Three of your IOR classics, little gems to celebrate

Classic IOR: Celebrating the great icons of sailing

The goal is to enter these boats into our Classic Boat by Journal of Sailing “registry” (we explain how to do it HERE). BEWARE, however, putting them on the registry does not only mean census them, it also means valuing all those boats that have a history and a pedigree that allows us to highlight their real historical value-exactly as happens in the world of cars and real estate-to give them back the status they really deserve, and thus their true value. We will take the opportunity not only to create a large archive of them accessible to all, but also to tell and share them as best we can, so that the IOR, in its own way, can partly survive, regaining the status it deserves and enabling us, and you, to see these boats at sea again, and why not, maybe even racing…

• ENTERING A CLASSIC IOR INTO THE CLASSIC BOAT ARCHIVE IS SUPER EASY: CLICK HERE AND ENTER THE BOAT . ALWAYS HERE, ALSO FIND ALL YOUR CLASSIC BOATS ALREADY SURVEYED

Classic IOR: not only unique pieces.

Made between the late 1960s and early 1990s, IOR hulls are often identified through big names and big palmares. Mind you, however, the IOR was not only composed of ad hoc, one-of-a-kind hulls. Of course, legends like Hydra, like Brava, like Moby Dick or like Mascalzone Latino, to name a few, were nothing but that, exceptional, huge and brilliant projects. But the IOR was, and we would not like to forget this, also composed of small series, or series hulls directly, equipped to race and strong with great crews. These also populated the IOR and, some, equally managed to reach the highest heights. They, too, are of interest to us.

FAST TANGO | Morgan Yachts (NA40)

Morgan Yachts, North American 40; 1978; 12.11 x 3.82 m; Dick Carter We seldom talk about the great overseas designs, yet they are there.
Among them, designed by the great Dick Carter, is the North American 40, built in 45 examples by Morgan Yachts.
Launched in 1978, Fast Tango le is the fourth unit, in the current owner’s possession since 2008.
A great racer since her early days, she still races in American waters today, finishing not bad, with a 1st place overall in the 2011 Chicago YC Race to Mackinac and a 1st place overall in the 2023 Bayview YC Mackinac.

ROBY | Chantier Gouteron

Chantier Gouteron; 1974; 9.60 x 3.14 m; Paul Elvstrøm With the Roby we are looking at a peculiar prototype, designed by Paul Elvstrøm and built by Chantier Gouteron in 1974.
This is an Elvstrøm 1/2 Ton, i.e., a prototype Half Tonner IOR with a design that is not a little unusual.
Just look at the cockpit, or rather the two cockpits, based on the one-off Bes, Half Tonner winner of the 1972 Half Ton Cup.

MULBERRY | Cec Quilky (AUS)

Cec Quilky (AUS); 1974; 9.14 x 3.33 m; Ron Swanson From Australia’s Mulberry, a small (9.14 m) Swanson 30, one of just 7 built, a micro-series of extremely competitive half-tonners. Designed by legendary Australian designer Ron Swanson, Mulberry has in fact participated in no fewer than six Sidney-Hobart, six Melbourne-Devonport and one Melbourne-Hobart via the west coast of Tasmania. And it still races now, even winning, underscoring how, all things considered, age and size don’t matter that much when the hull is an exceptional piece.

• ENTERING A CLASSIC IOR INTO THE CLASSIC BOAT ARCHIVE IS SUPER EASY: CLICK HERE AND ENTER THE BOAT . ALWAYS HERE, ALSO FIND ALL YOUR CLASSIC BOATS ALREADY SURVEYED