Admiral's Cup 1979 - Part 1

The 1979 Admiral's Cup will be remembered for being a windy series, and for its tragic finale in the storm affected Fastnet Race which saw the loss of 15 lives (although none from the Cup fleet). The Australian team of Police Car, Impetuous and Ragamuffin handled the conditions the best and took the Cup for the first time since 1967. By this, the twelfth running of the series, there were as many as 27 countries competing. 

I am grateful to renowned international yachting photographer Jonathan Eastland for providing the following series of prints from his archives, which includes a nice sequence featuring the US yacht Williwaw rounding up and being passed by a succession of competitors during what I think is the second inshore race. The first photo is of the Frers 50 Blizzard (Britain), which is remembered in this race for a catastrophic navigation error when she headed off to the wrong mark halfway through the race, giving up a winning position and plummeting to a lowly 42nd place.

Blizzard on a downwind run

Vanina was the best of the third placed Italian team

The Hong Kong team yacht Uin-na-Mara IV sails through as Williwaw, skippered by Dennis Conner, goes into a broach (above and below)

Alan Bond's Apollo IV (sailing for Singapore) passes a struggling Williwaw

The Ron Holland design Aries, part of the second placed US team

One of the standout yachts of the 1979 series, the Dubois design Police Car, which was part of the Australian team and finished second overall in the individual standings

The top yacht in the Hong Kong team, the Peterson-designed La Pantera III chases the Holland design Impetuous (Australia) downwind

Blizzard goes into a broach in strong conditions during the 1979 Admiral's Cup

More of Jonathan Eastland's photos from the Admiral's Cup (including from 1979) can be seen in this article, and in Jonathan Eastland's archive.

Further sets of photos from the 1979 Admiral's Cup by Sharon Green can be seen in Part 2 and Part 3.