Heatwave: A One Ton Cup Yacht
1977
Build Date
Jim Young
Boat Builder
Length
Beam
Checkmate
Heatwave started out as a One Tonner named Checkmate. Checkmate raced in the New Zealand One Ton Nationals in early 1977 but after finishing 11th Young decided to make some alterations. This is when Checkmate became Heatwave.
The changes included cutting the yacht in half to discard the aft section and building a new one. The keel was also removed, and a new centreboard was added. The centreboard weighed 800lb and could automatically gybe three degrees to weather. This gave the new design an advantage when beating into the breeze. The bow was also altered to create a steep upward curve in the sheerline
The One Ton Cup
After completing the extensive alterations Young entered Heatwave in the 1977 One Ton Cup. Heatwave was the longest and widest of all the top boats entered. This meant Heatwave was theoretically fast but the size of Heatwave meant it had a lot more displacement. Suffering a broken mast in the first race the crew had to work quickly to get Heatwave ready for the second race where they finished 10th. They went on to finish sixth in the series overall.
Europe
After the 1977 series a Danish sailor brought Heatwave and competed in the 1978 One Ton Cup in Flensburg, Germany where they came fourth overall. Jim Young used the lessons learned designing and building Checkmate and Heatwave to develop the successful racing yachts Extreme, Camp Freddie and Positive Touch.
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