Portrait: King One, noblesse oblige

Posted on July 31, 2024 by spuigatenblog

Histoire des Halfs – more than the complete history of this unique class – mentions King One, formerly known as King First – F 8094, as being a Berret designed Halftonner, built by Bénéteau in 1980.
The famous yacht builder invested in several series, King was one of the First Evolution series.

King One switched hands -and home waters- many times.

Even Olympic medalist Paul Elvström was at her helm in ’81. He dominated the Cup with 1 – 1 – 2 – 19 – 1.

The Irish years started in 1982 when King wasn’t selected for the la Rochelle Half Ton cup.

Recent owners like David Cullen, Patrick Boardman and David Kelly improved the boat and her equipment year after year.
In 2009 a Mark Mills keel was fitted.

After Boardman and his team won the Half Ton Classics Cup in Cowes in 2022, it was time to switch again. King One sails with the Norwegian number NOR 18094 with skipper Espen Kamperhaug.

More below…

Recent results

2024 – 1st National Championship Norway

2023 – 3rd Hankø Half Ton Classics Cup

2023 – 1st National Championship Norway

King One crew

Espen Guttormsen – Eilert Kamfjord – Calle Andersen – Karl Otto Book – Petter Hagelund and Sindre Sørebø

Houston, we have a challnger to look out for.

Many thanks to Histore des Halfs

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Half Ton – multiple prizes

Posted on July 31, 2024 by spuigatenblog

Let’s be fair: sailing isn’t that simple. The Half Ton Class Europe is quite aware of the complexity of the sport.
Challenging, no question about it, but complex nevertheless,

Again at the last day of this Half Ton Classic Cup more than one team will be awarded.

Here’s the prize list.

The Half Ton true spirit – more a matter of attitude than speed

The Half Ton Classics Cup Trophy – the over all winner

The Half Ton Classics and vintage trophy – the best performing Half Tonner in the most original state.

The Half Ton Corinthian Trophy – no pro zone

The Half Ton ladies trophy – harr.

The bets are on.

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Half Ton: a matter of education

Posted on July 30, 2024 by spuigatenblog
Half Ton owners and their crew are not only world famous for their sailing skills. It happens to be that they are keen DIY guys too. Sometimes it even starts when they are merely nine. Here is how Brice VILLION, owner and skipper of Cardiac Blues fell in love with the formula.  

She’s a 1978 Berret Half Tonner, built in Kevlar/Epoxy, a new way of building boat in these years. She came out first with a mobile lest but was soon changed into a normal one.

She used to be my dad’s boat, he bought her around 1981. I was 9 years old at this time and I discovered sailing on Cardiac Blues with him, he learned me how to helm and years after years how to sail and all he knew about it. I really was in love with this boat and the sensations she gave me.

In 1989 my dad had to sell her because even if they were three co-owners, they couldn’t keep her. That was heart breaking for me and I swore to myself  “when I grow up I will find her and get her back in the family !!”

I had to wait until 2011!

I was surfing on the net and came to visit the Histoire des Halfs website. So I checked the Cardiac Blues file and found she was on sale! Excitement, heart beating fast, dream becoming true… it took at least 6 months before I reached the owner, another 6 months before I could sign the selling agreement, because he was overseas most part of the year.

I was flying!! So happy !!

I took my time to rebuilt her.
First because I never thought about how I could pay for a refit, secondly because I discover she needed a big one and finally because I did it depending on time and money I could involve in this refit.

Ten years later she was back into the water, the same ones I saw her the last time, in La Trinité-sur-mer, Baie de Quiberon, Bretagne.

Since then, the dream continues: I organised a crew around friends, we sail every race we can and I finally get to participate in the HTCC, which I raced in 2003 with my dad on his second Half  Toner called Diablesse.

This is the accomplishment of a kid’s dream, I’m so happy and proud of that !

As the majority of the usual crew couldn’t come to Nieuwpoort, I created with the help of Marc Strickman a French/Belgian crew for the HTCC, with local and experimented sailors.

I hope to learn as much as I can about Cardiac Blues and the way she needs to be managed. Those boats are very special and I’m sure I will enjoy the crew skills about Half Toners !!

Editor: we’re looking forward to meet Brice, his crew and have a closer look at Cardiac Blues.

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Half Ton level rating class survives the IOR decline

Posted on July 30, 2024 by spuigatenblog
Arpege

Way back in the Seventies and the Eighties the IOR racing rule produced exciting racing in various classes, with the Half Ton Class as very probably one of the most emblematic ones.

With many hundreds of prototypes built in that era, and the thousands of series boats like f.i. the Arpège, Armagnac, Super Arlequin, Rush, Hustler SJ30 & 32 and the First Evolution, it is unlikely that one will ever be able to count the exact number of halftonners built.

Bigger is faster, but what about fair chances?

In the IOR era the boats sailed in Real Time. All the big names in yacht design like f.i. Sparkman & Stephens, Laurie Davidson, Bruce Farr, Paul Whiting, Jean Berret, Rob Humphreys, Ed Dubois, Joubert/Nivelt, Daniel Andrieu, Jean-Marie Finot, Philippe Briand, Philippe Harlé, Ron Holland, Doug Peterson, Peter Norlin, Julian Everitt, Stephen Jones, Bruce King, Gilles Gahinet, Scott Kauffman, Tony Castro, Ceccarelli, Georg Nissen, Jac. De Ridder, Hugh Welbourne, Fontana-Maletto-Navone, Judel-Vrolijk or Gary Mull have had their go at this IOR rating rule.

Many of them had their moment of glory and made their name producing one or more winning Half Ton designs.

In those times the Half Ton Cups were “the place to be” for both crews and designers in quest of international fame…

In 2003, some 10 years after the decline of the IOR, some crazy Belgian halftonner owners decided to revive the Half Ton Class Europe (HTCE) and created the Half Ton Classics Cup (HTCC). Whilst the boats are in constant evolution, the adventure continues…

This constant evolution of the IRC rating (like in the IOR heydays) has lead many owners to modify their boats (within the limits set by the HTCE).

This phenomenon lead to the creation of 2 separate rankings at the HTCC events: one for the ‘Modern’ and another for the ‘Vintage’ halftonners, with 1 overall ranking to designate the ‘overall winner’ under IRC handicap.

The major trophy remains the ‘Half Ton True Spirit Trophhy‘, awarded to the team that best represents the undefinable & incomparable ‘halfton spirit’.

Our Class’s devise: Halfton twice the Fun.

Morre [+] about Half Ton Class history, designers and designs
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Everyone a winner: the real Half Ton spirit shines

Posted on August 22, 2022 by spuigatenblog

Seventeen Half Ton crews experienced five heydays at the Fast Lines Half Ton Classics Cup in Cowes. The Valhalla of Western European sailing, on the more English than English Isle of Wight, showed itself in all its facets.

The organization relied on the efforts of some local volunteers but also the professionalism of the RORC race organization.

The twelfth Cup since the creation of the class, the first since 2018, was an eventful edition. It wasn’t just the Irish who walked away with the prizes this time.

Five days of racing on the cutting edge means nine rounds, one of which is a long distance inshore and the rest windward/leeward or ’round the cans’ races. All in a bubble of the windless heat of an exceptional summer and in between the threatening, rainy thunderstorm zones.

Community of sailors

‘It was also nice to see the sailors we have missed for so long,’ says Half Ton Class secretary and fellow participant Bert Janssen. Of course, the cup experienced the same impact of what the world has undergone in the last two years.

The restart of sailing events is difficult everywhere. But the turnout – and the fact that it has been highlighted in the sailing press – is a merit in itself.

With the exception of the long distance, all series were sailed in predominantly light winds and fairly flat seas. But many especially remember the downwind courses of the inshore in the western part of the Solent, where the log climbed over ten knots and more.

Indeed, some Half Tonners can still show some stability antics.

Philippe Pilate, HTC chairman

The Half Ton spirit dominates everything in Cowes: an international company of top sailors and new talents sailing boats of all kind.

Great race, hard recoil

The domination of the Irish in the class is not exactly surprising. Checkmate XV and Swuzzlebubble have taken turns winning the Cup since 2013. More than once this year, the four Irish participants are the first to turn around the windward mark.

For David and James Dwyer and team (Swuzzlebubble) the penalty must have arrived hard, after they finished with a big lead in a spectacular spinnaker run. 27 instead of 1.5 points is barely made up for.

King One (Patrick Boardman, IRL) claimed final victory with 1/4/3/2/7/11/1.5/1/2 (14.5).
Harmony (John Swan, IRL) took second place with 23 points.
Halfajet, (Ronan Treussart, FRA), made up for a lot by a victory in the last series, and finished third.

Inch by inch

The British Halftonners bit off, such as Chimp, -2nd in the long distance-, Quokka 9, 2nd in races 1 and 4- and Hullabaloo XV, the Hustler 32 F/r of the 72-year-old David Evans who seemingly never did anything but sail.

The Belgian General Tapioca team of Philippe Pilate – winners of the HTC of 2003 and 2009 – did not make it into the first half of the overall ranking.
“Because apparently we didn’t find the right setting on board,” he commented.

And then there was the Norwegian Half Moon of the always broadly smiling Martin Kamperhaug. Martin is an avid sailor who only just before this championship went to pick up his Jean Berret 1978 design in La Rochelle.

In fact, they only brought their experience but stumbled upon the countless technical elements that clearly need to be treated.

Half Moon

Only towards the last rounds there was also more crew on board than the initial three men, but that did not lift the Half Moon higher in the rankings.
And still Martins’ smile didn’t go away.

The Norwegian Connection

All factors that earned the skipper and crew the coveted Half Ton True Spirit trophy, chosen with overwhelming unanimity among all participants.
To top it all off, Kamperhaug also announced that his club welcomes every Halftonner for the 13th Half Ton Classics Cup in Hankø, in southern Norway, near the Kattegat.
Norway counts more than twenty Halftonners, which in itself is an interesting challenge to come over en masse.

Let’s meet there again from 13 to 19 August 2023 in Hankø.

Final results Fast Lines half Ton Cup 22

Half Ton Classics Cup – Cowes 2022 Supported by

Fast Lines

Royal Ocean Racing Club

North Sails | Spinlock | Whine therapy | Wessex distillery

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Fast Lines Half Ton Classics Cup: Sensational and smart

Posted on August 20, 2022 by spuigatenblog

Half Ton sailors love variety. In Thursday’s exciting Long Distance Round the Cans, the last two Windward Leeward and Round the Can races had to determine the thrilling struggle between the four dominating Irish Halftonners and the attacking French and English.

Wind for lunch

Lots of wind at the Long Distance in the western part of the Solent, so the sailors went crazy. Especially in the second half, a long leg in the familiar choppy wind-against-tide situation.

On Hullabaloo XV only one exploding block, caused the sudden passing of two spinnakers. In bursts of more than twenty-five knots, a few boats showed their flashing clean white bottoms, and continued jubilantly towards Cowes.

What should have been an obvious case turned out differently at the Gala Dinner. Hm: some tables are left empty. Hadn’t the Dyers surfed their boat across the finish line by a wide margin, ahead of all the others? After a protest, the favorite Swuzzlebubble seemed to have lost its first place.
Roger Marino surprisingly finished second with the Chimp. Checkmate XV came in third.  

King One thus occupied a generous position on the condition that Patrick Boardman’s crew would not drop any stitches in the last two rounds.
No one would give gifts.

Final races

Especially for the last days of this championship, the weather gods brought out their best supply of English drizzle. Eventually it was possible to start in noticeably light conditions for a Windward leeward that had to be shortened.

You saw some people looking for wind in the middle of the Solent, but the steam was playing tricks on them. Once again, King One shows her superiority and finishes just ahead of Harmony and Checkmate XV.

The French Halfajet (team Ronan Treussard) wants to process the gnashing of teeth for a lost protest, earlier in the week. The attack attempt in this first moto fails, but in the second round, it succeeds. Wind and current are more favorable on the right side of the last rak to the finish.

Treussard sends his halftonner in a straight line to the finish, the Dwyers, on the port side of the French, must pinch too much and get the finish buoy more just. Halfajet rises again in the General Ranking and returns to Brittany with his head held high. 

Final results of the fast Lines Half Ton Classic Cup – Cowes 2022

Look here for more pics by Pit De Jonge

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Fast Lines Half Ton Cup: it takes two to tango

Posted on August 18, 2022 by spuigatenblog

Exactly at the scheduled time, the RORC’s race committee fired the gun for the fifth series of the Fast Lines Half Ton Cup in Cowes. The weather conditions remained undefined, with light winds and thunderstorm threats. And quite some current to deal with.

In the last minute before the start of the first leg, a group fighting at the pin end: Halfajet, Checkmate XV, Secrets, Harmony, General Tapioca and Ballerine.

The group would not relinquish the lead, with a few shifts. For example, Ballerine rounds the leeward buoy first, but the newly assembled team loses places afterwards because the of experimental routine. However, in leg six they did finish seventh, thanks to another headsail that make her steer closer to the wind.

In search for that inch more

For the second series, the track is shifted by almost thirty degrees. At the first start, Swuzzlebubble starts first, by shooting under the starting boat Ocean One at the right time. But it is clearly a general recall, the current pushes the fleet over the line too much. However, they had been warned.

At the second start the fleet stays much further away, Swuzzlebubble gets caught up in the group that wants to stay under the starting boat and can only sail itself free after the start, clearly to the wrong side of the track.

Once again, Halfajet and Harmony move to the lead, hot on the heels of Secrets (team Christopher Agar GBR5395) and Quokka 9 (team Peter Rutter GBR8185).

In the rear, the Half Moon of the Norwegian Martin Kamperhaug team sails with full dedication to keep up with the gang. The too small team has received some reinforcement but struggles with an unknown boat.  

And then, the sky went purplish, the wind shifted, and a curtain of rain descended on the fleet.
The radar showed an awkward variety of colors. Time to return to Cowes.

The Half Ton Class honours the winner of day races. Plural.

Yesterday, in the fifth and sixth heats (W/L), both the IRL1484 Harmony (team John Swan -right on photo) and the FRA8444 Halfajet (team Ronan Treussart –left on photo-) seemed to have found their pace. The conditions were mostly light, with little wave action. Both sailed first and second. So, they share the day prize.

Harmony leads the general ranking with one point less than Halfajet. IRL809 King One (team Patrick Boardman) is third.

Have a look at the photo album CLICK HERE

Results Fast Lines half Ton Cup Cowes: CLICK HERE

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Fast Lines Half Ton Classics Cup: when Cowes weather returns, the Jedi returns too

Posted on August 17, 2022 by spuigatenblog

Third day Fast Lines Half Ton Classics Cup, and finally enough wind from midday on to sail three series.

Two Windward-Leeward courses and a ’round the cans’.

Look who’s here

The Swuzzlebubbleteam of David and James Dwyer has clearly found the gear lever again, because after a surprising ninth place yesterday, they put down a fantastic 1/1/4 today.

King One (team Patrick Boardman -IRL) did get a win yesterday, but with 3/3/2 Swuzzlebubble still has to lead in the overall ranking, despite the equal points.

From the group that dominated yesterday’s race, Hullabaloo XV (team David Evans) managed to stay in the top five by – very much to his own surprise – winning the last race of the day.

Of course, he knows the Solent like the back of his hand and was also the sailor who predicted the sailing wind in the full wind silence, early in the morning

The French Hafajet team also jokingly sat down for the barbecue. The Treussard team has also clearly read the manual for sailing in the Solent. They climb from 14 to 4 in the general ranking.

Fresh blood

Six minus eighteen years sailors sail on various Half Tonners in this championship. They are allowed to sail outside the IRC crew restrictions. Hopefully they will gain so much experience here, says Half Ton Class organizer Bert Janssen, that we will see them again in the coming years with their own halftonner.

The class does everything it can to assist and thorough advise about available boats, gear, how to run a campaign etc.  For the time being, they received a special chocolate cup. They’ll need the energy.

Overall results: CLICK HERE

The complete photo album: CLICK HERE (C) Pit De Jonge

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The Fast Lines Half Ton Classics Cup 22: King One (IRL) sets the tone at the first race

Posted on August 16, 2022 by spuigatenblog

Even the Valhalla of sailing does not escape the gigantic windless heat bubble that overwhelms western Europe. Nevertheless, the RORC competition organization managed to put in an exciting windward leeward series on the first day of the Fast Lines Half Ton Classics Cup.

By noon, in the period of slack water, the seventeen Half Tonners started for a windward – leeward track of 1.1 nautical miles.

The race would benefit from the weaker current, as the wind would never exceed ten knots.

Immediately the fleet split into a group that steered towards the middle of the Solent and one that would stay closer to shore. The left side option was the most profitable, despite the slight countercurrent.

It was good to be careful to tack to the windward buoy at the right time and then without hesitation to get the spinnaker right on it.

That went a bit smoother on one boat than on the other. At the Norwegian Half Moon (Martin Kamperhaug) they had to get the job done with three. Their option to keep to the right didn’t do any good either. 



The Irish King One (team Patrick Boardman) built up a solid lead to stay ahead of Quokka (GBR – team Peter Rutter and Harmony (IRL team John Swan). Superhero (GBR – team Tony Stochek) was first over the start at the pin end, but still lost places.

For a while it looked like there would be a second series, but the wind fell like a block and the race was called off after a false start.


More to come in the following days.

Have a look! All the photos by Pit De Jonge HERE

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The Fast Lines Half Ton Classics Cup 22: countdown with numbers after the comma

Posted on August 9, 2022 by spuigatenblog
Half Moon Martin Kamperhaug (NOR)
The Norwegian Half Moon delivery team arrived last week already

With exactly twenty announced – and the rumors of even more unannounced – participants in this event, there are many other reasons to look forward to next weekend.

The Half Ton Class is very happy to be back in Cowes, courtesy of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The regatta program is finalized, with fine races that – perfectly according to the Half Ton Class spirit – will be very varied: for now, there are seven windward – leeward races, four round the cans and one round the island race on the program. It will depend on the circumstances how this turns out. 

Half Ton Clas - Halfajet (FRA)
Team Halfajet (FRA)

Even more in that spirit, it is impossible to predict who has a chance of winning this cup. The Irish teams are as strong and focused as ever. We don’t say anything about Swuzzlebubble, but that Checkmate XV (David Cullen) comes to defend her title is still telling.  Just like the French Halfajet (G+R Treussart) who comes with a crushing victory of four of the five races in the latest Tour du Finisterre.

Also, look out for Général Tapioca (Phil Pilate), Chimp (Roger Marino) and even Quokka 8 (Peter Rutter). There are more candidate winners; but the most important issue will be who will in the end will receive the Half Ton True Spirit Trophy.

The big unknown factor of course remains how much time one has been able to spend during the many lockdowns pimping the boat, (G+R Treussart). Team training and …applying the Mills recipes to the letter… 😊

That will all become clear as from Monday, August 15.

Fast Lines Half Ton Classics Cup 2022 – Cowes 14-19 AUG

Entry list: https://halftonclassicscup.com/entry-list/

Programme: https://halftonclassicscup.com/programme/

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/HalfTonClassEurope/

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