150th America's Cup Regatta

Photos from the 150 America's Cup Jubilee Regatta

I have to start this page with a photo (top) of probably the most famous 12m of all, Australia II, which won the Cup from the Americans in 1983. The other photo is of Flica II, which I last saw when crewing on it in the Caribbean in the late 1970's

		Racing was split into several divisions, the super yachts, of which this was the largest, raced in their own class. Mia Cha is 146' long and for a time held the transatlantic West - East monohull record (somewhat slower than the multihull record though!)
Two shots of Velsheda, the man on the mainsail gives an idea of scale. Back in the early 1980's we had our catamaran moored next to Velsheda when it was being refitted
The start of the J Class and other vintage boats drew huge crowds, we managed to cross the start line on the gun, but going the other way!

I once heard of an owner who had to change his superyacht because he'd bought a bigger helicopter. Most of us couldn't even afford their water toys. We thought the 30' yacht on top of the powerboat looked fun though, but couldn't see how it was launched.
			The line of moored yachts stretched 4 deep for nearly 2 miles. Back in the late 1950's early 60's I remember seeing the 12m racing in Cowes Week, but haven't seen anything like this since, and probably won't again until 2051
The small yacht with the white spinnaker and 3M logo is the 50' Aqua Quorum, Pete Goss' famous boat. Gives an idea of the size of some of the other boats!

	Biggest sloop in the world is Georgia, above left, with a 200' mast. She wasn't racing, but still came up the Solent at a steady 15 knots, the boat she's overtaking is a Dufour 35'. Accidents were bound to happen with so many boats sailing in a strong tide, the "small" boat in this collision is the 60' War Baby

Photos from the 150 America's Cup Jubilee Regatta