Light conditions suit low handicappers

A report from the Ecover Half Ton Classics Cup

The Half Ton Classics Cup was held from 28 August to 3 September by the Yacht Club of Dinard and sponsored by Ecover, the Belgian manufacturer of ecological cleaning products and sponsors of Mike Golding's Racing Team. The regatta ended as it had started: in very light conditions. All along the week the winds were in the 5-10 knot range, except for the short offshore race, where for long hours there was no wind at all.

The light conditions imposed hard work on board of the halftonners with a heavy IRC-rating, like Sibelius, Half Red and Taranta as they had to outsail their slower sisters by sometimes 10 minutes per hour, which was very hard indeed in these light winds prevailing in the Bay of Saint-Malo.

The Irish entry Blue Berret Pi (blue as the boat - Berret for the designer - Pi to make it a delicious piece of cake…) managed to lead the fleet for the first days, only to let the final victory slip away in the last offshore race, of which the result could not be discarded. One minute before the start of the ultimate race a diver was still clearing seaweed from the boat's propeller. The Irish boat never recovered and ended the race in a disappointing 23rd place. Due to the double points for the long offshore they finally ended on a third place in the final results.

In the final general results first and second places were taken by the smallest rating boats of the fleet: Gingko, a lovingly restored old prototype sailed by Frenchman Patrick Lobrichon had a remarkably regular series and took the overall victory by a large margin over second placed Hakuna Matata, another boat carrying a low rating.

The marvelous scenery of the Bay of Saint-Malo offered unique sailing conditions for the 30 halftonners and their crews. Thanks to the relentless efforts of the Half Ton Class sailing in these former IOR-sailing yachts is rendered attractive again: high level sailing is combined with an attractive shoreside programme that invites participants from all over Europe to meet and have an excellent time together.

The Class can already confirm that the next Half Ton Classics Cup will be held in Dublin, Ireland, in the summer of 2007. No more “Water!!” at the marks, but fine whisky instead…