The Half Ton Classics Cup competitors have attended their daily briefing in Nieuwpoort and are all set for three further races today. The race committee intends to start with two windward leeward races and finish with another short inshore race. The forecast is for more overcast skies and rain showers with westerly winds in the high teens and low twenties.
The North Sea was throwing some interesting shapes today off Nieuwport as the 23 strong Half Ton Classics Cup 2015 fleet got their regatta underway in big confused seas with a practise race followed by the first two races of the championship series. With racing being run by the Koninklijke Yacht Club Nieuwpoort (KYCN) and the Bruxelles Royal Yacht Club (BRYC) the race committee was on time and on the case with both a tricky north easterly breeze, which was shifting up to 25 degrees and varied from mid teens to low twenties, and the cross course tide which turned during racing.
First up they ran a practice race, followed by a windward leeward and then a short inshore race around the cans. A general recall in the practice race confirmed that the fleet was eager to go, but fortunately they managed to start at the first time of asking for both championship races, although three boats fell foul of the “U” flag in race two and were disqualified.
Richard and Ursula Hollis’s X98 Crakajax got two super starts, creating space at the committee boat end so she could tack off for clear air right away. Minimising the number of tacks was a clever way to go, as those who became embroiled in tit for tat tacking battles in the middle of the course discovered to their cost. Whilst the sea state remained lumpy throughout the day the wind dropped off a little in the afternoon meaning the trimmers and helmsmen has their work cut out to keep traction.
Having acquired the 1985 Humphrey designed MG HS30 Checkmate from friend Nigel Biggs over the winter and spent time preparing and tuning her at home in Ireland, David Cullen was keen to see how she would go in the hurly burly of serious Half Ton competition. Checkmate happily delivered and her well drilled crew never really put a foot wrong, although they certainly didn’t have it all their own way. In race one they narrowly scraped victory by just 13 seconds from Paul Pullen’s 1986 Andrieu designed Miss Whiplash from Cornwall, while local hero Philippe Pilate sailing the 1978 General Tapioca, designed by Berrett, took third and Finland’s Toni Stoschek 1988 Andrieu designs, carbon built Superhero fourth.
The second race, a short inshore race attracting a scoring coeffecient of 1.1, was almost as close and it was only on the final beat that Checkmate secured her second victory of the day by 32 seconds from General Tapioca with Albert Pierrard’s A+, a 1985 Nissen design which came second in the 1985 Half Ton Cup in Italy and third a year later in Finland, in third and Miss Whiplash fourth. Superhero stormed the pin end at the start and almost achieved domination, but sadly her timing was just off and she fell foul of the U Flag so was one of those disqualified for being over the line.
In the overall standings Checkmate now has a 3.1 point lead over General Tapioca with Miss Whiplash 1.2 points behind in third. With two fifth places, Nicolas Spilleboudt’s 1989 Blue Berret drops into the scoreboard in fourth place overall,
Back ashore Philippe Pilate summed up the day saying “Today was not easy. The level is very high and getting higher. The boats are all well prepared. We gave everything, the wind was over 15 knots with a big sea, but the day was very positive. We sailed to our potential, we are in the top three overall and that’s where we would like to stay. The windier conditions of today suit us very well, tomorrow we will see. If the wind drops it will be more open. We are satisfied to have come and satisfied to be able to share this with many friends, which is always good and indeed the most important.
Tomorrow’s forecast is for a little more wind and possibly further rough seas. The regatta committee has confirmed it intends to run at least three races tomorrow with the first start scheduled for 11.00. The regatta continues until Friday 21 August.
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.
The Provisional Results have been posted and reveal that David Cullen’s Checkmate won both of today’s opening races to lead the regatta overall. Philippe Pilate’s General Tapioca is lying in second with Paul Pullen’s Miss Whiplash in third.
At this evening’s prize giving the special Harken custom winch handles, which have a specially created Half Ton Classics Cup 2015 handle, were presented. The first went to Checkmate and, since a boat can only win one handle per championship, the second went to General Tapioca.
The teams are now enjoying a convivial BBQ dinner at the yacht club as the sun sets.
Full report to follow shortly.
We know how you all love to check out what people have done to their Classic Half Tonners so here are some dock shots of the boats after racing today.
A rough and tumble day on the water as you can see from our photos!
It’s not that windy out here but it’s pretty rough seas. The practice race is underway and the boats are having great racing.
We have 23 Classic Half Tonners registered, briefed and ready to race here in Nieuwpoort. It’s a bit overcast and damp this morning but the forecast for the week ahead shows plenty of sun and good winds. Right now the competitors are preparing to leave the dock ready for the practice race at noon and then the first championship races which will start at 14.00.
This weekend the Classic Half Tonners are converging on Nieuwpoort in Belgium for the 8th edition of the Half Ton Classics Cup, which is being organised in association with the Koninklijke Yacht Club Nieuwpoort (KYCN) and the Bruxelles Royal Yacht Club (BRYC). Registration for the regatta will open at noon on Sunday 16 August and racing is scheduled to get underway on Monday morning with a practice race planned to start at noon and the first championship race programmed for 14.00. The schedule provides for a mixture of windward leeward and coastal races and the regatta will conclude on Friday 21 August.
This year’s entry list includes many old friends and some exciting new additions too. All the way from Ireland comes old friend David Cullen with his new boat Checkmate XV. A Rob Humphrey designed MG30, Checkmate XV was fully restored by John Corby in 2013 and won that year’s Half Ton Classics Cup in Boulogne under the ownership of Nigel Biggs. David brings a strong crew to this year’s event and clearly has his sights set on victory.
Another new pairing for this year will be Manon Vatlet and his crew of teenagers aboard the 1978 Joubert designed M’Half Raz, which Manon purchased earlier this year. M’Half Raz has been maintained in near “as original” condition and with her enthusiastic team of young dinghy sailors she could surprise a few people this week.
It is wonderful to see so many young sailors enjoying the Classic Half Tonners. As part of it’s ongoing youth development programme Ostend’s Royal North Sea Yacht Club sent a delegation to Brittany with instructions to “bring back the best half tonner available”. That delegation brought back the 1981 Gahinet designed “North Sea Three” which is being sailed by a young team from the RNSYC who have already put in many hours both racing and training and are determined to learn and perform in Nieuwpoort.
Among the old friends attending will be Richard and Ursula Hollis’s Jeppersen designed X98 Crakajax from Cowes, Philippe Pilate’s 1978 Berret designed General Tapioca, which is based in Nieuwpoort and will be hoping to gain some home advantage, and Robby Tregear’s 1992 Ceccarelli designed Per Elisa, the last Half Tonner ever built which showed moments of brilliance at last year’s Half Ton Classic Cup and will be hoping for great things this year.
With twenty-two teams already registered its going to be a strong field and we can expect some fantastic sport from these historic little ships and their enthusiastic owners and crews.
Alongside a great racing programme the Half Ton Classics Cup is also famous for its social programme and this year is no exception. The fun will kick off with Welcome Drinks on Sunday evening and will include daily prize giving gatherings, the traditional HTCC Fancy Dress Party on Tuesday evening (Générale Tapioca’s crew has already confirmed they will be dressed as characters from Tintin), the Half Ton Classic Cup Gala Dinner on Thursday and the final Prize Giving and “See You Next Year” drinks and dinner on Friday.
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.
The 8th edition of the Half Ton Classics Cup will take place in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, which since 2002 has been the new historical homeport of the Half Tonners. After the excellent Half Ton Classics Cups in Cowes (2011), Boulogne-sur-Mer (2013) and Saint-Quay-Portrieux (2014), the Half Tonner fleet will meet again for a week of sailing and celebrations.
After the first edition of the Half Ton Classics Cup in 2003, which started the Ton Cup revivals across the world, a growing interest in Half Tonners has been noticed, causing quite a rush by various teams to acquire a good boat. Some of them have travelled as far as some isolated Greek islands in order to resuscitate an old abandoned boat (but one with a good pedigree). A well maintained Half Tonner easily keeps its value throughout the years and can be raced at the fraction of the cost of a new boat with a crew of 6 to 7. The Half Ton regattas attract a variety of teams : youth teams, teams of older sailors who sometimes remember having sailed in the IOR-era, mixed teams.
This growing interest in the Half Tonners is particularly evident in Belgium, where a fleet of almost 20 boats is frantically preparing to welcome the foreign visitors. Latest additions to the Belgian fleet are The Red Duke (Golden Shamrock), M’Half’Raz (Joubert/Nivelt 1977 prototype), Farther Bruin (Farr 1977 design) and North Sea Three (Gahinet 1981 design). This last boat is a club boat bought in France by the Royal North Sea YC from Ostend for their ‘Start2Race’ program. The boat will be sailed by a team of young club sailors for a period of 3 years.
The organising team is counting on a 35 to 40 boat fleet to line up alongside the pontoons of the Koninklijke YC of Nieuwpoort, who already hosted the event in 2003 and in 2009. The KYCN is one of the only clubs in the world to have hosted an edition of all Ton Cups : Quarter Ton Cup, Half Ton Classics Cup, Three Quarter Ton Cup and One Ton Cup.
As in previous editions the local fleet will meet a growing foreign armada from Ireland, France, the UK and Finland. This year it is likely that for the first a Dutch team will enter the series. The strongest contenders for the much coveted Half Ton Classics Trophy, awarded to the series winner, are the Irish team from Dave Cullen sailing on the newly acquired Checkmate XV, the French teams of Jean-Philippe Cau on Sibelius, Nicolas Nadaud on Half Red, and finally Finland’s Toni Stoscheck & friends on Superhero. The biggest surprise however could come from a well sailed series boat, in the shape of David Evans’ venerable Stephen Jones’ designed Hullabaloo, which in 2009 was a very strong runner-up.
However the main prize of the Series is not going to the best overall on the water performer, but to a team selected just because it is best representing the ‘True Half Tonner Spirit’, which is quite undefinable but well known to the attending teams. This year the winner of the Half Ton True Spirit Trophy will be decided by the organisation’s shore crew team.
The Half Ton Classics Cup can count on the support of various partners, like the KYCN, the Brussels Royal YC, the City of Nieuwpoort, and commercial sponsorship from Ecover, Patagonia, Kleen Kanteen and Euro Car Parks. Other agreements are in the course of being finalised.
The 2015 edition of the Half Ton Classics Cup will take place in Nieuwpoort, Belgium from 17-21 August 2015. With new faces, new boats, old friends, brilliant racing and all the fun that you can handle it’s going to be another fantastic event so put the date in your diaries and stand by for more news soon.
Half Ton Classics Cup 2025 