Aphrodite 101

I must admit the one I looked at had a non standard tiller, which was nice.

The one with a non-standard keel I read about was Orwell based- I read somewhere (here?) of it being at Woolverstone for a long time, fading rather. And I recall it also had a carbon rig.

Maybe the bulb is lead, but the original didn't have a bulb at all.

Sorry if I came over a bit sensitive; I was in a foul mood at the time, and probably displaced my feistiness. I couldn't be having my dream boat being criticised! Hehehe.

In a better mood now... Maybe I should go look at some pics of a 101 (another I saw on the Orwell) to cheer me up.
 
Thought about the Aphrodite 101 during my recent hunt for a new boat.|However 2 factors were against . Headroom 1.45 m (under 5ft) crouching only. Draught 1.70 meters Couldn't take it up the river with maximum draft of 1.50 m.
Ended up with a compromise along the same lines: An H-323. Big H- Boat designed by Hans Groop.Maybe not as fast but with standing headroom 1.8 m and draft of 1.45 m. otherwise similar dimensions.
Can take it the 35 miles up the river to Lough Neagh for winter. 10 minutes from home.
 
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Averisera>Bolivar

We have noticed that our boat has some shortcomings, you can't do dishes on port tack and there is no room for guests below. Her sailing qualities certainly make up for her shortcomings. But, that's what love is all about.

We picked the A101 for two principal reasons: we love to sail Solings and we sailed a modern, buoyant 35 footer from Boston to Puerto Rico. Three months later we bought Averisera. Story in our blog of the same name.

Jim Binch has sailed his boat extensively offshore. I doubt he would refer to her as unseaworthy. He will also probably say that preparation of the sailors and the boat are critical factors.

We have had very good luck in the light air of New England. Since we don't get much heavy air, can't say much about how we compare to contemporary designs. The few times we get to race in a blow, we do fine on or off the wind. Again, the preparation and sailors matter.

Our new mainsail with extended roach is making the fleet weep.

General question: was the A101 an IOR 3/4 tonner?

Norman Martin
Boston MA
 
A 101 comparisons

I am a captain and sailing instructor for Boston Sailing Center in Boston, MA. We have a 60 boat fleet and comprised of 16 different models of sloops ranging from 24 feet to 40 feet. The boat in our fleet that compares best to the A101 is the C&C 33 (Baltic 33 is a copy).

A distinction of the A101 is that her hull is deep. Lots of wetted surface makes her slower than modern 10 m boats. It also makes her a joy at sea. The PHRF rating seems to be fair.
 
General question: was the A101 an IOR 3/4 tonner?

Norman Martin
Boston MA

No, the A101 was originally designed and built for races in Denmark and later proposed as as an offshore one design. Although about the same size as a 3/4 tonner was never a competitive IOR boat (actually length was somewhere between the 3/4 tonner and the original 1 tonners that rated 27.5, before the 1 ton rating was changed to minimum admirals cup rating of 30.5)

IOR boats of that era were evolving very quickly and designs outdated annually as the designers exploited loopholes in the rule and drew more and more extreme boats. (take a look at some of the IOR designs of Stephen Jones: Odd Job, Smiffy, Oystercatcher '79 and look at the 1/2 tonners of 1985-89 compared to the early 1/2 tonners such as the Peter Norlin Scampi)

The A101 was dean alternative to IOR i.e. draw a sweet hull with no distortions at the positions used for IOR rating measurements and make no compromises for the IOR rule. This would give a boat with a longer competitive life and no need to buy a new boat each year.

As a result the IOR rating very high and the boat was uncompetitive under the IOR rule. to make it work, you needed a group of similarly minded owners hence the small number of more concentrated fleets of A101's.
 
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Aphrodite 101 IOR Rating

Thanks Gardenshed. I wonder what the IOR rating was?

The boat has a little IOR influence to her underwater shape. Clearly, she is not an IOR design. The Aphrodite influenced the Tartan Ten design by S&S which is still popular on the US Great Lakes. We sail against one out here in Massachusetts Bay. Evenly matched, I think.

The American designer, Bob Perry, wrote in SAILING magazine recently that the A101 was considered an ultralight when first introduced! He was comparing the A101 to the Olson 30 ULDB. The Olson was designed a few years after the Aphrodite and for a completely differnet body of water.

I raced an Olson 30 for many years on Western Long Island Sound. Super boat and seaworthy. Many have raced to Hawaii with great success. A101s rate about 30 seconds a mile slower than the Olson 30s and don't plane.

So... we are having pretty good luck this year on the race course. A101 sailors can follow some of the races on our blog, averisera dot com.

now, back to work!
 
Clever IOR designs

I sailed in Cowes Week aboard the American Mustang Sally, a Wylie 30 wishbone rigged catboat, in 1996. One of the things I loved was seeing some of the old IOR designs. Back when designs were more fun and the boats more squirly. I sailed Peter Norlin's old Accent 1/4 tonner in the late 70s. What a lot of fun/chaos.
 
While I'm not in the market for one, I have always been intrigued by the 101;

does anyone here have experience with the design ?

I know about the One Design competition and 'narrow is best post '79 Fastnet' etc, but it seemed an interesting boat.

I also find the Aphrodite 101 an intriguing boat... I think her lines do it for me! However, I'd love to have a sail in one as currently the A101 is very high on my list and I would rather see a UK based one than have to travel to Denmark, where there seem to be quite a few!

If any reader/A101 owner on the South Coast would like some crew for a day sail then I have my hand up!
 
I also find the Aphrodite 101 an intriguing boat... I think her lines do it for me! However, I'd love to have a sail in one as currently the A101 is very high on my list and I would rather see a UK based one than have to travel to Denmark, where there seem to be quite a few!

If any reader/A101 owner on the South Coast would like some crew for a day sail then I have my hand up!

@ least 3 in the River Orwell area
 
My tuppence worth, which might arguably not even be worth tuppence...

I remember seeing a 101 as a child, and thinking it looked amazing- many years later I got to helm one in some local racing-

The manners of the boat are perfect. you will not find a more pleasant, balanced, vice-free sailing boat anywhere. Even when abused with too much canvas in too much wind, the boat tends to lean over a long way but keep tracking very straight, with hardly any tendency to round up- a big bonus over some of the very wide hulls we are seeing in modern design.

The rig is excellent- all the controllability of any fractional rig, with a powerful backstay the mast bend can be very finely tuned so the full mainsail can easily be depowered- meaning that it can be carried over a wide wind range- but it also has the addition of forward lower shrouds, not commonly seen on this type of rig- which add another level of integrity and resistance to 'pumping' in waves.

The one I sailed had been abused round the race course for many years, and was extremely tatty- but the hull was rock solid, everything felt stiff with no soft or bendy bits, as one commonly finds on the deck of the average french plastic blob- so I couldn't fault the build quality at all.

Interior is what I would call sensible. sure, you don't get standing headroom or a big double aft cabin, but it had lots of things to hold onto, comfortable bunks, plenty of sitting room, decent galley. I would happily go cruising any distance on one.

So did I like it, after all those years of lusting after one? No. but let me clarify that-- In the meantime, I had been 'spoilt' by owning a Soling. Similar narrow hull, similar upwind performance- but proportionally much lighter and shallower bodied. The 101 with her deep heavy hull just didn't get up and go off the wind enough for my tastes- but bear in mind this was only a week or so after sustaining 12 knots and over continuously for several miles in flat water with the kite up on the soling. So for me, now, I wouldn't own one- but I reckon for someone moving up to one from the average 30ish foot cruising boat, you couldn't do better.
 
My tuppence worth, which might arguably not even be worth tuppence...

I remember seeing a 101 as a child, and thinking it looked amazing- many years later I got to helm one in some local racing-

The manners of the boat are perfect. you will not find a more pleasant, balanced, vice-free sailing boat anywhere. Even when abused with too much canvas in too much wind, the boat tends to lean over a long way but keep tracking very straight, with hardly any tendency to round up- a big bonus over some of the very wide hulls we are seeing in modern design.

The rig is excellent- all the controllability of any fractional rig, with a powerful backstay the mast bend can be very finely tuned so the full mainsail can easily be depowered- meaning that it can be carried over a wide wind range- but it also has the addition of forward lower shrouds, not commonly seen on this type of rig- which add another level of integrity and resistance to 'pumping' in waves.

The one I sailed had been abused round the race course for many years, and was extremely tatty- but the hull was rock solid, everything felt stiff with no soft or bendy bits, as one commonly finds on the deck of the average french plastic blob- so I couldn't fault the build quality at all.

Interior is what I would call sensible. sure, you don't get standing headroom or a big double aft cabin, but it had lots of things to hold onto, comfortable bunks, plenty of sitting room, decent galley. I would happily go cruising any distance on one.

So did I like it, after all those years of lusting after one? No. but let me clarify that-- In the meantime, I had been 'spoilt' by owning a Soling. Similar narrow hull, similar upwind performance- but proportionally much lighter and shallower bodied. The 101 with her deep heavy hull just didn't get up and go off the wind enough for my tastes- but bear in mind this was only a week or so after sustaining 12 knots and over continuously for several miles in flat water with the kite up on the soling. So for me, now, I wouldn't own one- but I reckon for someone moving up to one from the average 30ish foot cruising boat, you couldn't do better.

Thanks for that Anthemsailing. You've whetted my appetite even more! Just a question of finding one...
 
Averisera

Wow. I thought I loved my boat.

The Aphrodite is not perfect but is a heck of a lot of satisfaction. This weekend, we are racing her in a pursuit race off Boston in Hull Bay. It may be fun to see what happens.

http://www.hullyc.org/gcr_scratch.php has the boats listed that race. At this writing, 125 are enrolled. Averisera is in B-Class. The PHRF rating is a relative value. We are, for example, 147-135=12 seconds per miles faster than our friends on Cool Change (PHRF 147). For a ten mile race, we start 10x12=120 sec ahead of CC. Blah Blah.

Light air planned. How will our 102% headsail (max) do against the 150% on most other boats?

I hope Aphrodite prevails.

Norman Martin
averisera.com
 
If you phone Dolphin Sails and ask for Matthew Vincent (the A101 owner's son) he'll give you the griff, as I've seen him sailing her with his dad.

He's a nice bloke - I say that as one who bought sails from him, including a few for the aforementioned 3/4 Tonner - and I'm sure he'll be helpful.

Wonder if this would still work after the griping about them on another thread...

Some more really interesting stuff about the a101 being written here. I still desire one greatly. One day...
 
Aphrodite 101 Race Results

Aphrodite 101, hull number 264, Averisera, went to the Boston, MA area pursuit race run by Hull Yacht Club last weekend. (Yes, many places around here are names transplanted from England.) 125 boats registered and maybe 115 started. Averisera finished 41st in fleet and 7th in class. The course was a four-leg rectangle totaling 12 nm with two long W/L legs of about 2+ nm each.

The start and first leg are critical. With so many boats and "starts" about 10 to 15 seconds apart, the start is really just a stream of boats all sailing on starboard tack past the RC boat. Bad air for a mile ahead of us. 85 boats started ahead of us. The first mark was a mile up the track and tucked in under a bluff surmounted by high rise condos. No wind! The fleet stacked up, struggling to drift around the top mark and sort themselves out on the second leg, a reach under the shadow of the shore. Pretty grim going.

We would have done better to have sailed out of the bad air as quickly as possible. There are a couple of reasons we didn't, be new to the event was primary. Next time.

The Aphrodite 101 rates PHRF in this region (Mass Bay) at 135 which puts us even with the J-30 and a lot of old IOR types in the 37 to 42 foot range. Our strong suit is beats since we can out point everything under the sun and foot with them. Reaching in light air is our weak suit. No genoa. Once the kite goes up, no problem.

I am going to put some pictures of the boat on our blog, averisera.com They were taken by the photo boat for the Hull Yacht Club. Attached is the finish. A C&C 37 and J30 finished with us.

to see the entire picture set, 1300 images, and view the crowd got to:
http://www.hullyc.org/gcr2011/

Prior year pictures: http://www.hullyc.org/gcr_photo.shtml

My fantasy: sail Averisera to the West Indies and do the regatta circuit there. I have done the circuit twice on 45 footers with big crew. Next time, skinny boat and a small crew.

Norman Martin
Boston
 
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