Half Ton Classics Cup 2025

Entretien avec Manan Vatlet

The weather was rather less than sparkling today (indeed it was most decidedly grey and damp) but here are a few snaps from the Half Ton Classics Cup 2015 Long Inshore Race

The fleet is returning to the dock at the end of the Long Inshore race and Per Elisa is leading them home with a pretty confident looking lead.  We await the corrected time results for confirmation but it looks like they may have won it.

Entretien avec Nicolas de Blue Berret Pi

After racing yesterday we caught up with Toni Stoschek of Superhero to find out more about the boat and their regatta.

Welcome to day 4 of our adventures in Nieuwpoort where the sun has deserted us but the sailor’s enthusiasm is as high as ever.  Today it’s the long inshore race and the race committee has just advised the competitors that the forecast indicates moderate southerly winds so they will be using course 43 for today’s race.

This course is 22 miles long and if you plan to follow the race on the water the course marks are:

Start off Nieuwpoort, Mark 1 (laid weather mark approx 1 mile from start), Weststroombank P, D1 S, Zuidstroombank P, Oostendebank-W P, Weststroombank P, Finish off Nieuwpoort.

Here’s a little bit of fun video for you from yesterday’s racing

The sun finally shone on the Half Ton Classics Cup fleet on the third day of the regatta, which also brought more moderate wind and sea conditions. The crews enjoyed a fabulous day of classic champagne sailing to complete races six and seven of their series.

Both races were run on three lap windward/leeward courses which gave the boats some terrific racing, but still enabled them to be back on the dock by early afternoon for some well deserved relaxation time at the Koninklijke Yacht Club Nieuwpoort.

The lighter conditions saw some new faces making it to the front of the fleet and the day’s top performer was Robbie Tregear’s beautiful baby blue Per Elisa, the last custom Half Tonner ever built – in 1992 to a Ceccarelli design – which finished second in the Half Ton Cup of that same year. Per Elisa has raced in all the revival Half Ton Classics Cups and with a second and first place today Robbie and his crew made it clear that they hope to improve on their previous best result, which was a third in 2009, the last time the event was held in Nieuwpoort.

In the first race of the day overnight leader Checkmate XV, owned by Ireland’s David Cullen, sailed a text book race to win by 68 seconds.  Per Elisa had led the race early on but couldn’t hold off Checkmate’s onslought so had to be content with second. Happy to be back racing in more moderate conditions, Johny Swan’s Harmony took third with Jeremy Florizoone’s Alf fourth.

Race seven saw both Per Elisa and Checkmate XV down at the pin end which Checkmate technically won, however Per Elisa came off the line slightly to weather and with fantastic pace and stormed her way up the first beat, never missing a shift.  By the first mark she already had a confident lead and she continued to build on that throughout the race, eventually winning by an impressive 6 minutes 47 seconds.

Whilst Per Elisa was out on her own, the chasing pack fought an incredible battle for second. Initially Checkmate had looked good for it, but mainsheet man John Murphy got a little overenthusiastic on the second run and the jury penalised them for pumping.  The resulting penalty lost them three places on the water, but they sailed their socks off to catch back up. On corrected time with only 38 seconds between second and fifith on corrected time only 38 seconds separated second to fifth and it was Paul Pullen’s Miss Whiplash who took second by a mere three seconds from Checkmate XV with the Spilleboudt brothers’ Blue Berry Pi in fourth and Harmony fifth.

In the overall standings the completion of race seven means that the boats are now allowed two discards.  With their worst result a third place David Cullen and his boys from Howth aboard Checkmate XV lead the regatta with 7.1 points. Paul Pullen’s Cornishmen in Miss Whiplash are now in second with 13.6 points and Robby Tregear and Per Elisa jump from tenth into third with 22 points. The Spilleboudt’s Blue Berry Pi has moved from seventh to fourth on 24.9 points.

Tomorrow the race committee intends to run the long coastal race, which carries a scoring coefficient of 1.5 and cannot be discarded. The forecast is for the grey skies and rain showers to return and for the wind to be southerly, but somewhat shifty and squally as the showers come through.

Keep up with the  latest news, results and photographs from the event via the Half Ton Classics Cup Blog and the Half Ton Class Facebook page.

FULL RESULTS

PHOTO GALLERY

The Half Ton Classics Cup 2015 day 3 results are now online.  Checkmate XV and Per Elisa were today’s race winners and in the overall standings Checkmate XV now leads the regatta with 7.1 points from Miss Whiplash on 13.6 with Per Elisa lying third on 22.

Click here for full results.

Full report coming soon.

Photos from the third day of the Half Ton Classics Cup 2015 in Nieuwpoort, Belgium.