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Displaying items by tag: Women's Open Keelboat Championship

The Women's Open Keelboat Championship (WOKC) will be returning to Hamble for its 11th edition in June 2019.

This year the event hosted once again by Hamble River Sailing Club, is being held on the weekend of 1st & 2nd June 2019. The volunteer team which organises WOKC is delighted that Dubarry has agreed to return as title sponsor, having been a generous supporter of the championships since their inception in 2008 and having been the title sponsor for the last 7 events. Participants in the Dubarry Women’s Open Keelboat Championships will have the opportunity to win much admired Dubarry items, which will be available as prizes for class winners and in the overall Championship.

Long-standing supporter and competitor Laura Dillon from Howth Yacht Club commented, “I am delighted to be participating in another WOKC. Every year, this is a great event and I am really looking forward to the Magenta Project coaching on Friday, 31st May and WOKC on 1 and 2 June. WOKC continues to go from strength to strength both in terms of the number of boats, size of boats, number of ladies racing and the standard of the competition continues to increase, which is fantastic! I have participated for over 5 years now and I look forward to the regatta annually. Thanks so much to Dubarry for their continued support and hopefully we can continue to grow WOKC and encourage as many female sailors as possible to participate in 2019 and beyond!”

Entries open on Thursday 28th of March and early entry is advised to take advantage of the Earlybird booking fee of £75, available until 17:00 on Friday 17th May. After that date, the entry fee will increase to £95. Boat entry is available from HRSC either online or via the admin team on 02380 452070.

Published in Racing

#Racing - The UK Women's Open Keelboat Championship returns in 2015 after a year off, as The Daily Sail reports.

The event is again title-sponsored by Irish boat shoe specialists Dubarry – and that Irish connection continues in the form of 2013's champions, led by Howth Yacht Club's Laura Dillon.

It's not yet known if the same team will return to defend their title, but entries will open early next month for this September's championship at the Hamble River Sailing Club in Southampton, with racing scheduled for the earlier weekend of 30-31 May.

The Daily Sail has more on the story HERE.

Published in Racing

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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