Lady Be (Frers 45)

Lady Be was the first of the production Beneteau 456, after Beneteau decided they needed a fast offshore yacht in their production range. She was designed by German Frers and, although supposedly a production yacht, the hull was constructed in Kevlar and carbon-fibre/foam sandwich with a stripped out interior. She was 13.8m (45.3ft) long, with a beam of 4.2m and displacement of 9,225kg, and carried a rating of 35.4ft.

Lady Be in hard reaching conditions (photo Facebook)

Eric Duchemin was recruited by Beneteau to campaign Lady Be for the French Admiral's Cup trials and just failed to gain a place. However, she came under the eye of Peter Blake, who was looking for a yacht to charter for the hastily prepared New Zealand Admiral's Cup team where she would join Neville Crichton's Frers 43 Shockwave. Crichton had initially planned his boat for a New Zealand team, but when no other boats came forth for selection, he campaigned Shockwave in the Australian trials. Despite her dominance of that series, however, Shockwave was not selected and Crichton found himself with a hot boat in need of team-mates. He managed to goad the New Zealand sailing fraternity into action, and Ian Gibbs joined the fray by chartering Swuzzlebubble IV, the former Epiglass New Zealand (Wee Willie Winkie), a Holland 40 and near sistership to his earlier Swuzzlebubble III which was top individual yacht in the 1981 Admiral's Cup.

Lady Be rounds a windward mark during the second race of the 1983 Admiral's Cup, just ahead of US yacht Locura

Blake thought that Lady Be could be made competitive for the Admiral's Cup, particularly if Duchemin stayed on, and chartered the French yacht. Following an unremarkable 16th place in the first race of the series (where Shockwave finished last after incurring a 23 place penalty), Blake proved his point in the second race when, in a reasonable breeze in the Solent, Shockwave and Lady Be had a great race together to finish third and fourth respectively. That was as good as it got however, as lighter winds in the two ocean races put the bigger boats like them out of the running. The Channel Race was a small boat benefit, and Lady Be finished in 41st place, with Shockwave not much better in 32nd. In better conditions in the fourth race, Lady Be finished 17th and then 16th in the Fastnet race finale, to finish as 19th yacht overall, with the New Zealand team taking sixth place.

Lady Be seen here during the 1983 Admiral's Cup, trying to outrun the smaller yacht Almagores (Peterson 43), which finished second on individual points and was part of the second placed Italian team (photo Phil Uhl)

Lady Be powers upwind under full main and no.3 genoa (photo Facebook)

Lady Be to windward to team-mate Shockwave at the start of the second race in the 1983 Admiral's Cup (photo Johnathan Eastland | Ajax)

Lady Be leads Scarlett O'Hara downwind during the second race of the 1983 Admiral's Cup (photo Alan Sefton | NZ Yachting)

The following sequence of photos are of Lady Be taken by Larry Moran on the long downwind leg of the St Petersburg to Ft Lauderdale race during the 1984 SORC. Lady Be was sailed by Francois Chalain and finished in 3rd place in Class C (and 14th overall) with division placings of 8/2/2/1/9/8.

Lady Be during the St Petersburg to Ft Lauderdale race during the 1984 SORC (photo Larry Moran)

Lady Be on her way to second place in the St Petersburg to Ft Lauderdale race (photo Larry Moran)

Lady Be with Bravura and Secret Love (overall winner of Class C) following (photo Larry Moran)

Lady Be with Bravura and Secret Love following, and Invictus out to the left (photo Larry Moran)

Lady Be with Bravura and Secret Love following (photo Larry Moran)

Another photo of Lady Be during the 1984 SORC, this time by Guy Gurney

It is understood that Lady Be was sold to Russell Hoyt in Newport, R.I. and renamed Destination where she was actively raced on the US east coast. In 2009 she took part in the ARC 2009 race under the ownership of Jurgen Dobbelaer and with her original name of Lady Be. Unfortunately she had to abandon the race due to leaks in the rudder post. She was transported to Muiden in the Netherlands in 2010 and is in service as a charter yacht for day trips on the IJsselmeer (as of 2016).

Article updated July 2024

Anticipation (Lexcen 50)

Anticipation was a 50-foot Ben Lexcen design, commissioned by Don St Clair Brown who was widely regarded as the Father of New Zealand yachting. Don had sailed several Flying Dutchman and Dragon class yachts and a Tornado, before eventually building Anticipation (in aluminium) in 1975 where he left his greatest mark on New Zealand's ocean racing scene. Anticipation was of moderate displacement for the period and masthead rigged, and with her distinctive broad yellow stripe she was a feature of the New Zealand keelboat scene for many years, and Don campaigned her in most of the major Pacific ocean races including the Clipper Cup and Sydney-Hobart as well as local New Zealand regattas.

Anticipation in her early days

Anticipation, with her original rating of about 40.3ft IOR was a strong performer in the New Zealand 'B' team in the first Clipper Cup in 1978, alongside Lovelace (Farr One Tonner) and Inca, an S&S 46 footer). 

Anticipation during a local Auckland race in 1979 (photo Maritime Museum)

During the 1979 Southern Cross Cup trials

Anticipation at the start of the 1979 Auckland to Suva race (photo Maritime Museum)

With the benefit of an age allowance, she again sailed strongly in 1980, even though winds were lighter than ideal for her, with results of 5/2/5 in the first three races to initially lead such famous new yachts as Challenge, Ragamuffin and Shockwave.

Anticipation during the 1980 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl | Facebook)

Anticipation with spinnaker and blooper in excellent trim (possibly during the 1980 Clipper Cup)

Although now seven years old, Anticipation finished in fifth place in the New Zealand trials for the 1982 Clipper Cup, now with a lower 38.5ft rating, and formed part of the New Zealand 'Red' team (alongside Bad Habits and Solara). The 'Red' team finished in sixth place (ahead of the smaller yachts making up the 'Green' team in 9th), where she finished 17th overall with placings of 20/21/18/27/18.

Anticipation fully pressed on a tight reach during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Powering along upwind during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo John Malitte | Sea Spray)

Anticipation again made the running in 1984, further benefiting from the IOR age allowance with a rating of 37.9ft, and was part of the seventh-placed New Zealand 'B' team (with Black Sheep and Blast Furnace). She outperformed both of her team-mates to finish 18th overall.

Anticipation off Molokai during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Charging along downwind, possibly during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Facebook)

While Don owned and continued to race Anticipation until his death in 2008 (at 94), he also commissioned Thunderbird, a Farr 43, in 1984 in which he sailed in the 1985 Southern Cross Cup and went on to win the 1986 Kenwood Cup (the former Clipper Cup) alongside Equity and Exador. 

Anticipation soon after the start of the 2006 Coastal Classic race (photo Richard Gladwell | Sail World)

Anticipation competing in an Australian regatta, date unknown

Anticipation is sadly now languishing as a houseboat of sorts in Mooloolaba, Australia (photo below from 2022, Facebook).

Article updated September 2024