Tag: Dick Carter

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The Régate Dick Carter Cup in France!

Next month! August 10th and 11th in the beautiful port of La Trinité-sur-Mer in southern Brittany! A year ago, our good friend and Carter 37 owner Philippe Jacques-Roux came up with the idea for a Dick Carter Cup regatta to celebrate this year’s 50th anniversary of YDRA and the Carter 37. The regatta was then expanded to include all Carter yachts, custom and production!

Dick is very much looking forward to attending! On Friday, August 10, all the Carter yachts will assemble at 15h00 in the port for photos, videos and celebrations!

At 18h00 in the Mairie de la Trinité-sur-Mer, Dick will give his first talk in France: “the French Connection”. A renowned French explorer played a crucial role in Dick’s decision to design a yacht of his own. If he hadn’t met this explorer, there would have been no RABBIT, no TINA, no RED ROOSTER. No OPTIMIST, no VENDREDI 13, no YDRA, no BENBOW. No Carter 25, 33, 37, 39, 40, NA40, 42, Ragtime, Southerly, Luna. Rien de tout! The talk will be open to all attendees and the French press. There will be opportunities to ask Dick questions, have photos taken and do more celebrating!

On Friday, August 11, there will be a race for the inaugural Dick Carter Cup trophy.

Dick is extremely grateful to Philippe, who has worked hard for many months to organize every single aspect of the event. The event will be hosted by Philippe, l’Association Passe-Coque, le Yacht Club de France, la Société nautique de la Trinité-sur-Mer, les “Amis de Dick Carter” et Jimmy Pahun, député du Morbihan. Dick is very appreciative of all their contributions in making this such a special occasion. He can’t wait! We hope to see you there! Vive la France!!

A French Carter 33 greets the SS France, a French ocean liner, la Côte d’Azur.
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RABBIT looks bellissima!!

Grazie to Francesco and Mietta Gandolfi for the stunning new photos of their yacht RABBIT racing off Italy’s Ligurian coast. She was Dick’s first yacht design and the boat he skippered to victory in the 1965 Fastnet Race. The Gandolfis have invested much time and effort in her meticulous restoration, and it shows!

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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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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!