Early Australian C Class cats

[Gary Baigent]

Discovered these old prints while sorting through my back shed collection looking for stuff on Des Townson designs for a forthcoming biography researched by Brian Peet - whose father John Peet was the instigator of the Young designed 12 foot Kitty cats in NZ, raced in the 12 foot Q Class, won it easily and was immediately banned from competition.
Anyway these Australian prints were handed to me years ago by John Glennie, famous or infamous owner of the tri Rose Noelle, which they lived on for four months inverted.
Silver Raven (and others) might be interested in the shots of Lock Crowther's C Class Helios with its large sectioned full wing, also Red Roo and Nylex. Cheers.

[Gary Baigent]

A few more of Panther, Helios, Nylex

[Doug Lord]

Great stuff-thanks!

[CatBuilder]

Seriously. Thank you very much for these pictures!

[old dog]

Where is the madman now?

[teamvmg]

That sort of kit will never catch on!

[pogo]

I always wondered when i saw picures of Red Roo---she had skegs.

pogo

[trimaraner]

Last heard of john glennie in british columbia living an alternate life style. However he has been in touch with the outrig project and has recorded an audio with jim brown about rose noelles capsize and some of he and davids early adventures sailing the pacific and the west coast of america in the old piver 35 Trimaran highlight. google outrig

[trimaraner]

Gary Baigent. I remember seeing Helios in Lockys back yard in Frenches forest when it was being built and he and John Hitch were building my Kraken 40 under someones house!
In those days Charlie Cunningham was still involved with seacraft at mordialloc Victoria where Jock Sturrocks all fibreglass keeler was built. Probably the first all glass yacht in Oz or close to it. Thanks for the pics. A real blast from the past.

[Gary Baigent]

Somewhere I've got a couple of prints of the very first hard wing C Class, Coyote from the US, which predated Nylex and if I remember correctly, set a new, and in those times, unbelievably fast triangle course record during a windy series in ... Texas? There's a shot of the hulls and wing parked beside a swimming pool. I'll continue searching

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Gary Baigent

Somewhere I've got a couple of prints of the very first hard wing C Class, Coyote from the US,

There was a wingsail 18 square meter called Coyote. Is that the boat you are thinking of? I thought it was later than the early C Class wing boats.

[Gary Baigent]

No, the18m2 was later, Paul, this C Class Coyote had a completely hard wing, no flaps: Steve Hansen, was he the owner? - I'm still searching for the print. There was a Chiodi (sp) Multihulls issue way back (when they printed on horrible stippled paper) with shots of the C sailing very fast in hard winds, wind pressing so the wing construction was showing like a starved dog's rib cage. The print I can't find was given to me by an American boatbuilder who worked for a short tme for Malcolm Tennant and he was involved in the building or crewing or support of Coyote C Class. Nylex was the first hard wing C Class in the LACC, but Coyote was earlier, entered in US racing but not the Cup. Think that is correct.

[Paul B]

Originally Posted by Gary Baigent

No, the18m2 was later,

Got it.

[Doug Halsey]

Here's a link with a photo of Coyote II from 1975: http://www.katiekat.net/JoeSail/Phot...eBerkeley.html

[Gary Baigent]

Thanks Doug. It appears that Coyote 11 (July '74) has a solid wing, no flaps, whereas the other later versions, do. I'm thinking back even earlier, I guess, the Coyote original no. 1. Still haven't found the photographs.