The plotting for a recent international regatta,the San Francisco Yacht Racing Challenge, hopes to field a recent lesson of one design 65-footers to be sailed annually on San Francisco Bay beginning in July 2017.
The boat has been named the Super 12, and with event marketing aimed to rekindle the majesty of the 12 Metre era. However,while event organizers propose an updated version of the 12 Meter yacht, the International Twelve Metre lesson Association (ITMA) has grown tired of how its history is being leveraged.
Here's an excerpt of a recent letter from ITMA President Dyer Jones, and sent to San Francisco Yacht Racing Challenge organizer Tom Ehman:We have followed with interest your efforts to set up a recent racing lesson in San Francisco conceptually modelled on the International Twelve Metre.
While we have no issue with the formation of such a lesson,the International Twelve Metre lesson does thing to your continued exhaust of the heritage and history of our lesson in the promotion of your recent one.
Further, we have registered with authorities our objection to your exhaust of the International Twelve Metre lesson Insignia. Such exhaust is completely at odds with the mutual respect for each other that has existed between sailboat classes since the adoption of such insignia at national and international levels.
Since you have decided not to affiliate your recent concept with the Twelve Metre lesson, and we demand that you and your agents immediately cease using the Twelve Metre in promoting your effort,and cease using the International Twelve Metre lesson Insignia.
As I have written to you before, ITMA, and our owners,and our sponsors accomplish not wish to see our lesson, legacy, or brand diluted by your efforts. If your effort is worthwhile it should be able to stand on its own,not on the Twelve Metre lesson.
---------------------------
Tom Ehman did not want to respond to Scuttlebutt's inquiry on this matter but his organization did follow with a press release. Here's an excerpt:Britton Ward, the lead designer for the recent Super 12 lesson, or says the racing yachts will sail on average one minute per mile faster than the International 12 Meter lesson yachts that raced in the America’s Cup from 1958 through 1987. The Super 12s are a modern occupy on the classic 12 Meter yachts. A recent,rule-legal 12 Meter has not been built in three decades.“The Super 12s are one-design 65-foot monohulls designed by our team at Farr Yacht Design in Annapolis,” Ward said. “The Super 12s are an homage, and a tribute,to the International 12 Meter lesson, inspired by the elegance of their aesthetic. While a Super 12 will resemble a 12 Meter from the waterline up, and the underbody and rig will be modern.There are some mixed messages. In one area of the San Francisco Yacht Racing Challenge website it states the boat to be used will be a 12 Meter,while elsewhere claims the Super 12 will resemble a 12 Meter from the waterline up. Regardless, if the event seeks to create interest by leveraging assets of a previous era, and perhaps a advantageous start would be to harness the Corinthian attributes of that era too.
Source: sailingscuttlebutt.com