The One Ton Cup 1971

Film (Full Length) – 1972

Anyone

In 1969 Chris Bouzaid and his yacht Rainbow ll won the One Ton Cup (dubbed the "everyman's America's Cup"), and put New Zealand on the international yachting map. In February 1971 the five-race regatta began in the Hauraki Gulf. Bouzaid narrates this account of skippering his yacht Wai Aniwa, assessing the form of 17 rivals for the cup, including entries from Australia, Germany, Italy and Sweden. Australian yacht Stormy Petrel takes the first win while capricious winds and a disqualification make the second race controversial. The fourth race is conclusive, leaving the final race "a mere formality".

The series got underway in very strange conditions — constant and fresh easterlies had affected the pre-regatta preparation for most boats over the previous week, and even precluded any flotation and inclining measurement check. Incredibly, the wind finally ran out of puff just before the start of the first race, an Olympic course 26 miler, leaving light winds and a choppy left-over sea.
– Excerpt from a history of the 1971 One Ton Cup Challenge in the Hauraki Gulf, RB Sailing website, 8 March 2014