Speed Sailing at Weymouth 1972
GALLERY | Click images to enlarge
Plenty of interesting boats in this short video from the wayback machine. Weymouth Harbour hosted this speed sailing regatta in 1972 that features some very early foilers and proas. CROSSBOW (designed by Rod Macalpine-Downie) lead the field with a new World Record speed of 26.3 knots.
At 0:45 we get a few seconds of an unnamed cruising proa. It appears to be an Atlantic type, sloop rigged. Does anyone have any more info on the mystery vessel?
Much thanks to Othmar K. for the submission.
Update 2/22/24: Paul’s sleuthing has accomplished both the name and the owner of the mystery proa. This was the 47’ Orca, designed and built by Michel Fortin, 23, for the singlehanded trans-Atlantic race, but was not completed in time. I’ve included the newspaper stories in the gallery above. My apologies for the poor formatting. Much thanks to Paul D. for solving the riddle!
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You asked, I answered.
According to contemporary newspaper coverage of the speed
sailing trials, the proa is the “Orca” by Frenchman Michel Fortin. It
was intended to be entered in that year’s OSTAR but hadn’t been
completed in time. The main hull - with accommodation for seven
- was 42 ft long, while the outrigger was 47 ft long.
Feel free to send my prize money to me. I accept all major
currencies, but not bitcoin. There are limits.