After going through a three-year refit, the brightly finished Quarter Tonner, PURPLE HAZE won the 14-boat Quarter Ton Cup last June and two days later went out and won the 555-boat IRC division in the Around the Isle of Wight race. Neither was an easy fete.
Built in 1978 PURPLE HAZE was designed by the renowned David Thomas. Tony Dodd has owned the boat for three years, during which time he has carried out an extensive refit, including new veneers over the entire hull. A varnished boat she is an amazing credit to their efforts and looked absolutely stunning on the water. Making her refit complete was full set of Tape-Drive sails.
The Quarter Ton Cup was revived after a nearly two decade hiatus brought on by the death of the IOR Rule. Designer Ron Holland presented the prizes for the regatta and spoke about the vital role that the Quarter Ton Class had played in the education of so many of today�s great yacht designers. He closed with the comment, �I couldn�t have done MIRABELLA (the largest sloop in the world) without the Quarter Ton Cup!�
The Quarter Ton Cup went right down to wire with PURPLE HAZE tied with SUPER Q at 11 points after six races over two days, which produced white-knuckle conditions. The final three races were sailed in a more sedate 6-12 knots.
�Thrashing 23-foot boats around in approaching 30 knots of breeze was terrific. We laid them on their sides, tipped them over and had great fun. It was a brilliant day�s sailing and you realize just how good Grand Prix rules are when the boats are so different in shape but finish only seconds apart after such tough racing,� said Peter Morton, skipper SUPER Q.
PURPLE HAZE revelled in the lighter airs and went on to win from Chris & Sue Flewitt�s OLIVIA ANNE VI and Roger & Liz Swinney�s AYANAMI, while SUPER Q finished 10th. A little bit of rig tweaking between races put SUPER Q back on track and she prevailed in a humdinger of a dog fight. A last race thriller did not materialize because PURPLE HAZE got a cracking start and sailed a textbook race to win both the race and the 2005 Quarter Ton Cup.
For Tony Dodd, winning the Gold Roman Bowl, the most prestigious trophy award amongst the 1692 boat in the Round the Island Race, was the absolute icing on the cake: �We were delighted to win the newly resurrected Quarter Ton Cup earlier in the week. We never imagined we�d do so well in the JPMorgan Asset Management Round the Island Race too.�
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