23 boats confirmed so far and target is to get to 28-30 for the Kinsale Yacht Club staging of the Half Ton Classic Cup this August. As no French boats are declared yet, it looks likely that the West Cork club will meet or exceed its target. Dowload the entry form and the Notice of Race below.
Ireland will field a strong team with Checkmate XV, Harmony, The Big Picture, King One all set for the trip from Dublin. Cork's George Radley will unleash his latest half tonner Cortegado.
Windsor Laudan and Stephanie Ennis’ stalwart Demelza will lead the Irish hopes for the production series which is open to all boats that were eligible to be half tonners and were production boats and the hope is more Shamrocks will join them.
On the international front, nthe news is that Swuzzlebubble has been bought in Cowes and is being ramped up to defend her title by a pro team. Nigel Biggs returns to the circuit with a newly optimised Checkmate XVIII (ex Dick Dastardly) that is currently receiving surgery. Paul Wayte from Swansea is also working up a refurb of a HB31 called Headhunter that is also being totally revamped so the fleet will be split in two between fully optimised half tonners and more original halfs. Paul Pullen’s Miss Whiplash also has some unfinished business and will definitely be vying for the title with her and some other Half–tonners coming over earlier in the summer to participate in some other Irish regattas.
The Half Ton Classic Cup series consist of daily races between Monday 14th August 2016 and Friday 18th August and will include a mix of both coastal and round–the–cans races.
Race Programme:
Sunday 13 August 15:00 Practice starts followed by practice race
Monday 14th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 2 other races following
Tuesday 15th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 2 other races following
Wednesday 16th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 2 other races following
Thursday 17th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 2 other races following
Friday 18th 11:00 First warning signal for 1st race of the day, 1 other race following