Fingal's Hot Half Tonners Make Hay In The Solent

19th August 2022

Slicing up the Solent: Jonny Swan's Harmony and Dave Cullen's Checkmate (both from Howth) battling it out for top honours in the current International Half Ton Cup at Cowes

onny Swan's Harmony and Dave Cullen's Checkmate (both from Howth) battling it out for top honours in the current International Half Ton Cup at Cowes Credit: RORC/Christian Beasley

The three top Fingal-based classic Half Tonners - Patrick Boardman's King One from Rush, and Harmony (Jonny Swan) and Checkmate XV (Dave Cullen) from Howth - are having themselves a rare old time in the
17-strong fleet in the RORC's Half Ton Cup series in the Solent this week, dicing among themselves for the three top places as though they were in a race round Lambay.

As of this morning (Friday), King One holds first place with Harmony second and Checkmate XV third on what is longtime Half Ton stalwart Dave Cullen's last hurrah as owner, while Cork's Swuzzlebubble (David & James Dwyer) is in tenth. Even with the intense level of cut-throat competition, it now seems likely that the main prize will be coming home north of the Liffey in due course.

RORC's Half Ton Cup series in the Solent

Published in Half Tonners

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Half Tonners

About The Author

WM Nixon

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William M Nixon has been writing about sailing in Ireland for many years in print and online, and his work has appeared internationally in magazines and books. His own experience ranges from club sailing to international offshore events, and he has cruised extensively under sail, often in his own boats which have ranged in size from an 11ft dinghy to a 35ft cruiser-racer. He has also been involved in the administration of several sailing organisations.

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The Half Ton Class was created by the Offshore Racing Council for boats within the racing band not exceeding 22'-0". The ORC decided that the rule should "....permit the development of seaworthy offshore racing yachts...The Council will endeavour to protect the majority of the existing IOR fleet from rapid obsolescence caused by ....developments which produce increased performance without corresponding changes in ratings..."

When first introduced the IOR rule was perfectly adequate for rating boats in existence at that time. However yacht designers naturally examined the rule to seize upon any advantage they could find, the most noticeable of which has been a reduction in displacement and a return to fractional rigs.

After 1993, when the IOR Mk.III rule reached it termination due to lack of people building new boats, the rule was replaced by the CHS (Channel) Handicap system which in turn developed into the IRC system now used.

The IRC handicap system operates by a secret formula which tries to develop boats which are 'Cruising type' of relatively heavy boats with good internal accommodation. It tends to penalise boats with excessive stability or excessive sail area.

Competitions

The most significant events for the Half Ton Class has been the annual Half Ton Cup which was sailed under the IOR rules until 1993. More recently this has been replaced with the Half Ton Classics Cup. The venue of the event moved from continent to continent with over-representation on French or British ports. In later years the event is held biennially. Initially, it was proposed to hold events in Ireland, Britain and France by rotation. However, it was the Belgians who took the ball and ran with it. The Class is now managed from Belgium.