#rtir – A Cork based Quarter Tonner yacht will represent Irish hopes in Saturday's Round the Island Race. Jason Lostys Illes Pitiuses, a modified Farroux quarter ton, will compete in the Solent's Round the Island Race. The boat will be crewed by Cove Sailing club members from Cork Harbour and will also be a warm up for the Coutts Quarter Ton Cup which starts next Wednesday.
The Quarter Ton Class is a sailing class of the International Offshore Rule racing the Quarter Ton Cup between 1967 and 1996 and from 2005 until today.
The class is sailed by smaller keelboats of similar size and is likely the world's most-produced keelboat class.
The Ton, Half, Quarter, etc. 'classes' were each given a 'length' and yacht designers had almost free rein to work the hull shapes and measurements to achieve the best speed for that nominal length.
The Ton Rules produced cranky and tender boats without actual downwind speed. Measurement points created weird, almost square hull shapes with longish overhangs.
They were challenging to sail optimally and lost value very quickly as any new wrinkle (e.g. 'bustles') to take advantage of the rule made older boats very quickly uncompetitive.
Although its heyday was 30 years ago, the boat class continues to make its presence felt by holding its own in terms of popularity against some fern race fleets.
Ireland's Sailing and Boating Magazine
