The design was built by Beneteau in France at their custom boat yard, from 1983 until 1985, with 12 boats completed, but it is now out of production.[1][2][3][10][11]
Design
The 1 Ton is a racing keelboat, that was built with the most advanced materials that were available at the time: a carbon fibre-Kevlar foam sandwich. It has a fractionalsloop rig, with a keel-stepped mast with three sets of unswept spreaders. The hull has a raked stem, an open reverse transom, an internally mounted spade-type rudder controlled by a tiller and a fixed fin keel. It displaces 12,125 lb (5,500 kg) and carries 6,878 lb (3,120 kg) of ballast.[1][2][3]
The boat has a draft of 7.22 ft (2.20 m) with the standard keel and is fitted with a Swedish Volvo MD 17 diesel engine for docking and manoeuvring. The fuel tank holds 4 U.S. gallons (15 L; 3.3 imp gal).[1][2][3]
As a racer the design has minimal accommodation, with berths for eight people.[1][2][3]
The boat was at one time supported by a class club that organized racing events, the One Ton Class.[13][14]
A 1 Ton named Phoenix won first place in the 1985 Admiral's Cup over 17 other boats, including three other Beneteau 1 Tons, on individual points, skippered by Harold Cudmore. Cudmore had substituted the boat into the race at the last minute, when his own boat had sunk during a lead-in race.[15]