Red Funnel Quarter Ton Cup - Overall

PURPLE HAZE WINS RED FUNNEL QUARTER TON CUP 2005

It went right down to wire at the Red Funnel Quarter Ton Cup 2005 in Cowes today where the day dawned with a light southwesterly wind that slowly built from around 6 to 12 knots giving the teams incredibly tight racing and a welcome respite from the white-knuckle rides of the first two days. Overnight Purple Haze skippered by Tony Dodd and Super Q skippered by Peter Morton had jointly lead the regatta on 11 points whilst behind them third and fourth were also tied between Graydon Dawson's Diamond and Laurent Beaurin's 45 South.

Last night the Royal Corinthian YC hosted the Red Funnel Quarter Ton Cup dinner for competitors and others interested in the class. Among the special guests attending were Quarter Ton Cup Patron Bob Fisher, who regailed diners with tales of the great Quarter Ton Cups of the 1970s, designers Stephen Jones and David Thomas and Quarter Ton sailors Harold Cudmore and Howard Sellars. Ron Holland presented the prizes and also spoke about the vital role that the Quarter Ton Class had played in the education of so many of today's great yacht designers, closing with the comment "I couldn?t have done Mirabella without the Quarter Ton Cup!".

In the first race of the morning Super Q seemed to have trouble changing gear to the lighter conditions. The boat has never been a great pointer but she lacked speed as well and after a mediocre start failed to trouble the front of the fleet finishing a disappointing tenth, their worst result of the regatta. Purple Haze on the other hand seemed to revel in the lighter airs and went on to win from Chris & Sue Flewitt's Olivia Anne VI and Roger & Liz Swinney's Ayanami. Diamond took fourth with 45 South fifth.

A little bit of rig tweaking between races put Super Q back on track with both height and speed. Battle with Purple Haze commenced as the gun went and a humdinger of a dog fight ensued up the second beat as Super Q fought to keep Purple Haze behind her. At the finish it was Super Q by 32 seconds from Diamond with Purple Haze third. 45 South meanwhile had to return at the start and was only able to pull back to eleventh, which she promptly discarded. We were now all set for a thrilling last race in which Super Q needed to beat Purple Haze by two places to win and third was now between Diamond, 45 South and Tom Richardson's Needlework.

Super Q's bowman, Jamie Boag, was unable to do the last race because of work commitments and as they came alongside the RIB to swop crews skipper Peter Morton saw Ron Holland (whose Manzanita had lost her rig on day one) in the boat. Despite the importance of the last race and in a gesture that perfectly sums up the generous spirit of this very special regatta not only did Peter invite Ron to join Super Q for the race but he also offered him the helm. Ron lept at the chance and spectators had the double entertainment of watching Ron Holland race a Bruce Farr designed boat while Peter Morton did the bow on a Quarter Tonner!

Unfortunately Super Q mistimed their start, were forced to spin out at the pin and then had to cross the entire fleet's transoms on port. Despite some canny sailing they were only able to gat back up to third. Purple Haze meanwhile got a cracking start and sailed a textbook race to win both the race and the 2005 Quarter Ton Cup. Needlework took second place which was just enough to move them up to fourth overall while Diamond's fourth allowed them to hang onto fourth overall. The fantastically enthusiastic French team aboard 45 South took seventh in the race and fifth overall.

Purple Haze and her crew of Tony Dodd, Jim & George Webb, Tim Reese and Derek Morland are worthy winners of this revived Red Funnel Quarter Ton Cup. They spent three long years lovingly and painstakingly rebuilding Purple Haze, investing much money along the way. A varnished boat she is an amazing credit to their efforts and has not only won the Quarter Ton Cup but also the Concourse de Elegance trophy as well.

Although disappointed not to win Peter and his crew were thrilled to be able to sail the final race with Ron Holland. "It was an honour for us all to sail with Ron." commented Super Q?s trimmer Darren Marston after sailing.

The regatta has been a huge success and by popluar demand the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club has agreed to host the event again in 2006 whilst for 2007 Laurent Beaurin of 45 South offered to host the regatta in La Trinite.

Full results are available at www.rcyc.co.uk