Half tonners head for Dinard

More events for the classic IOR class

The second edition of the Half ton Classics Cup (a sailing regatta for former IOR-half tonners) will be held in Dinard, France from Sunday 28 August until Saturday 3 September. The local Yacht Club of Dinard, well-known from their hospitality at the finish of the traditional RORC Cowes to Dinard race, will be hosting the event.

Up until now 20 crews have confirmed their entry, among them a good number of local boats, as well as many other British, Irish and Belgian yachts. When in December last year the Half Ton Class Europe accepted the bid of the YCD to organise the second edition, Mr. Gérard Fougeray, the president of the YCD, jokingly declared to expect over 30 boats to attend the races. At the present rate that number will certainly be achieved.

The racing area will be in a bay off Dinard, at the Emerald Coast, and the sailing programme includes many windward-leeward courses, a short offshore as well as the return of the traditional long offshore race of 100nm. All yachts will be moored at a pontoon in front of the lovingly preserved clubhouse of the YCD.

The regatta period coincides with a week of neap tides, causing far less tidal current on the race area and reducing the risk, certainly for foreign crews less familiar with the region, of touching the rocks off Saint-Malo.

The half tonners

After the last Half Ton Cup in 1993, and the dead of IOR, there was a 10-year long break before a group of Belgian owners decided to revive the class. The first Half Ton Classics Cup was organised in August 2003 in Nieuwpoort, Belgium and attracted some 25 boats from all over Europe who enjoyed the perfect sailing weather and local specialities…

After fierce racing it was eventually the Belgian crew of Général Tapioca that won the title, closely followed by the French boat Sibelius and the Irish on board Blue Berret Pi. Main sponsorship of the 2003 edition was assured by Ecover, Belgian manufacturers of ecological cleaning products and main sponsors of Mike Golding’s yacht racing team.