Regatta Regatta

The development of the Class began at the IYRU trials in l953, held at La Baule to find the "best possible two-man centreboarder", an 18 footer "Coronet" showed clearly superior to all her competitors.

That winter the Caneton Association, the most important small boat racing body in France, asked the designer of "Coronet", John Westell (UK), if he could modify her to suit their rules. Reducing the overall length, lightening the hull and modifying it a little, together with cutting the sail area to 17,24 sq. mtrs., produced a new design which retained the good features of the larger craft. By a remarkable far-sighted decision members of the Caneton Association, at their A.G.M. in Paris in January 1954, voted unanimously to adopt the new class, even before the first boat had been built. The Five-0-Five was born!