Those were the days, my friend

What had made the America’s Cup fascinating was that first moment off the start line between the Defender and Challenger. The teams had not yet met, and both had conspired to produce the fastest boat for the Match. But all that build-up, all the drama, all the secrecy has now been replaced by preliminary racing.

The heyday of the IOR handicap rule was faster moving but similar. As the rule evolved, new designs would be revealed each season, often at the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit – the premier midwinter offshore racing series in North America. Held from the late 1960s through 1980s, these were exciting times for the sport.

During that era was naval architect Ron Holland who introduced the pintail shape stern as his interpretation of the rule to help improve reaching speed without detracting from the upwind and running performance. Yacht designer and past Seahorse magazine editor Julian Everitt reflects on the times, past and present:

Holland successfully introduced this stern configuration on the 39ft Imp in 1977 and went on to develop it right across the size range from the winning World Champion quarter ton Manzanita to the all-conquering maxi duo of Kialoa and Condor. Signature shapes were a cornerstone of naval architecture from the 19th century but reached their zenith of individualism in the IOR era.

No such individualism exists today for the architect to explore as the handicap rules, used for ocean racing, have pretty much sanitized the optimum shape. We universally get bolt upright sterns and either upright bows or reverse bows – all seemingly copied from each other with the now, ‘essential’ chamfered forward deck edge! All very fast, but relative to what? The handicap, of course! Nothing changes there.

Fast is only ever fast (in results terms), relative to some kind of rating, or measurement system with the possible exception of boats designed to take on the all-out speed record around the world. And to add another dimension to outright speed, without rating, these record breakers are now foil born.