Although at a distance they appear like toy sailboats on steroids, these are no playthings. Mini-12s are well designed, nimble racing boats which skirmish with spirited tactics.



Story and photographs by
Eric W. Manchester

      Maureen Marshall beats her husband, just for fun. For her, world peace is an illusion - one which nimbly darts about Cadboro Bay like a frenzied waterbug. After sharing a sailboat with her husband for several years at Royal Victoria Yacht Club, Maureen began racing on her own in an Illusion-class boat named World Peace, and set out to cross the finish line ahead of hubby as often as she could. "I was tired of him shouting at me, so I got my own boat", joked Maureen. The Illusion, and slightly larger sibling Deception, look just like the 12-metre sailboats that competed for the America's Cup, but at only one-fifth the size of an AC yacht they are aptly known as Mini-12s. Don't be misled by the term 12-metre. That's not the boat's length, but rather a rating arrived at by formula. Actual AC yachts can be well over 20 metres long with a crew of a more than a dozen hardy brutes, whereas Mini-12s measure approximately 13 feet from bow to stern.
      The Mini-12's boom barely clears the skipper's head, itself scarcely above sea level. That lone sailor executes all the crew functions while seated inside the boat's hull, facing forward like in a child's play car of yesteryear. There is a rudder to steer the craft around the buoys, but this racing yacht is devoid of tiller or wheel to control it. Instead, the single-handed sailor uses foot pedals mounted just forward of his seat to effect course corrections. "Steering with your feet takes a little getting used to", according Bill Boyeson, Seattle Yacht Club, "Our ÔHappy Foot' trophy goes to the sailor who had trouble figuring out which peddle to push."
      Although at a distance they appear like toy sailboats on steroids, with a price tag of about $7,000 ($4,000 used), and weighing in at some 550 pounds, these are no playthings. Mini-12's are well designed, nimble racing boats which skirmish with spirited tactics at the starting line. "Sometimes there's jostling, like bumper cars", according to Gord Wilkinson, RVYC communications officer and racer, "But, people know the rules, so there are few protests (unlike in many big sailboat races)."
      Mini-12s evolved during the 1980s. Illusions were devised in Britain, and Deceptions were conceived in Victoria. But, they nearly failed to find a home on the west coast during that decade. Several Illusions were offered to Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, but they declined the gift. The craft were subsequently offered to Royal Victoria Yacht Club, which initially also refused before deciding to accept the boats. Out of that donation, and the newly developed Deceptions, grew RVYC's Mini-12 flotilla, which is reported to be the largest and most active fleet within that club.
      Some four dozen Mini-12s comprise racing fleets at Royal Victoria and Seattle yacht clubs, where the rivalry is as fierce as the AC Cup spectacle itself. Ironically, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club - to which the craft was first offered - has no Mini-12s, and competes in the annual regatta using borrowed boats. Farther south, it was love at first tack, according to Mike Milburn, Seattle Yacht Club fleet captain-sail, "We began our fleet in 2000 and got an immediate following. We have weekly races - twice a week during Daylight Savings Time."
      It's easy for spectators and competitors to immediately know who won any given race. Mini- 12s are one-design boats, subject to strict rules which don't allow boats within the class to be different from anyone else's boat. There is no handicap or rating system used to modify the actual finish times. This means that the boat crossing the finish line first, is first. Speaking of finishing first, inter-club racing between Victoria and Vancouver began in the late 1980s, with Seattle joining in a decade later. Both the Royals (Victoria and Vancouver) have each won the matches, which are alternately hosted by the clubs, but newcomer Seattle is fast catching up. "We won in 2003. We had the home field advantage - and I think we actually practised", said Milburn.
      Mini-12s tend to appeal to mature sailors (an octogenarian at RVYC), according to Milburn. "It is such a good racing boat it attracts people who've been sailing or racing for much of their lives. These same sailors still want to race but are no longer young and athletic enough to sail a one-man dinghy, and/or have lost interest in all the costs, crew issues and endurance required to race big boats. These boats are surprisingly lively - the action is fast and furious."
      Despite ardent competition, most Mini-12 racers describe their time inside their cramped craft in terms of enjoyment. "The whole program is really fun", said Boyeson, "Close racing with outstanding sailors who can really make you humble - along with a good time at the bar after the race - and you don't have to chase a damn little white ball across the grass." Sitting inside a craft with little freeboard means that some of the fun is soggy. "You always get wet, but you've got three buoyancy tanks and a manual bilge pump", said Gerry Porter, one of the original Mini-12 organizers at RVYC. As another avid RVYC racer, Barbara Routley sees it, "The big attractions are, the camaraderie; it's an inexpensive way to get on the water - and I've never been dumped out of the boat."
      Perhaps Mini-12's come closest to epitomizing the adage that old sailors never die, they just get a little dinghy.


      ...back to 48° North title page.