Author: Catherine Carter

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“The ROOSTER has every right to crow!”

Gin & Tonics recommended!

The international Admiral’s Cup regatta was for many years known as the unofficial world championships of ocean racing. Held every other year off the south coast of England, the Admiral’s Cup was contested by teams of 3 racing yachts from each participating country.

The Admiral’s Cup consisted of four races with points awarded to boats based on placement: the Cross channel race, Brittania Cup and New York Yacht Club Challenge Cup. The final race, and the only one to award triple points, is one of the world’s most prestigious: the Fastnet, a 650 mile, four day ocean race with a course beginning in Cowes, England, rounding Fastnet Rock off the south coast of Ireland and then finishing in Plymouth, England.

In 1969, eleven countries fielded Admiral’s Cup teams. Selected for the US team was RED ROOSTER (with lifting keel), designed and skippered by Dick Carter; CARINA, a McCurdy & Rhodes design skippered by Dick Nye; and PALAWAN III, a Sparkman & Stephens design skippered by IBM CEO Tom Watson.

RED ROOSTER, the night before the final race, the grueling Fastnet. Cowes, Isle of Wight, 1969.

The Australian team had won the Admiral’s Cup in 1967 and looked to be heading for a repeat victory in 1969. But RED ROOSTER won the Fastnet in a fleet of 140 yachts. This enabled the US to win the Admiral’s Cup, an achievement not repeated until 1997. It was Dick Carter’s second victory in the Fastnet, having won it in 1965 with his very first design, the revolutionary RABBIT. And RED ROOSTER was the high point boat of the 1969 regatta.

Dick Carter (left) and Dick Nye receive the Admiral’s Cup trophy for the US.
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50th Anniversary of the Carter 30!

This past February 5th, the Russian Carter 30 Association celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Carter 30 yacht! There are more than 70 Carter 30s in the Moscow region. All except one were built by NAVIMOR in Szeczcin, Poland during the Soviet era. The Russian Carter 30 class has its own rules, regattas and a Russian Championship. Chapter 18 in Dick’s book traces the fascinating history of these yachts. Congratulations to all the Carter 30 owners worldwide!

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The Carter Yacht Registry is up and running!

We’re adding yachts every day and we hope you’ll add yours!

It’s easy! Click on “Registry” in the main menu above. On the Registry page, you’ll see the yacht information form to fill out. Don’t worry if you don’t know everything about your boat. You can even upload a photo! We’ll take it from there to add your boat.

“Chapeau” to J. P. Riou for taking the initiative to research and compile an enormous amount of data on Carter yachts!

Many years ago, Dick and his family cruised the Greek islands and Turkish coast on a white Carter 33. We sailed into the harbor of the ancient village of Knidos and moored for the night. Up on deck the next morning, we were astonished to see an identical white Carter 33 moored right near us!

Two Carter 33 yachts in Knidos, Datça peninsula, Turkey. Dick is standing on his family’s boat (right).
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LIVELY LADY II, the historic American TINA sister ship, is relaunched!

Huge congratulations are in order for owners Bill Hubbard and his son William on the major restoration of their TINA sister ship, LIVELY LADY II. What a classic beauty!! Dick is very appreciative of the Hubbard family’s decades’ long commitment to her upkeep.

LIVELY LADY II (ex-ANTELOPE) was actually Dick’s very first design in the United States. The original 1966 TINA was based out of the Netherlands while her American owners were temporarily living there.

And LIVELY LADY II is as fast as she is gorgeous: Bill and William Hubbard won the 2006 Bermuda Race with her and brought home…..10 trophies. That’s some serious hardware for a yacht built in 1969.

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“The Accidental Designer”: new article in Seahorse Magazine

“The birth of Dick Carter Yacht Designer has a fairy tale quality to it. Winning the world’s most renowned ocean race, the Fastnet, with your first design, RABBIT. Then, being commissioned, even before that win, to create a One Tonner, TINA, and winning the One Ton Cup. With your second commission, OPTIMIST, winning the One Ton Cup again. Twice.”

Thank you Julien Everitt and Seahorse!

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BENBOW: sleek and glamorous as ever

Thanks to the Yacht Club Italiano (YCI) for the recent photo of BENBOW tied up at their dock and looking very glamorous! BENBOW is the custom 65′ footer Dick designed in 1975 for the Italian industrialist Dr. Enrico Recchi. In the 1984 Giraglia, BENBOW set a course record which held for 14 years.