Tina, Dick Carter's second radical yacht, winner of the second One Ton Cup in 1966, is ready for restoration. This iconic IOR design became available following the death of Donegal-born Irishman Garrard Maguire. The latter had bought it on eBay from an American owner and had it shipped across the Atlantic with the intention of restoring it to its former glory. Dick, informed of the situation, rushed to save the hull from the clutches of the scrap dealer, organizing the transfer of the steel hull, built by Frans Mass, to dry storage at IJmuiden, near Amsterdam.
Empirical naval architecture
The One Ton Cup marked the beginning of a new era in yacht design. Until then, ocean-racing yachts had all been fitted with long, full-length keels, and no one knew what the optimum balance of length, displacement and sail area was for the 22-foot fixed measurement set for the One Ton Cup. The 1966 event in Copenhagen was to represent a quantum leap in design and competition. Boat-to-boat racing had energized the design world, so much so that yacht designers now competed directly against each other on new constructions, transforming the event into a true yacht design competition.
Tina, winner on her first outing
Tina was commissioned by Ed Stettinius, then director of US Shipping Lines and son of the Secretary of State under President Roosevelt. It was Dick Carter's second project, after Rabbit, winner of the Fastnet Race in 1965. Like Rabbit, it was built in steel at the Frans Maas yard in Holland, with a separate fin and a rudder suspended from the centerboard. Driven by Dick, Tina won the series hands down, thanks as much to her innovative design as to her crew. Its greater aft displacement enabled it to cut through the sea better than contemporary yachts, which tended to float. Its wider stern also made it fast downwind.
Dick Carter falls in love with this innovative plan
Dick Carter remembers: " While writing my book "Dick Carter - Yacht Designer", I was haunted by a description of Tina and her "exceptional movement" in the waves, as described by French journalists of the time. I tried to explain, and finally realized that by increasing the aft displacement, as the bow lifted to cross the waves, this additional displacement prevented her from crossing the wave, slowing her progress."
"The other big revelation I acquired only a few months ago was that by increasing the aft displacement, I was lengthening the displacement curve. This meant that the boat would sail faster on the beam. I knew all this from the One Ton Cup races in Denmark, but it's only now that I can explain why Tina was so fast. "
Architecture: a bold choice of width and wine glass sections
Tina's profile is based on a wide hull with sections inspired by the 5.50 JI. This choice favors stability of shape and fluid behavior in heavy seas. The slender bow, combined with a very full stern, generates a high prismatic coefficient and a low centerline. This design contributes to effective damping in waves, a key factor in long-distance ocean racing.
Upwind performance: draft and trailing edge flap
To improve upwind performance, Carter increases the draft to the maximum allowed and modifies the aileron with a flap adjustable from the cockpit. The aim is to optimize lift without inducing excessive drag. This innovation imposes a demanding steering mode, with a separate rudder designed to remain perfectly on axis, to the benefit of the helmsman's endurance.
Wing plan: priority to effort reduction
With a short mainsail and a highly developed fore-triangle, Dick Carter opted for an unusual sail distribution for the time (later widely copied). This configuration, combined with a lightened and reinforced mast designed by John Powell (Sparlight), optimized aerodynamic efficiency and facilitated maneuvering.
Materials and gauges: steel as a strategic asset
Contrary to some critics, steel does not confer any undue advantage with the RORC gauge. The gain comes from the calculation of the mass-related construction bonus, not from the material itself. Tina has a 34% ballast-to-displacement ratio, well below the standards of the time. Dick Carter's idea was to focus on form stiffness rather than lead mass, with convincing results.
Conclusion
The renovation of Tina, Carter's first design (successfully) to win the One Ton Cup, is a reminder of how the quest for pure speed, combined with a rational approach to architecture, can still fuel the thinking of today's sailors and architects. By revisiting these design choices, the restoration of such yachts could well inspire a new generation of high-performance cruisers, suited to long ocean voyages.
