"Raki" wins the first Half Ton Cup

Late August 1966, in the sheltered waters between La Rochelle and the islands of Ré and Oléron. Nine small cruisers are entered for a brand-new event: the Coupe Internationale Atlantique for 18-footers. Seven will make the start. The English are already calling it the "Half Ton Cup". After three races, two Armagnacs designed by Philippe Harlé finish level on points, at the end of a remarkable duel.

A cup for 18-footers

La Rochelle has barely finished its International Week when the Société des Régates Rochelaises, together with the Cercle de la Voile de Paris, goes again. The idea is simple and borrowed from the One Ton Cup: race cruising yachts measured under the RORC rule boat-for-boat, with no handicap and no corrected time. But where the One Ton Cup calls for 22-foot-rated Class III boats, often ruinously expensive, the new cup is for Class IV: an 18-foot rating, under 7.32 m on the waterline. First across the line wins. Everyone understands.

Ostend on the line

Nine boats are entered, from six clubs: the Société des Régates Rochelaises, the Cercle de la Voile de Paris, the Société Nautique de la Trinité, the Société des Régates de Royan, the Centre Nautique de Saint-Nazaire… and the North Sea Yacht Club of Ostend. Two miss the start: one is weather-bound in Paimpol, the other cannot find a crew. Seven, then, on the line.

First to catch the eye are two Armagnacs, designed by Philippe Harlé and built in double-chine plywood by the Arié-Vernazza yard. Raki belongs to a La Rochelle doctor, Dr Montaubin; aboard Iskra II, Harlé himself is sailing, with René Sencé.

Georges Auzépy-Brenneur fields two very different designs: Atlante, in GRP, beautifully finished, and Ombrine, in plywood, whose mainsail carries the emblem of the GCL. Capella, drawn by the Dutchman Frans Maas, is a seven-ply moulded-wood boat, powerful and elegant; she belongs to the Vanek family, and Maas has come from Breskens to helm her. Drakkar comes from the SOPA yard in La Rochelle, developed from the Sanderling. And Woops, an Elizabethan 29 designed by the Englishman Kim Holman, flies the colours of Ostend: her owner is Wauquiez, with Houbard at the helm.

30 August · First race inshore

The start is at 8.15 am, on starboard tack, in a light west-south-westerly, force 2. The course links the Pointe de Chef de Baie, the Chauveau buoy and the Île d'Aix. Both Armagnacs choose to point high and lay Chauveau, while their rivals have to tack to reach it. The gamble pays: Iskra II is first across the line at 12:08:04; Raki follows 1 minute 38 seconds later.

31 August · 150 miles offshore

The next day, the offshore race: 150 miles out to the Rochebonne bank and back. The start is at 9 am in a west-north-westerly of force 4 to 5, with a short sea and squalls closing down the visibility. Two seconds after the gun, Raki is on the line. Off Chauveau the waves reach two metres. Woops retires, her sails not drawing well; on Ombrine a crewman dislocates a knee and a spinnaker is torn to shreds: she heads home.

The leading group bears away too far and finds itself four miles below the BXA buoy. Iskra is the first to notice and climbs back up. But it is Raki who makes the difference: pinpoint navigation puts her right on the south-east buoy of the Rochebonne bank, while Atlante, too far out to sea, sails almost all the way round the bank. Raki crosses the line at 15:18:02, 38 minutes and 3 seconds ahead of Iskra II.

3 September · The duel

The final race, thirty miles: Pointe de Chef de Baie, the Lavardin beacon, the Rocha buoy, the Aiguillon buoy. Atlante is first round the Lavardin, but the Armagnacs never let go. At the finish, Iskra II wins by 69 seconds from Raki: 14:13:43 against 14:14:52.

The two Armagnacs have shared the wins: two for Iskra II inshore, one for Raki offshore. Overall they are level on points, 28.5 each. The rules have foreseen it: the better place in the offshore race breaks the tie. Raki wins the Coupe Internationale Atlantique, the "Lord Granard Cup". On the quay, the crews of Raki and Iskra II throw Philippe Harlé into the water. He comes out delighted.

What La Rochelle learned

Boat-for-boat racing is a hit: no calculations, no arguments, first home wins. Above all, victory goes to real cruisers, comfortable and roomy. Plywood Armagnacs, a moulded-wood Capella, GRP hulls: boats you can take cruising have held their own on the race course. Some are already worried, though: will we see "machines" built only for the cup, expensive and useless for cruising?

Raki being from La Rochelle, the cup stays in La Rochelle. Frans Maas promises to return to defend the Dutch colours; the English, the Spanish and the Scandinavians are expected. The date is set for the 1967 "Half Ton Cup".

The competitors

Technical sheets

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1st and 2ndWinner

Armagnac

Raki · Iskra II

Designer

Philippe Harlé

Construction

Plywood, double chine

Length overall

8.00 m

Waterline

6.65 m

Beam

2.67 m

Draught

1.32 m

Displacement

2 t

Ballast

Cast iron, 940 kg

Sail area (with genoa)

36.55 m²

3rd

Capella

Capella

Designer

Frans Maas

Construction

Moulded wood, seven 3 mm plies

Length overall

8.80 m

Waterline

6.50 m

Beam

2.60 m

Draught

1.65 m

Displacement

3,200 kg

Ballast

Cast iron, 1,700 kg

Sail area (with genoa)

39.7 m²

4th

Atlante

Atlante

Designer

Georges Auzépy-Brenneur

Construction

Moulded GRP

Length overall

8.47 m

Waterline

6.40 m

Beam

2.45 m

Draught

1.30 m

Displacement

2.5 t (loaded)

Ballast

Cast iron, 1,050 kg

Sail area (with genoa)

35.77 m²

DrakkarPlan not published

5th

Drakkar

Drakkar

Designer

S.O.P.A.

Construction

Moulded GRP

Length overall

9.00 m

Waterline

5.90 m

Beam

2.52 m

Draught

1.36 m

Displacement

2 t

Ballast

900 kg

Sail area (with genoa)

30 m²

6th

Ombrine

Ombrine

Designer

Georges Auzépy-Brenneur

Construction

Plywood, double chine

Length overall

8.77 m

Waterline

6.60 m

Beam

2.74 m

Draught

1.35 m

Displacement

2 t

Ballast

1 t

Sail area (with genoa)

33 m²

7th

Elizabethan 29

Woops · N.S.Y.C. Ostend

Designer

Kim Holman

Construction

Moulded GRP

Length overall

8.84 m

Waterline

6.10 m

Beam

2.32 m

Draught

1.30 m

Displacement

2,850 kg

Ballast

900 kg

Sail area (with genoa)

33.1 m²

Overall results

Raki and Iskra II, level on points, are separated by the offshore race.