1977 the Silver Jubilee year of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the R.O.R.C’s Cervantes Trophy race started off of the Lymington Spit Buoy and among the fleet were two Laurent Giles half tonners: Starlight Return and Giant Killer, both of which had been designed by Mike Pocock who for a couple of seasons led the Laurent Giles racing yacht design team.

Giant Killer (design number 0738) won the Cervantes trophy, was second in the Deauville and Guingaund Bowl races, and fourth overall in the R.O.R.C Championships and the 29’ design was a natural addition to the Westerly/Giles range of cruiser racers. Westerlys committed to a production run which saw one hundred and eighty-two yachts built.