This article features a selection of photos from the 1981 Admiral's Cup from Guy Gurney and Phil Uhl, as well as a recently published video of the series (by retro yachting) as narrated by the late Bob Fisher. The series was won by Britain, with the USA second and Germany third, although the subsequent controversy over the rating of British yacht Victory of Burnham was considered by many to place something of a cloud over that result.
Part of the 1981 Admiral's Cup fleet Dusselboot, Intuition, Bribon III, Wee Willie Winkie, Panda and Attaque (photo Guy Gurney)
Light airs in the first race, with Woolly Jumper, Victory, Almagores and Scaramouche (photo Phil Uhl)
The crew of Canada's Pachena endure the light airs of the first day (photo Phil Uhl)
Bermuda's Caiman II, winner of the first race, runs aground and the crew scramble aloft to try to help the yacht break free (photo Guy Gurney)
Ireland's Woolly Jumper in light airs, likely during the first race (photo Phil Uhl)
The second race saw more favourable breezes - here the fleet sets off with (left to right, Wee Willie Winkie, Moonduster, Stars & Stripes, Ragamuffin, Intuition, Hurrycane,Victory and Mandrake), photo Guy Gurney
Stars & Stripes leads a group of boats on a reaching leg during Race 2 (photo Guy Gurney)
Ireland's Regardless tacks behind France's Tahiti during the 1981 Admiral's Cup (photo Phil Uhl)
Dragon, a Dubois-39 footer, was the small boat of the British team, and found her legs in the offshore races (photo Phil Uhl)
The start of the Channel Race, with Hong Kong's La Pantera to windward of France's Tahiti and Italy's Almagores (photo Phil Uhl)
Light air downwind sailing, possibly during the start of the Channel Race, with (left to right) Accanito, Hurrycane, Moonduster, Runaway, Caiman and Ra Carat (photo Guy Gurney)
The start of the Channel Race, with Midnight Sun to leeward of Runaway and Accanito (photo Phil Uhl)
Pinta at the start of the Channel Race (photo Phil Uhl)
Runaway seen here again after the start of the Channel Race, with Flirt of Paget just ahead, and Container visible to the right (photo Phil Uhl)
Italy's Almagores is sandwiched in a pileup of Admiral's Cuppers with other yachts at a turning mark during the Channel Race (photo Guy Gurney)
Another view of Britain's Dragon (photo Guy Gurney)
More photographs from the 1981 Admiral's Cup can be seen here from Day 1 and Day 2 of the series.
A stampede of 50-footers during the fourth race of the 1993 Admiral's Cup, with Champosa VII leading Pro-motion VII, Indulgence and Corum Saphir (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)
Just as they did in similarly boisterous conditions in 1985, Germany outlasted their opponents to win the 1993 Champagne Mumm Admiral’s Cup for the fourth time. In a series that became a battle of attrition by the end of the Fastnet race, the Germans finished with all three boats – Container, Rubin XII and Pinta - intact, while the early front-runners, Australia and Italy, paid dearly for collisions and gear failure. Germany won by just a quarter of a point, an even narrower margin than the French in 1991. It was a fittingly close result for what was to be the swansong for the IOR in the Admiral's Cup.
Starline action during the 1993 Admiral's Cup, with Nippon to windward (mid-tack), Swing (JPN3553), Indulgence (GBR) and Jameson 3, with the bow of Mandrake to the right (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)
The win nevertheless came as a surprise to the German team. Despite having the current One Ton champion Pinta, their team was not considered to be as strong as Australia or Italy.
Pro-motion VII powers along in fresh reaching conditions during the 1993 Admiral's Cup (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)
As with the 1991 event, teams were made up of a 50-footer, Two Tonner and a One Tonner. However, the three-class level-rating scoring that had proved so successful in 1991 was dropped. Elapsed times had to be corrected not just into class order, but fleet order too. An age allowance factor was also introduced. However, only two scores from three boats were counted for each race (after it was feared that the series might fail and so two-boat teams were permitted for the first time). Only the Dutch team failed to field a three-boat team. It was therefore impossible to tell the results while racing was underway, and as a windy series, it favoured the larger yachts. This meant that some crews may have sailed well, but were rewarded with no points. A good 50-footer seemed essential for success, since their ability to obtain clear air early in any of the races guaranteed them a better chance than the boats which had to struggle through the disturbed air of one or two bigger classes – indeed, five of the seven races were won by the 50-footers and the other two went to Two Tonners. The One Tonners hardly got a look in, but Germany’s One Tonner, Pinta, that year's World One Ton champion, was essential to the team’s success even though she only recorded a score in two races.
Mandrake leads Jameson 3, with Champosa VII setting her spinnaker and followed by Corum Saphir and Container (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)
Australia showed early form – Syd Fisher’s Ragamuffin (ex-Will) in the hands of Peter Gilmour, had looked the best 50-footer on the track. Gilmour constantly proved that, and only the combined attack of his opponents, and hitting a windward mark in the third race, stopped Ragamuffin from winning every race easily. The team’s One Tonner, Ninja, was a touch off the pace but this was made up for by John Calbert Jones’ Great News II (ex-Wings of Oracle), which became a force in the hands of Colin Beashel and it was only when her mast broke off at the deck early in the Fastnet, 20 miles north of the Scillies Islands, that the Australian challenge was lost.
Corum Saphir creates a bit of white water as she rounds a leeward mark (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)
The German success was due to the efficiency of the team with back-up support that was ready for almost every eventuality, with New Zealand’s Peter Lester playing a key coaching role.
Jameson 2 rounds a gybe mark ahead of Rubin XII and Swing (photographer unknown)
France had probably had more practice than the rest of the team, but the combined talent never materialised into a winning force until the Fastnet, where once again, the French were the highest point scorers. But by then it was too late. Mistakes were common and Corum Saphir, the team's 50-footer (ex-Springbok), failed to score for her country in three of the inshore races when the big boats were dominant. Corum Rubis, the Two Tonner (ex-Bravura), recorded a solid score in every race and only Ragamuffin and Container were able to do as well. But Corum Diamant, the One Tonner (ex-Okyalos VI) failed to shine.
The aftermath of the Mandrake / Pro-motion VII collision in the fifth race (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)
Italy lead into the final race, but were impacted by the loss of Mandrake, the 50-footer, in the fifth race after she had won two consecutive inshore races. Mandrake and the Dutch yacht Pro-motion VII crashed as they approached the windward mark for the second time. After losing her lead at the first mark Pro-motion was caught by other 50-footers, and then slightly over-stood the windward mark on the second time. She was slightly high on Indulgence’s weather hip as Mandrake came across on port. Skipper Francesco di Angelis dipped Indulgence’s stern but when the rudder stalled while attempting to dip Pro-motion and her bow entered the middle of Pro-motion’s hull, slicing to just below the waterline, at the same time breaking off the front four feet of the Italian yacht. For a time it seemed that both would sink, and it was a full minute before they could be prised apart. The crew of Pro-motion immediately put her on port tack to keep the gaping hole clear of the water and headed for Chichester Harbour with pumps going flat out. Mandrake’s crew, meanwhile, covered the hole in the bow with a storm jib, massed their weight and all sails in the stern and settled in for a long slow tow home to Cowes.
The extent of damage to Pro-motion is clearly visible from this photo by Gilles Martin-Raget (Facebook)
The video footage of this incident, including the lead-up and aftermath, can be seen in a Reuters film here, and in the video below (at 33 minutes).
Mandrake’s loss was crucial for the team which had looked so strong on paper. Larouge, the Two Tonner, had just won the Two Ton Cup and was top scorer in the class going into the Fastnet, but on the way back from Fastnet Rock, and 40 miles from Bishop Rock, her runner parted and their rig tumbled with 130 miles to go. The One Tonner, Brava Q8 (One Ton Cup winner in 1992) was seen as a potent performer, but she only produced a good score on one occasion. She was initially lucky in race 3 when after hooking the mooring of the outer distance mark, the race committee delayed the start, but later lost her mast not long after rounding the final leeward mark.
Japan finished fifth. Champosa VII, the team's 50-footer, showed flashes of brilliance but her overall score was not as hoped for. Swing was a regular scorer for her team, but Nippon, the One Tonner, was not as strong, and things were not helped when a crew-member went over the side during the Fastnet, and the yacht subsequently retired.
Britain was a lowly sixth. Indulgence (ex-Juno V) finishing as top yacht in the Fastnet, but other than a second in the opening race, she failed to score in the next four. Provezza Sauce, the Two Tonner, had good speed but this was often wasted. The young team aboard GBE International (ex-Port Pendennis), might have done better but lacked experience of mixed-fleet sailing in a small boat.
"Jameson on the rocks" (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)
The Irish team’s performance were impacted from the first race after the team’s One Tonner, Jameson 1 (ex-Fram XI), hit the rocks off Gurnard Ledge (to the west of Cowes) and lost her keel. Four other One Tonner’s hit as well but Jameson 1 was the only serious casualty. Down to two boats, there was further disappointment when Jameson 3 (ex-Heaven Can Wait) broke her boom at the mainsheet attachment during the Fastnet race. Jameson 2 (ex-Shockwave) was the team’s bright note, finishing as the top Two Tonner overall.
The 35th Fastnet race, the seventh race of the regatta, provided the 20 remaining boats left in the Cup with a proper test of the fleet. Good strong winds, on the wind all the way to the Fastnet Rock, and a fast run and reach back, found weaknesses and, as usual, was the final arbiter of the Cup. At the front of the fleet, it was a battle between Ragamuffin and Indulgence, with Corum Saphir coming into the equation on the way home. Corum Rubis led the Two Tonners at the Rock, 16-minutes ahead of Larouge. Pinta led the One Tonners, ahead of Brava Q8 by 11 minutes, and Ninja another seven minutes back.
Experience aboard Indulgence was a key factor at the Lizard, when in a foul tide navigator Peter Morton took the boat inshore into a countercurrent and this enabled Chris Law to steer her ahead of Gilmour and the Ragamuffin team. She then led Ragamuffin into Plymouth Sound by just 11 seconds, with Corum Saphir a further 12 seconds astern.
However, Ragamuffin lost a place to Corum Saphir on corrected time, which was crucial for the overall results. After Larouge’s dismasting, the Cup result became a battle between Australia and Germany, and much depended on the One Tonners. Pinta was the difference, finishing seven minutes ahead of Brava Q8 and, more importantly, one place ahead of Jamieson 2 on corrected time.
A subsequent protest against Jameson 2 by Prevezza Sauce under the Collision Regulations about an alleged luffing incident during the hours of darkness, which would have raised Ninja by one point and given the Cup to Australia, was dismissed by the International Jury and the final result, and Germany’s victory, was confirmed.
It is noted that without the discard scoring system, Germany's points margin would have been even higher, so at least the 'right' country won under the 1993 system. Ragamuffin was the highest individual points scorer.
An excellent video of the close racing experienced during the series can be seen below.
This article (April 2025)is adapted from the accounts within Bob Fisher's article in 'Admiral's Cup Blow by Blow', September 1993 (as printed in Boating NZ magazine) and Timothy Jefferey in The Official History of the Champagne Mumm Admiral's Cup (1994).
This post follows an earlier article about the 1988 edition of the Kenwood Cup that featured photographs by Sharon Green. The following gallery focuses mainly on the Maxi fleet (who were holding their World Championship for that year) and includes photographs by Kaoru Soehata, Guy Gurney and Phil Uhl.
Ondine VII leads Windward Passage 2 (the winner of Class A) and Congere in tight reaching conditions during the 1988 Kenwood Cup (photo Guy Gurney)
Il Moro di Venezia leads Ondine VII and Matador (photo Kaoru Soehata)
An aerial shot of Congere in hard reaching conditions (photo Guy Gurney)
Sorcery leading Il Moro di Venezia, Ondine VII and Matador (photo Guy Gurney)
Ondine VII just after hoisting the spinnaker on a reaching leg - likely a sea-level shot taken at about the same time as the first photograph above(photo Guy Gurney)
A start of Class E, with General Hospital leading off the windward end with The Esanda Way (aka-Beyond Thunderdome) to leeward - Ultimate Challenge, Sagacious V and Bravura are visible further down the line (photo Phil Uhl)
Above and below - The leaders in the One Ton fleet near a gybe mark, with Bravura leading from Sagacious V, with Japan's Victoria and Brazil's Black Jack coming up from behind - Britain's Junocan also be seen to the left in the photo below (photos by Phil Uhl)
Another Class E start, with Sagacious V leading (photo Phil Uhl)
Ondine VII powers to windward (photo Guy Gurney)
An aerial view of French 'mini-Maxi' Emeraude (photo Kaoru Soehata)
Matador (right) and Il Moro di Venezia nearing a downwind mark (photo Guy Gurney)
Foredeck action aboard the 54-footer Jubilation at a leeward mark (photo Guy Gurney)
Ondine VII to weather of Sorcery (photo Guy Gurney)
The crew of Il Moro di Venezia prepare for a windward mark rounding (photo Guy Gurney)
Kialoa IV (right), Windward Passage and Nirvana in a close tussle off the startline during one of the races during the 1983 SORC (photo Phil Uhl)
This post features photographs from the SORC 1983 series taken by Phil Uhl. For more about this series, see an earlier post and article here, and the regatta video here.
Brooke Ann, a Nelson-Marek 41-footer, just ahead ofGloryand hard on the heels ofScarlett O'Hara, in close racing in Class D -Scarlett O'Harawould go on to finish second in class (and be top yacht overall), withGloryeighth (Peterson 42) and Brooke Ann 12th (photo Phil Uhl)
Leeward mark action in Class D during the 1983 SORC, withLocura leading Mea Culpa, Thunderbolt (US-31666) and Bright Finish (US-31177) (photo Phil Uhl)
Obsession, a S&S 46-footer, comes to grief in hard reaching conditions off Miami during the 1983 SORC, while chasing Secret Love (right) in the Class C division (photo Phil Uhl)
Fame, seen here to windward of Glory in a Class D start, likely the Miami-Nassau race (photo Phil Uhl)
Quest, a Rodgers 43-footer, to leeward of Glory (photo Phil Uhl)
The Peterson 45-footer Secret Love, to leeward of Avalanche, a Morgan 45-footer after a start in Class C - Secret Love went on to finish second in class (photo Phil Uhl)
Class B yacht Zero, a Frers 51-footer, in tight reaching conditions to leeward of Artemis (photo Phil Uhl)
The Farr 37 Migizi, top yacht in Class F, and 10th yacht overall (photo Phil Uhl)
A Maxi-fleet start (Class A), with Triumph seen here to windward of Nirvana, Kialoa IV and Windward Passage (photo Phil Uhl)
Quest in fresh downwind conditions (photo Phil Uhl)
Windward Passagein pre-start manoeuvres with Kialoa IV during the 1983 SORC - Kialoa IV went on to take overall honours in Class A, with Windward Passage second (photo Phil Uhl)
Stars & Stripes, a Nelson/Marek 39-footer, finished a lowly 16th in Class E (and 60th overall)
Alberta Bound, a Peterson 44-footer, finished 12th in Class C (photo Phil Uhl)
Another busy startline for the Maxis, with Windward Passage, Midnight Sunand Condor, and Nirvana visible to windward(photo Phil Uhl)
The peculiar looking 'rule beater' Cascade, a Milgrim 38-footer rating just 23.3ft, finished ninth in Class F (photo Phil Uhl)
At the St Petersburg Yacht Club marina, with Thunderbolt and Charisma V,in the foreground, and Windward Passage (photo Phil Uhl)
Part of the SORC 1983 fleet at the St Peterburg Yacht Club marina (photo Phil Uhl)
More photographs from this series can be seen here.
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