Helvetia

Overview

Following the 1983 America’s Cup, Switzerland briefly entered the 12 Metre design arena. In 1984 the Association Suisse pour la Coupe de l’America (A.S.C.A.) was founded to organize a potential Swiss challenge under the International 12 Metre Rule. The association commissioned Jean Grobety, a Geneva-based dentist and successful designer of 5.5 m I.R. and 6 m I.R. yachts, to create a modern 12 Metre capable of competing at Cup level. The first of his designs was named HELVETIA.

Design and Concept

HELVETIA was conceived in 1983–1984 as a full America’s Cup-rated 12 Metre under the Third Rule. Although never constructed, the design represented Switzerland’s first formal attempt to step from smaller metre-class success into the premier Cup class. Grobety’s earlier boats had achieved competitive results on Lake Geneva and in international 5.5 Metre circuits, and his appointment signaled an intention to produce a genuinely Swiss design rather than commissioning a foreign naval architect.

Class archives list HELVETIA as a Swiss 12 Metre design drawn by Jean Grobety for A.S.C.A. in 1983, confirming its official recognition within the design records—even though no hull was ever laid down. The project was quickly followed by a refined second design, SWISSMADE, which likewise remained on paper.

Project Outcome

Despite initial enthusiasm within the A.S.C.A., neither HELVETIA nor SWISSMADE advanced beyond the design stage. The escalating cost of 12 Metre construction and the technical gap separating new syndicates from established campaigns made Swiss participation impractical. By the mid-1980s, attention had already begun to shift away from the Twelves toward alternative Cup platforms, leaving both Swiss designs unbuilt.

Official International 12 Metre Class records confirm HELVETIA’s status as “Designed 1983 – Not built”, with A.S.C.A. listed as the intended owner. The design therefore exists only as a documented concept, preserved in class archives as Switzerland’s first unrealized 12 Metre.

Legacy

Although HELVETIA was never built, the project marked an important symbolic moment in Swiss sailing history. It demonstrated the ambition to compete at the highest international level and anticipated Switzerland’s later achievements in America’s Cup competition decades later.

Together with the follow-up SWISSMADE project, HELVETIA forms a small but significant part of the 12 Metre story—representing the creative ambition of a landlocked nation briefly reaching toward the pinnacle of the sport.