This week we’ve all seen how wonderful Swuzzlebubble looks now she has been restored (see above). But when Peter Morton first found her she was in a very sorry state. He kindly shared the pictures below showing the state she was in when he found her in a yard in Greece last year. It just goes to show that a Half Tonner is never beyond restoration!
Video interview with Bernard Fournier Le Ray of second placed Brittany Drizzle – in French with English subtitles (our thanks to Fabrice Peineau for his assistance in producing this interview)
The 2014 Half Ton Classics Cup came to a sparkling conclusion today with one final thrilling race off the beautiful North Brittany coast and a delightful prize giving on the waterfront of Saint-Quay-Portreiux.
With the breeze a little lighter at around 10-14 knots we saw some different faces at the front of the pack today and the finish was incredibly close, both on the water and on corrected time. Robert Tregear’s Per Elisa (1989 Ceccarelli), the last one off half tonner ever built, came into her own and gave Swuzzlebubble a run for her money, although they couldn’t quite save their time and Swuzzlebubble won by 23 seconds. Third place went to Frederic Waniart’s diminutive Maeva (1974 Mauric) who beat General Tapioca for third by a mere 0.16 seconds! Also much happier in today’s lighter airs was Checkmate XV who took fifth, beating The Big Picture by 0.53 seconds!
Our winner, Peter Morton’s Swuzzlebubble (1978 Farr), had already been confirmed yesterday, but still came out to race purely for the joy of it. And our remaining podium positions were confirmed as Bernard Fournier Le Ray’s Brittany Drizzle (1978 Berret) evaded one final challenge from her sister ship General Tapioca, owned by Philippe Pilate, to claim second place with General Tapioca taking the third step on the podium.
At the prize giving each of the skippers was invited to the podium to receive an invitation to the 2015 Half Ton Classics Cup, which will be held in in Nieuwpoort, Belgium, from 17-23 August, and to say a few words about the regatta. They were universal in their praise of the Sport Nautique Saint-Quay-Portrieux for their organisation of the regatta, of the Half Ton Classics Class for their work behind the scenes, and of their crews and fellow competitors for the incredible competition, fun and camaraderie they have experienced this week.
Winner Peter Morton not only paid tribute to the organisers and his crew, but to his fellow owners and the incredible work they do in keeping these historic boats in such outstanding condition. He especially highlighted his closest challenger Bernard Fournier Le Ray, who he has known since Bernard built Indulgence, the boat in which Peter won the Three Quarter Ton Cup in 1986. Peter highlighted that Bernard built Brittany Drizzle himself in his garden in 1978 and has raced and maintained her personally ever since, giving Peter much good competition over the years. That she is in outstanding condition some 36 years later and still raced with great success at the highest level is a true testament to Bernard’s skill as a builder and sailor and to the longevity of the Half Tonners. Peter concluded by saying he looked forward to racing with the fleet again at next year’s event in Nieuwpoort.
Alongside the overall prizes there were a number of special presentations. David Evans’ Hullabaloo XV, a 1978 Stephen Jones designed Hustler 32, won both the Production Boat Trophy and the Corinthian Trophy. A special presentation was made to Alexandre Neuilly and his crew of Turbidite (1983 Fauroux) who may have come last in the rankings this week, but who truly embody the spirit of fun, enthusiasm, determination, tenacity and humour that typifies the Half Ton Class.
And finally we came to the most important presentation of all, The Half Ton Spirit Trophy, which is awarded to the team, which, in the opinion of the Class and the Regatta Committee, truly embodies the extraordinary spirit of the class and the event. For their commitment and incredible personal hard work in keeping their beautiful boat in 100% as original condition, for sailing with great success with an entirely Corinthian crew and for racing her, runners, checkstays, titanium fittings and all, to an incredible ninth place overall, the 2014 Half Ton Spirit Trophy was awarded to deafening applause to Concorde (1989 Andrieu) owned by Francis Marshall and crewed by Robert Libby, Matt and Ivan Jacock, Peter Greenwood, Dick Jackman and Jack Spree – a bunch of Enterprise sailors and fishermen from Loo in Cornwall. A very moved Francis and his entire team came to the podium to accept the trophy and the recognition of their fellow sailors.
With the formalities complete a delighted but exhausted Philippe Pilate, President of the Half Ton Classics Class, summed up his feelings about the regatta; “The landscape, the weather and the technical aspects of the regatta were outstanding, but for me the quality of our welcome in Saint-Quay-Portrieux has been the highlight of the week. The members of Sport Nautique Saint-Quay-Portrieux and the people of the town have not only welcomed us as friends, but have made us feel like family. It has been quite extraordinary and we are sad to leave.”
And so we say farewell to Saint-Quay-Portriuex and look forward to seeing the Half Ton Classics family once again in Nieuwpoort from 17-23 August 2015.
Review the coverage of the event on the Half Ton Classics Cup Blog and Facebook.
For further information about the Half Ton Class please visitwww.halftonclasseurope.net
The prize giving for the Half Ton Classics Cup will take place at 14.30 at the podium erected on the Quai de la Republic, which is on the waterfront at the head of the old harbour – in front of the main town.
Race 8 was another wonderfully close race and with the breeze initially lighter we saw some different faces at the front of the pack. It was incredibly close both on the water and on corrected time. Per Elisa shone today and gave Swuzzlebubble a run for her money, although they couldn’t quite save their time on her and Swuzzlebubble won the race by 23 seconds. Third place went to the diminutive Maeva who beat General Tapioca for third by a mere 0.16 seconds! Also much happier in today’s lighter airs was Checkmate XV who took fifth, beating The Big Picture by 0.53 seconds!
In the overall standings the final results are now confirmed as:
1: “Swuzzlebubble”, Peter Morton – 7 points
2: “Brittany Drizzle”, Bernard Fournier le Ray – 17 points
3: “General Tapioca”, Philippe Pilate – 21 points
4: “Sibelius”, Claude Charbonnier1 – 34 points
5: “Checkmate Xv”, Nigel Biggs – 42 points
6: “Superhero”, Toni Stoschek – 46 points
7: “Hullabaloo Xv”, David Evans – 52 points
8: “King One”, David Cullen – 52 points
9: “Concorde”, Francis Marshall – 63 points
10: “The Big Picture”, Richard Mickael Evans – 63 points
11: “Miss Whiplash”, Paul Pullen – 63 points
12: “Port de Perros Guirec”, Nicolas Nadaud – 64 points
13: “Maeva”, Frederic Waniart – 67 points
14: “Per Elisa”, Robert Tregear – 82 points
15: “Scorpion”, Geoff Davies – 94 points
16: “Harmony”, Jonny Swan – 102 points
17: “Trastada”, Angus Roddy – 115 points
18: “Crakajax”, Richard Hollis – 122 points
19: “Spip”, Thibault Martin – 124 points
20: “Fantasy”, Ian Van Burm – 124 points
21: “Melchonenn”, Pierre Emmanuel Guillerm – 132 points
22: “Turbidite”, Alexandre Neuilly – 133 points
A great final race with some interesting results of which more shortly. Swuzzlebubble confirmed her Champion status with another great race. General Tapioca sailed her socks off but it wasn’t quite enough. So Brittany Drizzel is second and Tapioca third overall.
The final race is underway and we’re doing one last windward leeward to say farewell to Saint-Quay-Portrieux. The first attempt to start was recalled (possibly due to the hangovers from last night’s superb crew party) but they got away at the second time of asking.
We have just under 10 knots from the NW and a bright warm morning although there is a little more cloud cover today.
Here is some sailing footage from day 3 of the Half Ton Classics Cup in Saint-Quay-Portrieux. An interesting interview with winner Peter Morton is just uploading and will be available shortly.
With a bravura performance of three straight wins on today’s penultimate day, the stunningly restored 1978 Farr designed Swuzzlebubble, owned and helmed by Peter Morton and crewed by Kelvin Rawlings, Anthony Haines, Eouard Lynch, John Kemp, David Lenz and Martin Calmon, claimed the 2014 Half Ton Classics Cup with a day to spare. Behind them the battle for second and third continues to rage, but tonight the delighted Swuzzlebubble crew can relax and enjoy the Half Ton Classics Cup Crew Dinner at the Saint-Quay-Portreiux Casino safe in the knowledge that tomorrow’s race is just for fun. And they do intend to race, as Kelvin confirmed after sailing today; “Of course we’re going to sail tomorrow. It’s been a fantastic week, perfect weather, stunning scenery, great competition: we wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
For Peter this win completes an extraordinary hat trick of Ton Cup victories. His first was the Three Quarter Ton Cup of 1986 in Torquay aboard Graham Walker’s Indulgence. Ten years ago Peter was one of the driving forces behind the revival of the Quarter Tonners and he has gone on to win the Quarter Ton Cup no less than four times in three different boats, most recently just two weeks ago. Adding the Half Ton Cup to his trophy cabinet fulfills a long held dream for the man who has been a driving force in yacht racing for the past three decades.
Speaking after sailing, Peter was full of praise for the race management; “The race office has done an absolutely fantastic job. The start lines were spot on and it was almost impossible to pick the bias.” the venue; “Today the racing was just stunning, we had 16-20 knots with not a cloud in the sky and its just such a lovely part of the world, Brittany.” and his crew; “I’ve had some of the guys who sail with me in the Quarter Tonners. Kelvin Rawlings who I’ve been sailing with for probably 35 years now. Kelvin and I have done Admiral’s Cups, One Ton Cups, Three Quarter Ton Cups and Quarter Ton Cups before. Antony Haines who did a lot of work on the boat over the winter. Dave Lenz from North Sails who’s done a fantastic job as he stepped in for my normal tactician Jules Salter who couldn’t make it this week. And a lot of the guys that I’ve sailed with quite a lot before, which I think has helped us a lot as we’ve worked together before and we understand each other, and I think that’s been quite an important part of it.” (An extended interview with Peter Morton will be published at the Half Ton Classics Cup Blog shortly)
Although Swuzzlebubble’s victory is confirmed, the remainder of the podium is going down to the wire. Today, two ferociously competitive windward leeward races and a coastal course, around the rocky Iles de Saint-Quay, were run in glorious hot sunshine and a northwesterly wind of around 16-20 knots.
Going into the day Brittany Drizzle, Bernard Fornier Le Ray’s 1978 Berret, held a narrow two point lead over her sister ship, Philippe Pilate’s General Tapioca with Claude Charbonnier’s Sibelius (1980 Joubert-Nivelt) and Toni Stoschek’s Superhero (1988 Andrieu) both just seven points behind in fourth and fifth.
Brittany Drizzle and General Tapioca continued to be at each other’s throats all day and were never separated by more than a few second on corrected time. Brittany Drizzle added two seconds and a third to her card and she now holds second place with seventeen points. General Tapioca took second in race five, fourth in race six and third in race seven and hangs onto third place with twenty-one points, still in striking distance of the second step on the podium.
Sibelius initially held her own with a fourth and third, but she struggled to maintain her form in the longer coastal race, finishing eighth. Although she remains in fourth place overall, with only one more race to sail tomorrow her thirteen-point delta on General Tapioca means she is no longer able to make the podium. Sadly Superhero had a day of mixed fortunes so she has dropped down the ranking to sixth place, allowing Nigel Biggs’ Checkmate XV (1985 Humphries) to move up into fifth overall.
At this evening’s daily prize giving ceremony several special prizes were handed out including the Furthest Sailed To Take Part Prize, which went to David Evans and his crew of family and friends aboard Hullabaloo VX, who sailed 340 miles from the UKs east coast; and the Gentleman’s Prize, for the team felt to best embody the true spirit of the class, which was presented to Richard and Ursula Hollis of Crakajax and from Cowes.
Tomorrow one single race remains to be sailed as the Sailing Instructions call for no starts to be made after 11.00. That single start is scheduled for 10.00 and with a forecast for more great weather we look forward to the event going out on a high note as Swuzzlebubble enjoys a lap of honour and Brittany Drizzle and General Tapioca fight it out for second place.
English language event updates will be available from the Half Ton Classics Cup Blog and Facebook.
For further information about the Half Ton Class please visit www.halftonclasseurope.net
Half Ton Classics Cup 2025 