Half Ton Classics Cup 2025

On corrected time Paul Pullen’s Miss Whiplash won race one by 24 seconds from Greg Peck’s Swuzzlebubble in second with Philippe Pilate’s General Tapioca third.  Click here for full results.

Gorgeous sun a moderate breeze and big seas were the order of the day for race one. After an initial general recall the race officer went to black flag and three boats found themselves disqualified as a result. After 3 laps line honours went to Swuzzlebubble with Miss Whiplash second home and General Tapioca third. Corrected full results will be available shortly from the link above. 

Here is the full event programme so you can see what’s going on when.

Please note that the Coastal Race will take place on Tuesday starting at the usual time with first signal at 10.25.

Good morning from a beautifully sunny Falmouth where the Half Ton Fleet is raring to go for the opening day of the Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup 2016.  Today’s racing is sponsored by Euro Car Parks and RAM Gaskets and we’re expecting a practise race starting at 10.30, followed by the first two windward leeward races of the series.

At the morning briefing Regatta Chair David Owens and Race Officer Jack Penty confirmed that the weather forecast for today and tomorrow is excellent with warm sunshine and good winds of around force five, so they intend to run the coastal race tomorrow.

This evening the competitors will be catching the ferry to Flushing Sailing Club, our hosts for the week, for a Cornish Pastie supper and some legendary Cornish hospitality.

We’ll bring you regular updates from the regatta here on the blog and you can also check out event details at the event website www.halftonclass.co.uk

Flushing Sailing Club and the Half Ton Class Association are delighted to announce that British marine and lifestyle apparel brand Henri Lloyd will be the title sponsor for the Half Ton Classics Cup being held in Falmouth between 15th & 19th August 2016.

Since 1963, Henri Lloyd has continued to push the boundaries of style and technical innovation establishing itself over the last five decades with a formidable global reputation for designing and producing quality premium sailing and lifestyle clothing. Henri Lloyd will provide key support to the Cup and will have a retail presence in the Regatta Marquee.

Over 30 boats from the heyday of the era of the IOR rule are expected to attend and entries are already well up on previous years. The boats and Race Office will be based at Pendennis Marina, with a Regatta marquee on Falmouth’s Event Square adjacent to the iconic National Maritime Museum Cornwall. An extensive social programme for competitors and families will be based around Flushing Sailing Club, the Marquee and the Museum which will host the Championship Dinner.

Paul Strzelecki, Joint CEO, of Henri Lloyd, expressed his enthusiasm for the new partnership saying; “All at Henri Lloyd are really proud to be the title sponsor for this year’s Half Ton Classics Cup being hosted by Flushing Sailing Club. The Class is going through a big resurgence with boats changing hands and many boats being improved and upgraded just to race this year in Falmouth. We are looking forward to the Cup and meeting the competitors for what will be a great week on and off the water.”

Commodore of Flushing Sailing Club, Chris Jelliss, is delighted with the news; “We are very excited to welcome such a proud British sailing brand as Henri Lloyd to be the headline sponsor for the Half Ton Classics Cup 2016. We have been working for 12 months to make this a really successful event and with such a well-known sponsor we are now looking forward to welcoming competitors from all over Europe to the fantastic town and waters of Falmouth.”

For more details for the Henri Lloyd Half Ton Classics Cup 2016 including the Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions go to the website www.halftonclass.co.uk.

You can keep up with all the very latest news from the 2016 Half Ton Classics Cup to be held in Falmouth at www.halftonclass.co.uk

Exciting sponsor information to follow shortly so stay tuned!

The 2016 Half Ton Classics Cup will be sailed from Falmouth from 15-19 August 2016 with registration and preparations taking place over the weekend of 13-14 August.  Further information about the event is available from Paul Pullen on  Email paul@mylorchandlery.co.uk

All of Fi’s photos are now online at http://www.fionabrown.phanfare.com where you can directly download high resolution copies of the images free of charge to print out to your own requirements.  And here are our final day videos of the sailing, the prize giving and interviews with 2015 Half Ton Classics Cup winner David Cullen and Spirit of Half Ton Trophy winner Jean-Luc Courbon

After five days, ten races, multiple parties and some amazingly close yacht racing, the 1985 Humphreys MG HS30 Checkmate XV, helmed by Ireland’s David Cullen and crewed by Mark Pettitt, John Murphy, James Hynes, Andy George, Aidan Beggan and Gary Cullen, was declared the Half Ton Classics Cup Champion 2015 with a race to spare.

Whilst David and his team returned ashore to savour their victory after the penultimate race, the battle for second place between the 1986 Andreiu designed Miss Whiplash and the 1992 Ceccarelli designed Per Elisa went down to the wire in the final race. Roddy Angus and Dan Challic’s Trestada had won race nine with Per Elisa second, Tom Florizoone’s Red Cloud third and Miss Whiplash fourth.  Whiplash still had the advantage, but with the tricky light conditions leaving the door open for the unexpected there was still a chance for Per Elisa to overtake.

The two boats were locked in battle royal throughout the last race, but ultimately race victory by 19 seconds and second place on the podium went to Paul Pullen, Timmy Bailey, Brian Steptoe, Jonathan Kneale, Edward Bolitho, Oliver Berryman and Amy Sharp sailing Miss Whiplash, with Robbie Tregear, John and Chris Darbyshire, Andy Jenmin, Dave Miller, Adam Furneaux and James Richardson aboard Per Elisa taking second in the race and third on the podium.

A hugely enthusiastic supporter of the class, David Cullen was a popular winner and magnanimous in his victory, thanking his crew, his fellow competitors, the members and volunteers of the  Koninklijke Yacht Club Nieuwpoort and Race Officer Paul Charlier for an outstanding regatta. Asked how it felt to finally have his hands on the trophy after so many years he replied:

“We had a fantastic week, it’s a beautiful place to sail and the organisers are superb. We got a mixture of all kinds of weather, a bit of Irish weather with the rain, light breezes and windy, so we were very happy with our overall performance and obviously to win the event is very gratifying.

“I actually started sailing the original Checkmate with Nigel Biggs when I was 19 – and I’m not going to tell you how long ago that was!  I bought this boat from Nigel last year and we have spent all year upside down in it at very windy regattas, so to come over here and keep the boat upright is quite an achievement, never mind finishing and winning the regatta.

“It’s a very tricky boat, the new boats are very very powerful and we’re still trying to figure it out. But we’ve learnt a lot this week thanks to my ace tacktician Mark Pettitt, and we look forward to moving forward and maybe being a little bit faster for Falmouth next year.”

The Corinthian Half Ton Classics Cup Trophy was awarded to local boat Skippy’s Ton helmed by Nicolas Lejeune and crewed by Jean-Marie Gilles, Ann Lippens, Jean-Benoit Boels, Jan Vyvey and Philippe Piron, who finished in 12th place overall.

The prize for the leading Production Boat was won by Crakajax, an X95 built in 1985. After the prize giving co-owner Ursula Bagnall noted, “The navigation in Nieuwpoort is really difficult because of the sandbanks and how they effect the tidal flow. It makes racing in the Solent look like a doddle. We are one of the few boats that still sails to every HTCC and we have a full interior including a toilet and cooker and bunks for eight. It’s a great event and we hope to see more Production boats in Falmouth next year, perhaps even enough to have a division of our own.”

In addition to the main racing trophies there is a very special award presented at each Half Ton Classics Cup.  The Half Ton True Spirit Trophy is awarded to the boat that, in the opinion of the judging committee, truly personifies the spirit of the class in that season. For their never ending enthusiasm, their commitment to their beautiful boat and their determination to throw themselves into every Half Ton event wholeheartedly, this year’s recipients of the True Spirit Trophy are Jean-Luc Courbon, Jean Marty, Richard Carlie, Pierre-Yves Danet, Helen Frouin, Paul de la Renardiere and Louison Le Scouarnec of the 1988 Andreiu designed Half Capone – names after the famous American gangster who also inspires the crews crew uniform. The ladies of the KYCN shoreteam helped to decide the winner and came armed with water pistols and handcuffs to round up their man!

Alongside the serious prizes there were a number of humerous award, which caused much mirth amongst the sailors, and every boat in the fleet was called to the stage to receive special prizes including a copy of the Half Ton Classics Cup 2015 poster, a bottle of scotch whisky presented by Roddy Angus of Trastada and, most importantly, a special invitation to the 2016 Half Ton Classics Cup which will be held in Falmouth, UK during the third week of August.

And so the sun sets on another amazing Half Ton Classics Cup and the boats are heading home to start dreaming about and preparing for next time. For next year’s event the Class is also keen to encourage participation by Production Half Tonners and boats still being raced in “as original” condition. So if you have a Half Tonner of any type and fancy joining in the fun in Falmouth please contact Paul Pullen on paul@mylorchandlery.co.uk.

Reveiew all the news, results and photographs from the event via the Half Ton Classics Cup Blog and the Half Ton Class Facebook page.  Further information about the Half Ton Classic class is available from the Class Website.

FULL RESULTS

PHOTO GALLERY

Here is a selection of the photos from the prize giving.  We will get the remaining photos uploaded to the online gallery over the weekend so you can view them by Monday.