The last time the Admiral’s Cup was run under IOR was in 1993 when Germany took its third victory in the history of the series, this time winning by just 0.25pt from runners-up Italy. The T-bone of Dutch 50-footer Promotion by Italy’s own 50 Mandrake was not the only major drama in the series; as IOR yachts hit maximum build-refinement they also reached maximum fragility. Harold Cudmore’s One Tonner Jameson sank in the first inshore race after tapping Christchurch Ledge just hard enough to remove the entire keel, while the rest of the One Tonners each had their own ‘moments’ with a top mark laid a little too close to the beach… In IOR’s final days it was thus no great surprise when the editor onboard the Japanese entry Nippon watched the bottom half of the keel of the UK One Tonner float past him. All wood, you see…
One may of course argue that the bigger boats do this anyway, and so in this case the 45-53 footers. But clearly, if aiming for a good number of teams (personally I would be disappointed to see fewer than 15 teams representing at least 10 countries), it takes some spread of boat sizes to achieve this.
I support the spread presented, around 40 and 50ft – no wild adventures so guaranteeing ample candidates. Also, ‘too much spread can kill you’, boats racing in completely different conditions and the fast ones spending more time waiting for the slow ones than actually racing.
I guess we will see a majority of the fleet zooming in on maximum LH (hull length) in either class? Potentially being the fastest boat is often seen as a good thing, but with about half the points being scored in offshore races it might not pan out this way. Still, given the choice I guess nearly two-thirds of both classes will end up at max LH. Which in itself can be good reason to go in the opposite direction, small can be beautiful.
Say the NoR is released this summer, will we see new builds in 2024-25, designed specifically for the 2025 Admiral’s Cup? I guess we will, but it won’t be easy to get those designs right as it is a very long time since mixed race format events were popular at the highest level.
If anything we saw the opposite trend over the past decades, so boats only racing inshore races or even more specific windward- leeward races and other boats optimised to go offshore. And it is not that the Solent and Channel conditions are easy to predict. Sure there will be some reaching…
Possibly it could be good to restrict boat eligibility to monohull boats with fixed appendages, so not allow canting keels and certainly not (semi) flying boats? And ban powered winches, rams etc? Not that I do not like these developments but to get the fairest racing it is wise to box boats and equipment in a bit, so the teams ‘box with gloves of similar weight’?
Berth the boats together in Cowes, get fully sorted on equipment checks before and during the event. Do not allow crew changes other than for good reason, which of course would not be that it is going to be a light or a windy day. Weigh the crew once, three days or so before the first race, and then let them run free. Also reduce the IRC crew weight limit by 5kg for each crew who is not a female nor under 27… Or something similar to promote diversity. And by 25kg if the genuine owner is not on the boat. Finally, presuming teams will represent their country and given the teams are two boats only, I would not be against allowing three teams to enter per country and maybe set the overall limit for the UK at five, instead of allowing boats to enter for Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and England; also a disincentive for others to come up with similar ‘constructions’ or sailing under flags they have no relation with.
The alternative of course being club teams but that would take out some ‘promotional spice’. Possibly it is wise to set a maximum number of boats that can enter, such as 50, to have starts that are manageable. Sixteen countries would then at max produce 50 boats, taking up their full quota.
Both would be a miracle of course. Give the number of countries priority over the number of teams per country – I do not expect more than 16 countries and certainly not that each then uses up its full quota of teams. But who would want to miss this party?!?! No panic, the NoR is an invitation to join that can be amended. Keep us informed, RORC!
Rob Weiland, TP52 class manager SEAHORSE 39 Visuel_Swivel
locks_Seahorse_90_270.indd 1 08/02/2023 09:34:22
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