Sometimes when a designer draws a boat they don’t just get it right, they get it very right.
That is most certainly the case with the Cookson 50 remarkably drawn 12 years ago by Bruce Farr.
In the recent Royal Ocean Racing Club Transatlantic Race a Cookson 50 did it again. Skippered by VOR veteran Roberto de Bermudez de Castro, himself a veteran of 7 VOR/Whitbreads, the Cookson 50 “Kuka 3” (that’s cubed) took the victory in spite of having to pitstop to sort a problem and deal with a fire on board. De Castro compared the boat to the VO65 as having many of the same systems and abilities of that other and perhaps better known boat, curiously also drawn by the Farr design office.
Kuka’s victory in the Transatlantic is added to Victoire in the Sydney Hobart, Chieftain in the Fastnet and Mascalzone Latino’s in the Rolex Middle Sea. That really only leaves the Newport Bermuda for a nap hand.
In fact if you want a top 10 finish in the Tatersall Cup – that’s the real Sydney Hobart sports fans the Cookson 50 is the way to go, not something twice the size.
In the last 10 years of the Sydney Hobart the Cookson 50 – just one design – has achieved 13 top 10 finishes including 4 podiums, an IRC Overall win (Victoire) and an ORCi overall win (UBOX). On the other hand the mighty 100 footers which grab all the coverage (yawn) achieved 3 top ten finishes albeit all of which were podiums with Wild Oats achieving 2 overall Tatersall Cup victories.
Bang for the buck? Do I even need to ask that question?
And now she has added another victory to her Curriculum Vitae. She has to be one of the most competitive designs ever in ocean racing history and all from a little yard in New Zealand.
Sadly Mick Cookson has now hung up his stippling brush which makes the remaining boats much sought after.
Attached is a slightly self indulgent shot by Daniel Forster of UBOX at pace as she screamed down the New South Wales coast at times topping 25 knots – who needs a multihull? And why would you want anything else? We don’t!
SS
Edit – Apparently Shanghai sent us the wrong picture. It is actually one he took as the Cookson approached the first turning mark at the mouth of Sydney Harbour. – ed.
