The 1907 International Rule and the Ten Meter Class
The ideal size?
Which size within the metric class? 6 Metre yachts are superb racing boats on protected waters, 8 Metres are already big, but are still day yachts, despite their around 14 metre length, 12 Metres are wonderful racing machines (as well as cruising yachts in the 1920's and 1930's) but are very difficult to handle with a small crew given their size (around 22 metres) and their rigging.
10 Metre yachts might be an ideal compromise: with a length of 15 to 17 metres, they are big enough to include comfortable interiors, small enough to be handled by a few friends or family members.
Uffa Fox arrived to the same conclusions, writing in 1935 on the 10 Metre Westa:
The International Ten Metre Yacht Association (ITMYA)
10 Metre yachts were very popular before World War I: Anker, Mylne, Fife, Oertz, to name just a few, designed several 10's each. The Yacht Club de France cup, an international event confronting European nations, was raced with 10 Metre yachts from 1910 to 1914.
At the end of the 1920's, a group of American yachtsmen, impressed by the metric class, ordered no less than 18 10 Metre yachts to Starling Burgess, all built at Abeking & Rasmussen and shipped from Germany to the US.
In the 1930's, Scandinavian people took the lead: the king of Denmark Christian X, as well as many Norwegian and Swedish yachtsmen had 10 Metre boats built.
In total - from patient data gathering and research in Lloyd's Registers of Yachts - we have counted more than one hundred 10 Metre yachts launched before 1939.
And the concept is still attractive, as several new 10 Metre projects are in progress.
A group of owners have created in 2007 an international 10 Metre association, ITMYA, to share their passions, the learnings from restoration projects, and to race together. Some, including Irene VIII's owner, now ambition to create a world championship in 2009 or 2010?
Which size within the metric class? 6 Metre yachts are superb racing boats on protected waters, 8 Metres are already big, but are still day yachts, despite their around 14 metre length, 12 Metres are wonderful racing machines (as well as cruising yachts in the 1920's and 1930's) but are very difficult to handle with a small crew given their size (around 22 metres) and their rigging.
10 Metre yachts might be an ideal compromise: with a length of 15 to 17 metres, they are big enough to include comfortable interiors, small enough to be handled by a few friends or family members.
Uffa Fox arrived to the same conclusions, writing in 1935 on the 10 Metre Westa:
"In this yacht we have an example of a very bold idea that succeeded, so marking the owner and designer as men of genius. A racer stands or falls by her ability as a racer, but the owner of this yacht considered her from a cruising point of view throughout and yet in spite of this her racing record is the finest in Sweden and Finland. This yacht?s record is one of the finest that can be put forward for the present International Rule for in her we have the qualities of a racer and cruiser so successfully blended, that she is a very fine vessel whether considered as a cruiser or a racer, for she is both!"
The International Ten Metre Yacht Association (ITMYA)
10 Metre yachts were very popular before World War I: Anker, Mylne, Fife, Oertz, to name just a few, designed several 10's each. The Yacht Club de France cup, an international event confronting European nations, was raced with 10 Metre yachts from 1910 to 1914.
At the end of the 1920's, a group of American yachtsmen, impressed by the metric class, ordered no less than 18 10 Metre yachts to Starling Burgess, all built at Abeking & Rasmussen and shipped from Germany to the US.
In the 1930's, Scandinavian people took the lead: the king of Denmark Christian X, as well as many Norwegian and Swedish yachtsmen had 10 Metre boats built.
In total - from patient data gathering and research in Lloyd's Registers of Yachts - we have counted more than one hundred 10 Metre yachts launched before 1939.
And the concept is still attractive, as several new 10 Metre projects are in progress.
A group of owners have created in 2007 an international 10 Metre association, ITMYA, to share their passions, the learnings from restoration projects, and to race together. Some, including Irene VIII's owner, now ambition to create a world championship in 2009 or 2010?
