Classic Boat: between production designs and racing one-offs, here are 4 of your jewels

Your Classic Boats: 4 timeless jewels

There are boats and boats, and some, inevitably, tower above others. Among them, many

Classic Boats

, excellent projects and fundamental to the history of sailing. Innovative, top-notch in quality and performance, they are objects that deserve to remain in the memory, as so many of you have demonstrated by sharing with us, and with each other, your Classic Boats, enriching the page dedicated to them (which you find HERE), an online archive where anyone can enter, narrate, and see their Classic Boat celebrated (we explain it all HERE). So to give credit to these boats, here are some of the ones you told us about.

Do you have a Classic Boat to report? Are you a Classic Boat owner? Place it in our archive at
this link
! Entering your boat of historical value is super easy. Just enter data and description of the boat. The editors will publish it in a very short time.

Classic Boats. Flash – Farr 39

“Flash”(HERE), the first in the FARR series with the same name and owner, wanted by the famous German architect transplanted to Chicago Helmut Jahn and designed by the great Bruce Farr. Only 2 of these FARR 39 were built (Flash Gordon and Rush) by Cookson Boats in New Zealand in 1992. Since then he has given so much to sailing, having won numerous IMS regattas worldwide and having had, among others, Terry Hutchinson-the king of sailing in America-and Mauro Pelaschier at the helm at a Copa del Rey. From these two prototypes descends the highly successful Farr 40 series.

Mercutio – Comet 12

A cruising boat capable of running like few, this was the request put to Studio Vallicelli by the Comar shipyard. The study responds in kind, resulting in a design not only efficient in its intended use from fast cruising, but also excellent as a One Tonner in racing. The lines are clean, the hull marine and safe. But underneath the waterline all the studio’s experience in the racing world emerges, making the Comet 12 truly a great boat. Mercutio(HERE) is thus an excellent example of this, produced just 3 years after the first example was launched.

• What are Classic Boats
• What is the IOR (International Offshore Rule)
• All bets Classic Boat

Grand Soleil 343

Two years after the great success of the Grand Soleil 39, Cantiere del Pardo turns to the great Alain Jèzèquel for a new boat, a fast, high-end cruiser. Thus was born, in 1985, the Grand Soleil 343, a classically styled boat capable of being fast but also comfortable. One of the earliest examples of a boat of even 11 meters with the highest quality and design. You can find some examples in the archive dedicated to Your Classic Boats, including a 1988 example(HERE).

Classic Boats. Phantom – C&C 66

Built in Canada by Couberthson & Cassian in 1973, at 20.15 meters in length, 4.85 in width and 3.30 in draft, it was built using the innovative double-sandwich technique of balsa, fiberglass and Kevlar (the latter an innovative material for the time). It was the only 66-foot custom model (for an American shipowner who already had a 50-foot C&C) after the successful 61 series (Grampus – Helisara – Rainbow), already famous at that time. It had design choices that were very new for the period, such as the double wheelhouse, the single large aft cockpit, and the powerful sail plan with large Genoa overlap to which they were already adding stay sail in those years. Spinnakers are still famous for depicting the masked man, Phantomas precisely, a famous comic book character of that period. To learn more, find out the details HERE.

Three “tidbits” about Classic Boats

• Want to learn more about the world of Classic Boats (1967-1998), the iconic boats of the period, the legendary designers, the stories and races of the “golden age” of sailing? Check out our section dedicated to Classic Boats!
• Do you have a Classic Boat to sell? Put it (for free) on our classifieds market!
• Do you have a Classic Boat? Participate in the SAIL CUP with your boat. There is a special ranking for you! Find out which stage is right for you!