and the hull has been stripped back (photo RB Sailing)

More recent photographs (May 2014) can be seen here, being re-launched here, and photographs of her in on-edge conditions during a 2015 race here.

Howzat is presently for sale (August 2023).

Candu II (Whiting Half Tonner)

Ian Gibbs' mounted a series of campaigns to lift the Half Ton Cup in the course of his offshore racing career, commencing in 1974 with Tohe Candu (the former Titus Canby), and ending with Swuzzlebubble in 1979. The Tohe Candu effort was the first international effort with a New Zealand design (by Bruce Farr). 

After a disappointing result in the 1975 Cup with his Ron Holland design Measure for Measure, Gibbs decided to return to the light displacement route for the 1976 series with a new design by Paul Whiting, being a Half Ton version of the 1975 Quarter Ton Cup winner Magic Bus, and a near sistership and forerunner to the New Zealand Half Ton champion, Newspaper Taxi.

Candu II on launching day, note the hollow for'ard sections, long and wide stern and pronounced skeg

Candu II was conceived in the midst of preparations for the Magic Bus Quarter Ton Cup campaign (held in Corpus Christi, Texas), and followed the Whiting template established with his smaller Quarter Tonner, with a pronounced maximum beam, hollow waterline for'ard, offset with deep bow sections at the forward depth (FD) station and a long flat transom. The design also continued the use of a long shallow skeg extending beyond the after inner girth station (AIGS), as a method to shorten the rated distance between this measurement point and the after girth station (AGS). 

This view of Candu II shows her broad and tapered stern

The rig details and deck layout were a scaled up version of the approach used in Magic Bus, with a 102mm tapered tube section, stepped well for'ard and designed to be equally as bendy as the mast on the smaller Quarter Tonner. The rig featured the same big mainsail and small foretriangle ratio as Magic Bus, except that the foretriangle was even smaller on Candu II. In place of the normal inboard engine, Candu II carried an outboard weighing around 120lbs. This was because the increase in weight and drag from a shaft and propeller unit available through the engine propeller factor (EPF) measurement was considered by Whiting to outweigh the sail area advantage on this size and concept of boat.

Candu II was built in nine weeks on a crash schedule to be launched in mid-winter 1976 and in time for the Half Ton Cup series to be held in Trieste, Italy. Gibbs still owned Tohe Candu, and two days after her launching, Candu II was to compete against Tohe Candu to decide which yacht Gibbs would take to Trieste. Candu II was victorious and left soon after for the Half Ton Cup.

The outboard auxiliary solution was put to the test during the pre-contest measurement process. This involved boats having to motor a measured mile and recording their speed against their rated length. Many crews spent a great deal of valuable tuning time on engines - ten boats failed the first test, and three were barred from starting the series. Candu II, with the longest rated length, had to achieve the highest speed, and after a week of work on the engine she passed by just 0.2 of a knot. 

Candu II slipping along in light air during the 1976 Half Ton Cup (photo Bateaux magazine)

Candu II works out to weather of Idro

Whiting had to pay for Candu II's long length by trading off sail area, and the yacht was the outlier on both measurements in the 70 boat fleet. One of the more interesting boats to arrive in Trieste was Tuscany B, a former Quarter Tonner which had been cut in half and 'patchworked' together to give her the additional length necessary to achieve a Half Ton rating (21.7ft, instead of 18.0ft). The weird looking Half Tonner was nicknamed "The Italian Job", and was one of the few boats in Trieste to be lighter than Candu II, although this light displacement had to be traded for both length and sail area. Tuscany B finished tenth overall.

The converted Quarter Tonner Tuscany B, with bowsprit and a style of stern scoop not unlike that of the last of the America's Cup IACC yachts.

Unfortunately the regatta itself was plagued by very light winds and short, choppy seas which proved frustrating for the crew aboard Candu II. Prevailing calms wreaked havoc with the scheduled start time of 10am, and the earliest any race got underway was just after midday. The light weather was a disappointment for all 70 crews, particularly since good day breezes had prevailed before the contest began.

Another light air start in the 1976 Half Ton Cup series - Candu II visible in the middle of the photo to windward (photo Bateaux magazine)

Another light air start in the 1976 Half Ton Cup series

The series was won by the Holland design, the first of a series of yachts named Silver Shamrock, skippered by Harold Cudmore. She was a specially prepared production hull, with 500lbs less weight in her lay-up and a slightly bigger rig, although she was still one of the heaviest yachts, and with the largest sail plan she was undoubtedly the best prepared boat for the light conditions that prevailed, but some doubted that she would have been the fastest boat if the wind had blown. Defending Half Ton champion, Tom Stephenson, from Australia, sailed a sistership named Southern Shamrock, and finished fifth overall.

1976 Half Ton Cup winner Silver Shamrock - her stern sections contrast markedly with those of Candu II below

Candu II was by far the best reaching boat of the series, and no other boat could even begin to match her on that point of sail. Although not fully tuned, Candu II also proved fast on the wind over about 10 knots, with good pointing ability and boat speed. In 5-10 knots she could hold her own but sailed dismally under 5 knots and in the peculiar chop in the area. The light air and flat running conditions that prevailed in both ocean races were thus not Candu II's forte, and Gibbs and his crew did well to finish sixth overall in the 70 boat fleet.

Candu II on a reaching leg in Trieste, her favoured point of sail

The speed of Candu II was acknowledged at the prizegiving when title-winner Cudmore remarked on the untapped potential of the New Zealand yacht in a breeze, suggesting that the experience of sailing Candu II in the light air series "must have been very frustrating, much like sitting on a rocket but unable to light it."

Candu II, likely as Vice Squad, cruising off Torrent Bay (Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand) in early 1982 (photo Rip magazine)

Candu II as Vice Squad, circa early 1990s (est)

 Candu II returned to New Zealand and was the benchmark for Gibbs' new Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble, designed and built for the 1977 Half Ton Cup. She was raced in Auckland and later sold to a Wellington sailor and named Vice Squad, then Can Do Too in the mid-1990s. Extensive modifications in 2000 included a bigger rig, which was moved aft, and a longer keel with a bulb providing improved stability. A Brett Bakewell-White designed rudder was added in 2001 which made the yacht more responsive on the helm. She was renamed Candu II in 2004.

Candu II racing in fresh Wellington conditions in November 2005

Candu II, as seen in July 2024 (photo Facebook)

Article updated August 2025

Newspaper Taxi (Whiting Half Tonner)

Newspaper Taxi was designed by Paul Whiting in 1976 with an eye towards a challenge for the Half Ton Cup, to be sailed out of Sydney in December 1977. Newspaper Taxi was a development of Whiting's earlier Half Tonner Candu II, and was designed to take account of  the November 1976 changes to the IOR, the first in a tranche of rule amendments that sought to check the emerging trends in the New Zealand-style of yacht of light displacement and wider sterns. 

Newspaper Taxi on launching day - Westhaven, Auckland

 The broad aft sections of Newspaper Taxi were therefore designed to mitigate the new penalties in this area, and were offset in part by a shortening of the yachts' length between girths, and the forward depth measurement was pushed to the limit. A shortening of measured length allowed for an increase in sail area, yielding a better all-round yacht than Candu II.

The most obvious difference from Candu II was that Newspaper Taxi was a centreboarder. The advantages of this concept had been demonstrated by Resolute Salmon in the 1976 One Ton Cup, and Fun had provided more evidence of this at the Quarter Ton Cup as well.  The centreboard weighed only 92kg, and the boat otherwise relied on internal ballast and crew weight for stability. 

The engine was also designed for rating advantage - the 12hp diesel was positioned for'ard of the mast and slightly to port so that the shaft could clear the centrecase.

While Whiting chased everything possible regarding hull shape and appendages, Murray Ross pursued rig developments and new handling techniques and gear, with the same careful attention to detail that Ross had employed so successfully on the Quarter Tonner Magic Bus.

Showing her windward form in light airs, Half Ton Championship, Auckland 1977 (J Malitte)

The Whiting/Ross led team aboard Newspaper Taxi went on to produce a near flawless performance in the South Pacific Half Ton Championships held in April 1977 and hosted by the Royal Akarana Yacht Club. The series featured a wide cross-section of Half Ton designs, with 20 boats entered, the product of ten different designers, and only three boats had competed in the previous year's contest. 

A clear lead at the wing mark in the NZ 1977 series (J Green)

Newspaper Taxi asserted a demonstrable speed advantage in all conditions, combined with immaculate boat handling. She won four of the five races, losing first place in a close tussle with the custom Farr 920 Cotton Blossom which jumped on a rare tactical error by Ross in the fourth race.

While Newspaper Taxi had been designed and built with the 1977 Half Ton Cup in mind (Sydney), the Whiting/Ross team elected to contest the One Ton Cup to be held in Auckland in November 1977. Newspaper Taxi was sold to an Australian yachtsman and finished in 10th place in the Half Ton Cup, behind near sistership Magic Dragon, with placings of 10/11/8/8/DNF.

Newspaper Taxi undergoing a self-righting test ahead of the 1977 Half Ton Cup in Sydney (photo Facebook)

At the Half Ton Cup - Sydney, Australia (December 1977)

Unfortunately, Newspaper Taxi later sank during the 1995 edition of the Three Peaks Race (Launceton, Tasmania, to Hobart), after losing her rudder off Cape Tourville on the outside of Freycinet Peninsula. According to the owner at that time (see comments below), the rudder stock snapped at the weld point above the hull line and tore the stern tube out. The crew took to a liferaft and were later rescued by the tanker Island Gas which had been diverted to the scene, and Newspaper Taxi now lies at a depth of 60m.