Seldén Half Ton Classics Cup 2026

Can you help us? Fi discovered she’d had a major memory card failure when she got back from the prize giving last night and urgently needs help from anyone who took pictures of the winning crews and can share their pictures with her. Please email any shots to fiona.brown@fionabrown.com. Huge apologies to all the crews whose photos we thought had been captured. 😦

Sadly strong winds and huge seas meant that racing had to be cancelled on the final day of the Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup in Falmouth. Race Officer Jack Penty met with the skippers at 08.30 to review the situation, but it was clear conditions were essentially unsailable and the entire fleet unanimously agreed not to risk their historic little yachts.

That decision confirmed that the 1977 Bruce Farr designed Swuzzlebubble sailed by owner/helm Greg Peck, Steve George, Mike Relling, Kevin George, Mike Grieg, Andy Yeomans and James Dodd had won the 2016 Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup.

It was an extremely had fought series with many of the races being won and lost by mere seconds.  Ultimately Swuzzlebubble’s winning margin was just five and a half points from Paul Pullen’s 1986 Andrieu designed Miss Whiplash, with Ireland’s Jonny Swan and his team aboard Harmony, designed by Rob Humphreys in 1980, in third place. At the final prize giving all three teams received rousing cheers from their fellow competitors as they received their prizes from Paul Strzelecki, CEO of event sponsor Henri Lloyd.

Winning the Corinthian Championship for the first all amateur crew was Jonathan Cunliffe’s 1985 Berrett/Finot designed Emiliano Zapata, which finished in eighth place overall.

The trophy for the first production boat went to Richard and Ursula Hollis’s beloved 1985 Jeppersen X95 Crakajax. Richard and Ursula have been long standing supporters of the Half Ton Class and were very popular winners.

Perhaps the most prestigious perpetual trophy presented at the regatta is the  Spirit Of Half Ton Trophy which is awarded to the person who best personifies the true spirit of the Half Ton Class. There were many possible winners of the trophy this year, but in a hugely popular decision it was presented to David Evans of Hullabaloo XV for his long standing support of the class, for his commitment to maintaining and racing his 1978 Stephen Jones Hustler SJ32 and for single-handedly sailing 380 miles through a force eight gate from his home port on Walton Back Waters in Essex to compete in Falmouth.

Greg Peck was clearly delighted to win the right to engrave his name on the trophy and was fulsome in his praise of his crew, his fellow competitors and the Flushing Sailing Club organisers.

Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup 2016 Champion Greg Peck of Swuzzlebubble

Swuzzlebubble was originally built for Ian Gibbs to race for the New Zealand team in the 1977 Half Ton Cup in Sydney, and she has had a colourful career. Following changes to the IOR rule she underwent major surgery including exchanging her centreboard for a fixed keel, padding out her hull, changes to her rear sections and additional ballast, to compete in the 1979 Half Ton Cup in Scheveningen where she finished third. She was then sold to Bruce Lyster of Dun Laoghaire, Ireland under whose ownership she enjoyed continuing success including the UK Half Ton Championship of 1980 with Robert Dix at the helm. Her success continued under another Dun Laoghaire owner Gus Mehigan before she was sold to Switzerland, at which point she disappeared off the radar.

She wasn’t heard of again until Peter “Morty” Morton tracked her down in a near derelict state in a Greek boatyard in late 2012. It took twelve months of hard work by Peter and his crew to get the boat back in racing shape and she made her Half Ton Classics Cup debut in 2014 at Saint Quay Portrieux, Brittany, where she roared to victory in impressive style.

Keen to race for the Half Ton Cup in home waters, Greg Peck persuaded Morty to part with her earlier this year and having got her home to Cornwall undertook some deck layout modifications and set about the task of putting together. a crew of old friends, many of whom have sailed with him for decades. Their performance on the water speaks for itself, but their spirit and camaraderie ashore have impressed everyone and there was a huge cheer when Greg confirmed that he hopes to defend his title in 2017.

To defend their title the Swuzzlebubble crew will be making their way to Kinsale in County Cork, Ireland from 14 to 18 August 2017. David Cullen will be leading the organising team for the event which will be hosted by Kinsale Yacht Club.  Further information about this event will be published shortly.

David Cullen and Bert Janssen Review Falmouth ’16 and Preview Kinsale ’17

Final results and further information about the Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup 2016 can be found at:

We’ve had a great week here in Falmouth and huge thanks must go to Flushing Sailing Club, our amazing sponsors, the town of Falmouth, the Half Ton Class and all the many volunteers who have made the event possible.  We spoke to Regatta Chair Dave Owens to find out a little bit more about what goes into making these regattas possible.

Thank you Falmouth for a great day ashore. The crews have sampled your delights and found them to be most excellent!  The boats that needed hauling have been lifted, others are ready for their return delivery trips once the wind abates a little, the office is packed up, the committee boats and ribs have been put to bed. All that remains is to have a fantastic final celebration and honour our heroes at the Prize Giving which kicks off in the marquee from 6pm.  There will be music, beers, trophies and great company so we’ll see you down there!

With racing cancelled today it’s back to the day job for Miss Whiplash’s tactician Timmy Bailey, who is renowned as one of Falmouth’s top crab fishermen when he’s not helping Paul Pullen and his team to a second place at the Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classis Cup!

Huge congratulations to Greg Peck, Steve George, Mike Relling, Kevin George, Mike Grieg, Andy Yeomans and James Dodd of the 1977 Bruce Farr designed Swuzzlebubble who are the 2016 Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup Champions.

Swuzzlebubble was completely rebuilt by Peter Morton in 2014 and won the Half Ton Cup of that year in St Quay Portrieux, Brittany. She was purchased earlier this year by Greg Peck who has made further modifications to her deck layout and put together a crew of old friends, many of whom have been sailing with him since his infamous Camp Freddie days.

This week they have sailed a superbly consistent series and are worthy winners of the trophy. Whilst disappointed not to race today, Greg acknowledge at the skippers briefing that conditions were simply too rough to be safe. With the racing cancelled his fellow Half Ton sailors gave he and his crew a heart felt round of applause on their victory.

Full report and interviews to follow.

Sad but relived faces all round here this morning as the decision has been made that racing is not possible on the final day, Ancasta Friday, of the Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup in Falmouth.  The skippers of all the boats met at the regatta centre to discuss the situation. It’s already very windy and the forecast is for regular gusts over 30 knots and up towards 40 knots. The race officer had inspected the sea state in the race area and confirmed that it was extreme and there were also reports from members of the fleet who had been out to take a look who confirmed that it was extremely rough. The fleet unanimously agreed that regrettably racing was not possible and so N over A was hoisted on the official flag pole and the racing for the regatta is declared over.