Comet 12 | History of your Classic Boats
Over 200 of you have now sent us stories and images of your Classic Boats, enriching theonline archive dedicated to them and making so many of these great designs of the last century available to all. May as many follow you! Now, after recounting dozens of them through your words and descriptions, we have also come to a good dose of episodes in this new in-depth series, another expedient to celebrate these sailing classics to the fullest.
Now, inspired by the
Mercutio
by G. Gullotta, after the
Ziggurat 916
by Vallicelli, it is the turn of another great success of the master, the Comet 12, the studio’s first design for Comar shipyards.
Comet 12 | Origins
The early 1980s were the years of the Vallicelli studio’s enormous success, bolstered by the repeated successes of the Brava and the Italian challenge to the 1983 America’s Cup, with Azzurra our standard-bearer. And, in the very year of that memorable America’s Cup won by the Australians, the Comet 12 was born, a huge commercial success produced in over 200 examples within a decade.
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She was born as a cruising boat, in line with IOR standards as far as the hull is concerned, but complete with everything needed to fully enjoy cruising, with two aft double cabins complete with bathroom, large dinette with sofas and table, and forward cabin with V berth. Overall, a textbook cruiser. Yet it runs like a train, even more so in its sail plan and racing drift version. In 1987 a restyling was done, Comet 420 CL and 420 ST were born, basically, Comet 12 updated to new market trends.
Comet 12 | Project
Forgetting the comfortable interior and shifting the focus below the waterline, the racing imprinting given to the design immediately emerges. The maximum beam, in keeping with the IOR trend, is particularly generous, with a somewhat vertical foredeck and the aft cross sections more rounded, smoothly connected to the wide transom.
Adding to these volumes is a typical racing drift plane, strong with an elliptical bulb and rudder blade, the latter without a skeg, to minimize any kind of induced turbulence. The efficiency coefficient of the hull is therefore designed to perform at its best, with an excellent balance between wetted surface area, waterline length and width, generating a boat that is deeply buoyant, but still fast and stable in the carriers.
The deck plan includes a classic cockpit behind the deckhouse, with the running rigging deferred on the fairleads and the fixed rigging on the sides of the companionway. The deckhouse is low, strong with the typical studio conical section, and features several skylights to ventilate and illuminate the interior. The transom is wide, deep, “slide” to the water.
Comet 12 | Data Sheet
| Designer | Andrea Vallicelli |
| Length Over All (LOA) | 12.63 m |
| Length at Waterline (LWL) | 10.75 |
| Baglio Massimo | 3.9 m |
| Dive | 2.10 |
| Displacement | 7.5 t |
| Sail Area | 95.7 square meters |
| Weapon | Sloop |
| Project year | 1983 |
| Cabins | 3* |
| Construction site | Comar |
* In the version named Comet 420 ST, there are only two cabins, with the two stern cabins replaced by one large owner’s cabin
- You might also be interested in:
Storia delle Vostre Classic Boat: Genesi (43), lo spartiacque nella crociera sportiva
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!
