Diva (Judel/Vrolijk 44)

The German yachts known as Diva came onto the Admiral's Cup scene in 1985, but not to be confused with the French One Tonner Diva, the wunderboot that took individual honours in the Cup in 1983.

The 1985 yacht, Diva G, was designed by Freidrich Judel and Rolf Vrolijk for her owners Peter Westphal-Langloh and Freddy Diekell. The 44 footer, rating 33.6ft IOR, was designed in response to the moves by the RORC to introduce a minimum aggregate rating for teams in the Admiral's Cup from 1985 onwards, and thereby put an end to three boat teams made up of minimum (30.0ft IOR) raters. Diva G was built by Yachtwerf Wedel in Kevlar and glass on a foam sandwich core. She represented the arrival of a new style of fractionally-rigged yacht, with laminated sails and improved spar technology making rig control a better proposition at this size. 

Diva G was part of the winning German team in the 1985 Admiral's Cup. While she did not quite match the results of her smaller team-mates (Outsider and Rubin G VIII), she held her own against another small boat onslaught and recorded a respectable 11th place overall. Much of her success was due to the way in which she was handled, with near immaculate crew-work, and because she was skippered by Berend Beilken, who had been in almost every German Admiral's Cup team since 1973.

Diva G powers downwind during the 1985 Admiral's Cup

Diva G seen here (on port tack behind Fair Lady with Panda on starboard) at the start of the Channel Race during the 1985 Admiral's Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Diva G during the 1985 Admiral's Cup (photo Beken)

Diva G seen here at the beginning of a race during the 1986 Sardinia Cup

The new Diva being launched (photo Facebook)

A new Diva was commissioned by Westphal-Langloh for the 1987 Admiral's Cup. The new boat was another Judel/Vrolijk 44 footer, rating 34.4ft IOR. Westphal-Langloh was again successful in making the German team, alongside Container and Saudade, even though Diva had been in the water for just a few weeks before the trials. However, the yacht then picked up debris in her propeller while passing through a narrow channel en-route to England, ran aground, and spent a night on the sands off Helgoland as a consequence. Diva's keel was straightened back to true with hydraulic jacks, but she was not 100% right.

The bend in Diva's keel can be seen here (photo Ian Watson)

Diva surges along on a reaching leg, with team-mate Container visible just ahead on the opposite gybe

Diva G and Pinta racing in 1987 (photo Facebook)

The chances of a successful defence of the Cup looked in doubt after Diva's problems, and team-mate Container suffered from a lack of tune in moderate conditions. The German effort was further undone at the fourth windward mark in the third inshore race, when Diva found the path to the layline blocked by Austria's Pinta and Original Beckmann, and Italy's Marisa Konica. Beilken tried to tack underneath and squeeze up to the mark attempting to extract height out of a low-area/high-lift keel before it was working efficiently. He failed. A few minutes later team-mate Saudade under-estimated the tide and hit the mark.

Diva's error dropped her from 16th to 24th in the race, and she went on to finish in 26th place in the individual standings, as part of a fifth place overall by the German team.

Above and below - deck and cockpit detail on Diva (photo Ian Watson)

The photograph below shows Diva G now on display at the German Maritime Museum in Bremerhafen.

Exador (Farr One Tonner)

Exador 1983 (Farr Yacht Design)

Exador is another of the Bruce Farr-designed trio of 40 foot One Tonners that burst onto the New Zealand and international ocean racing scene in 1983. Exador was commissioned by yachtsman Tom McCall, and his commitment to building the first of Farr's new Design 136 convinced Owen Chantaloup and Del Hogg to proceed with sisterships Geronimo and Pacific Sundance with which to campaign in the 1983 Southern Cross Cup trials.  

The three New Zealand yachts all benefited from the one-design nature of their tuning programme, and all secured places in the New Zealand Southern Cross Cup team. The team put on a devastating and all-conquering performance in the Southern Cross Cup, taking wins in three out of five races to take the Cup with a big lead over the second placed New South Wales team. Exador finished fourth overall, behind Pacific Sundance (first) and Geronimo (second), with Exador also finishing ninth in the 160 boat fleet that contested the Sydney-Hobart race that was also the final race in the series. 

Exador on a downwind leg during the 1983 Southern Cross Cup (photo Diana Littler/Sea Spray)

Exador approaching a windward mark during the 1983 Southern Cross Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Exador in the 1983 Sydney-Hobart race (photo Farr Yacht Design)

1984 Clipper Cup

The next year Exador, Pacific Sundance, and Shockwave were selected for the New Zealand 'A' team to contest the 1984 Clipper Cup. This was a powerful line up, and the team lead the series from the first race, with Exador finding the conditions much to her liking and taking four wins in the first four races. 

Both Exador and Pacific Sundance were going so fast in the final Round the State race that they were running first and second on corrected time and the Clipper Gold Cup looked to be New Zealand's. On elapsed time Exador was even ahead of the eventual winner of the race Sidewinder, which rated some 3 feet higher. However, disaster struck when Exador was engulfed by a rogue wave off South Point (on Hawaii's Big Island) that tore out her rig. The loss of Exador from the running dropped the team to second overall (just 12 points behind the US White team of Camouflage, Checkmate and Tomahawk). 

Exador in the 1984 Clipper Cup (above and below)

McCall nearly sold Exador, for business reasons, to the US (via an offer through Geoff Stagg of the Farr office) on the eve of the 1985 New Zealand Admiral's Cup challenge evaluation series. Fortunately, quick footwork by Auckland businessman Mike Clark kept the champion yacht in New Zealand. Skippered by Graeme Woodroffe she was the form yacht of the trials, and in lighter trim and with new sails she was an easy selection for the team, alongside Epic, another Farr 40, and Canterbury, a Davidson One Tonner. 

Exador beats upwind in the Rangitoto Channel during the 1985 Admiral's Cup trials (photo Peter Montgomery/SailWorld)

Exador leading the fleet during the 1985 Admiral;s Cup trials, with (right to left) Barnstorm, Epic Lass, Canterbury Export, and Swuzzlebubble V (photo Peter Montgomery/Sail World)

Exador in close company with Swuzzlebubble V during the 1985 Admiral's Cup trials

Exador beats upwind in the Rangitoto Channel during the 1985 Admiral's Cup trials

Exador begins another windward leg during the 1985 Admiral's Cup trials (photo NZ Yachting)

In her new team livery before heading overseas for the 1985 One Ton Cup and Admiral's Cup



Exador approaches a windward mark in the 1985 One Ton Cup, behind Alliance (right) and just ahead of Panda (left)

Exador during the 1985 One Ton Cup

All three New Zealand yachts competed in the 1985 One Ton Cup curtainraiser, held in Poole before the Admiral's Cup. With so many Admiral's Cup teams fielding One Tonners, the series was well attended and closely fought. Exador had a solid series, but after incurring a significant penalty in one race slipped from a possible third place overall to fourth behind Jade, Highland Fling and Panda. Exador then went on to lead the New Zealand Admiral's Cup team from the front, finishing as fifth yacht overall to help secure the team's third place amongst 18 teams, its best result in the regatta up to that time.

Exador during a pre-start at the 1985 One Ton Cup, with Australia's Hitchhiker II to leeward (photo Facebook)

The evergreen yacht went on to earn a place in the 1985 team that was selected to defend the Southern Cross Cup, joining Ian Gibb's Swuzzlebubble V, and Tom McCall's Farr 43 Switchblade. Unfortunately, New Zealand split its strongest performers between two teams, and Swuzzlebubble V proved to be off the pace, while in the second team the Peterson 43 Barnstorm undermined the top individual yacht of the series, the Davidson One Tonner Mad Max (later Goldcorp). Nevertheless, Exador sailed strongly, and was the only boat in the New Zealand A team to match pre-regatta expectations, finishing as third yacht overall (with placings of 4/5/9/4/6).

Exador finishing one of the inshore races off Cowes during the 1985 Admiral's Cup (photo Margherita Bottini/SailWorld)

Exador seen here to leeward of Portugese entry Algharbe, a Castro 40 (photo Histoiredeshalfs website)

Exador again showed her pedigree and incredible longevity by forming part of another champion New Zealand offshore team, alongside two Farr 43's Thunderbird and Equity, which won the 1986 Kenwood Cup. Exador had sailed well in the New Zealand trials, sporting some new sponsorship and renamed Paxus Exador. This injection of funds allowed a refit and new sails. A weight-saving exercise, including lighter floorboards and a new boom, and some re-trimming for Hawaiian conditions, gave the yacht a new lease of life and she went on to win Class D. Paxus Exador was also looking good for overall fleet honours, but large holes in the Round the State race caught many of the smaller boats, Paxus Exador included.

Exador sporting new livery for the 1986 Kenwood Cup trials

Exador blazes upwind in the conditions she was designed for, circa 1986

By the time of the 1986 Kenwood Cup, Exador had been sold to Japan's 'Harry' Takeda, a move that was met with some sadness in New Zealand sailing circles. An editorial in New Zealand Yachting magazine at the time lamented that it was hard to imagine any other yacht matching Exador's record across such a large number of regattas, an ever-present campaigner in the New Zealand's 1983-85 Champagne Mumm World Cup victory.

Exador seen here (Offshore magazine) racing in Japan in the 1989 Big Boat Series in Gamgori, Japan (finishing 19th overall). The red dot in the middle of the boom was the logo of the Bengal Bay Yacht Club America's Cup Challenge and the event was held at the Nippon Ocean Racing Club America's Cup Challenge headquarters

Exador is understood to be currently based in Vladivostok, Russia, where she sails at the '7 Feet' Yacht Club (see photo above). In 2012 she finished second in the 500 mile Sea of Japan race, and finished fifth in 2013. The owner's are proud of Exador's rich and distinguished history, and are doing everything possible to maintain her in top condition. More recent photographs can be seen below.

Article updated March 2024

 

Bullit (Fauroux Quarter Tonner)

Bullit, the Jacques Fauroux design that won the 1979 Quarter Ton Cup, was in the news again recently, after winning the Quarter Ton division in the 2013 Vice Admiral's Cup, hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club. Bullit (now with an IRC rating of 0.905 instead of her original 18.55ft IOR) has been another impressive restoration project by Peter Morton, who had previously returned Anchor Challenge to her former glory (and then some!) and went on to win the 2009 edition of the revived Quarter Ton Cup, and did it again in 2012 with Bullit.  

Bullit on her way to winning the 2013 Vice-Admiral's Cup (photo Fiona Brown)

This latest win in the Vice-Admiral's Cup, against 14 other top Quarter Tonners, augers well for Bullit's chances in the Quarter Ton Cup which will be hosted by the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club on 15-17 July (update - Bullit has won the 2014 Quarter Ton Cup). 

Bullit viewed at her arrival in Auckland for the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup (photo Alan Sefton/Seahorse)

Bullit is the name of two of the seven yachts built from the same mould - Morton's Bullit won the Quarter Ton Cup in San Remo in 1979. The second Bullit had a longer stern scoop added and she made quite a splash when she arrived in New Zealand for the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup, hosted by the Panmure Yacht and Boating Club. 

Bullit berthed off the Panmure Yacht and Boating Club (photo Murray Buckman/Facebook)

The local fleet were comprehensively beaten by the lightweight flyer, which at the time demonstrated that European design thinking had overtaken the New Zealand style of boat. Bullit featured more of a dish shape, with less depth and more beam, a longer stern overhang and an ability to surf downwind much more easily than her rivals. Fauroux had created a boat of the same measured length as the New Zealand boats, yet with less hull depth and more beam, while giving nothing away in terms of sail area.  

Bullit rounds a weather mark just ahead of Hellaby, her dish shaped sections are clearly evident

As another point of difference, the boat carried no internal ballast, all her 1,060lbs of ballast was carried in the keel, and her all up weight was some 140lbs less than the Farr design Anchor Challenge, sailed in the 1980 series by Roy Dickson. The long stern overhang, that gave the yacht some 2ft of extra length, would incur a rating penalty the following year, but the boat was designed only to win the 1980 series.

Bullit eases her way downwind - a long transom left little room for the cockpit! (photo Gary Baigent/Sea Spray)

The moment of truth arrived after the top mark in the first race. Bullit rounded second, behind Australian entry Bashful, but by the wing mark was 38s ahead, and went on to finish a full six minutes ahead of the second placed Hellaby, the latest Davidson design and sailed by Tony Bouzaid. After a repeat performance in the early stages of the second race, sailed in fresh conditions, one of Bullit's spreaders failed and the crew were forced to reduce sail, finishing third behind Hellaby and Anchor Challenge.

Bullit nurses her damaged rig on her way to the finish line in the second race (photo Gary Baigent/Sea Spray)

Bullit was able to reinforce her superiority in devastating fashion in the 140 mile intermediate race, where she beat the second placed Hi Flyer (another Davidson design, and sailed by Helmer Pederson) by almost 47 minutes in the 24 hour long race. The race was sailed in 15-20 knot winds which suited Bullit perfectly. She repeated the performance in the fourth race, steaming away on the reaches and runs after rounding the first mark in fourth place.

Bullit approaches the start area during the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup

The 220 mile long ocean race was sailed in very fresh conditions, with 40 knot gusts at the start and a forecast that did not provide much hope for an improvement for a fleet faced with two roundings of Channel Island. Again, Bullit set a blistering pace in the initial downwind work, but many of these small boats suffered knockdowns and a nervous, if not scary, time while out in the vicinity of Channel Island.

On the beat from Channel Island Bullit's mast began S-bending, and had to nurse the yacht on starboard tack and soon fell behind Anchor Challenge. The following morning, however, Bullit was close behind and, carrying just a storm spinnaker and reefed main, she sailed through the lee of Anchor Challenge and went on to finish the race in a little under 42 hours and took the win by a margin of 31 minutes.  

The second placed yacht in the series, the Davidson design Hellaby, sailed by Tony Bouzaid

Bullit's victory would have been greater had she not suffered rig and internal hull damage which forced her to slow down - they wanted company in case something drastic happened. With the victory in the final race Bullit secured the Quarter Ton Cup for France, with 116.5 points, well clear of second placed Hellaby on 106.25 points, just 0.75 points ahead of Anchor Challenge. 

The 1980 Bullit is understood to be currently located in Tahiti, as seen in the photo below.