Cowes, UK - 10 June
2010 - The 2010 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup has a confirmed entry of 35 boats, the
largest revival Quarter Ton Fleet assembled in the event's six year history.
Sponsored by Coutts & Co the 2010 edition of this hugely popular
regatta runs from Monday 14 to Wednesday 16 June and will once again be hosted
by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club from its stunning waterside clubhouse in
Cowes.
The Quarter Ton Class has always attracted a loyal following and five of the
boats racing this year have taken part in all six of the revived Coutts Quarter
Ton Cups. Tony Dodd's Purple Haze,
the original prototype for the popular Bolero Class, is a stalwart of the
Quarter Tonners. Tony helped to
form the revived class and has done much to support and encourage existing and
new Quarter Ton owners to get involved.
Another boat without which the event simply wouldn't be complete is Paul Treliving's
Odd Job, which Liz Rushall will helm this year. Odd Job is one of the
most unusual and instantly recognisable boats in the fleet.
Designed by Stephen Jones in 1973 for yachting journalist the late
Jack Knights, Odd Job was one of the first boats to really exploit the IOR Rule
and she is as much of a head turner today as she was in 1973.
Also back for their sixth run at the Cup are Graydon Dawson's 1984 Ed Dubois
designed Diamond; the 1987 Boyd designed Murphy's Law which is now owned by
Barry Pimlott, Nick Holt and Tom Williams who will be making the trip to Cowes
from Blackpool and Fleetwood Yacht Club; and Ayanami, the very first production
boat in the popular Bolero Class, which is owned by Roger Swinney but will be
raced by her former owner Peter Dickson as Roger is racing his newly acquired
Innuendo, a 1986 McIlraith design .
Seven new boats will join the revived fleet for the first time this year
including Phoenix, a 1987 Rob Weguelin design, which has
been bought by Gurnard sailing legends John Welch, Campbell Fleming, Jo Manser and Tim Thompson. Having only recently got their
hands on the boat they will no doubt still be screwing bits onto her as they
arrive!
The other new boats to look out for are Hurley Burley, a 1979 Laurent Giles
designed GK24 owned by Julian Caddy; Bolero, Mike & Lisa Lewry's lovely
example of the classic 1981 David Thomas Bolero Class; QT, an Ecume de Mer
owned by Giles Redpath; Parisian Robert Gilles' 1981 L Cordelle designed Iota;
Pinguin Playboy, aTony Castro design owned by Pierre Paris from Le Havre and Cote, the beautiful Spanish boat now owned and recently
restored by Olly Ophaus and Darren Marston.
One of the best things about the revived Quarter Ton Class is the way
that it attracts not only the old guard of Quarter Ton sailors who remember the
boats from their heyday, but also a whole new breed of youngsters who have now
discovered the joys of Quarter Ton sailing. This year we will have some
great competition for the youth prize between Mark Lees and his team of 18 year
old match racers from Poole sailing the 1984 Peter Gimpel designed Panic, Jim
Webb's son Mike Webb sailing Flash Heart, an Ed Dubois designed Starflash , and
George Kenefick and his young crew from Cork aboard the recently purchased 1989
Faroux designed ASAP.
Going head to head against the youngsters will be more than a few sailing
legends. Already we know that Timmy Haines and Pete Allam will be sailing on
Phoenix; Stuart Childerley, Kelvin Rawlings and Johnny Newnham will be with
Peter Morton aboard Anchor Challenge; Ian Southworth and Led Pritchard will be
racing Catrina Southworth's Whiskers; and Dave Lenz will be racing with Cote.
Roy Dickson, at 78 years young one of New Zealand's greatest sailors, a
former One Ton Cup winner and father of that handy young sailor Chris Dickson,
is bringing a crew of Kiwis over to sail Ed Dubois' beautiful 1977 design
Enigma.
PRO Bob Milner will preside over three days of racing in the Central Solent on
a mix of windward/leeward and round the cans courses. There will be
social events each evening with the highlight being the traditional Coutts
Quarter Ton Cup Gala Dinner, which takes place on Tuesday evening with Roy Dickson
as the guest speaker.
For further information and a full entry list
for the 2010 Coutts Quarter Ton Cup please visit from
www.rcyc.co.uk or contact Jo
Chugg,Sailing Secretary, Royal Corinthian Yacht Club, The Parade, Cowes, Isle of
Wight, PO31 7QU, E-mail
[email protected], Tel +44 (0)1983
293581.
Members of the press wishing to attend the event or
receive reports and photographs should contact RCYC Press Officer Fiona Brown
on E-mail
[email protected] or Tel +44 (0)7711 718470.
