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Displaying items by tag: Paraic O’Maolriada

These days when nearly every event of sailing significance seems to require a wave of publicity beforehand and a veritable tidal wave of that same publicity when it’s under way, it’s like a breath of fresh air when people just go out and achieve a major voyage, and then quietly return with little or no fuss.

Admittedly when husband-and-wife crew Paraic O’Maolriada and Myra Reid (they’ve been married 49 years) got to the Galapagos Islands back in 2012 during their six-year circumnavigation from Kinsale with the Amel Super Maramu Saol Eile, they buffed up their Facebook page a bit. But it was only to keep a bit better in touch with friends who knew what they were about, and the theme of the entire exemplary cruise was quiet and competent voyaging to many places, some of them very exotic.

In fact, when you look at the places they’ve been, it’s remarkable that their toughest passage was southward across the Bay of Biscay at the very beginning of their 43,000 mile Odyssey. And when they returned to Kinsale on Saturday July 16th, it was for a quiet welcome home by family and friends. We hope they don’t think we’re going a bit over the top in making them “Sailors of the Month (Cruising)” for July 2016. But we reckon what they’ve done is utterly inspirational.

Published in Sailor of the Month

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. 

At A Glance – Half Ton Classics Cup Winners

  • 2017 – Kinsale – Swuzzlebubble – Phil Plumtree – Farr 1977
  • 2016 – Falmouth – Swuzzlebubble – Greg Peck – Farr 1977
  • 2015 – Nieuwport – Checkmate XV – David Cullen – Humphreys 1985
  • 2014 – St Quay Portrieux – Swuzzlebubble – Peter Morton – Farr 1977
  • 2013 – Boulogne – Checkmate XV – Nigel Biggs – Humphreys 1985
  • 2011 – Cowes – Chimp – Michael Kershaw – Berret 1978
  • 2009 – Nieuwpoort – Général Tapioca – Philippe Pilate – Berret 1978
  • 2007 – Dun Laoghaire – Henri-Lloyd Harmony – Nigel Biggs – Humphreys 1980~
  • 2005 – Dinard – Gingko – Patrick Lobrichon – Mauric 1968
  • 2003 – Nieuwpoort – Général Tapioca – Philippe Pilate – Berret 1978

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