Phoenix (Beneteau One Tonner)

Phoenix was a Fauroux/Finot/Berret design from Beneteau (a development of Fair Lady and sistership of Coyote), and had a starring role in the 1985 Admiral's Cup. She was sailed by Graham Walker and Harold Cudmore, who had actually started their 1985 campaign with Walker's fourth Indulgence, a Daniel Andrieu-designed One Tonner. However, on Indulgence's first offshore race, the RORC's De Guingand Bowl, they sailed too close to Bembridge Ledge and in the early hours of the morning she hit an old shipwreck (the 1916 wreck of the Empress Queen) - while initially the boat seemed sufficiently intact to sail on, further inspection just half an hour later found that the boat was filling up fast.  The crew were taken off the boat by other competitors, and the boat was written off. 

Walker chartered Phoenix from the boat's owner, an American based in London, and sailed well through the British Admiral's Cup trials. Phoenix joined two other One Tonners, Jade and Panda, to make up the British team for the 1985 series. The boat's owner shared time on the boat with Walker, while Cudmore put together a strong crew, and signed up new British J-24 champion Eddie Warden-Owen to helm the boat. 

The sad sight of Indulgence being lifted from the water after her collision with a sunken wreck off Bembridge Ledge

Phoenix in fresh downwind conditions on the Solent

Hull profile of the Beneteau One Ton design of 1984/85 - the design was relatively short, light, beamy and well-canvassed, and with a high prismatic coefficient

Phoenix

Results in the 1985 One Ton Cup, held in Poole, were perhaps as expected for a crew that were still getting to know the boat, and she finished 13th in a hot 38-boat fleet, including many One Tonners that were using the event as a warm-up for the Admiral's Cup. Her team-mates Jade and Panda finished first and third. Experience from the One Ton Cup was used to tune Phoenix, with adjustments made to the ballast, deck gear and sails to trade some upwind speed for better reaching and running form.

Phoenix crosses behind Australia's Drakes Prayer in light upwind conditions during the 1985 Admiral's Cup

Phoenix in close company with the much higher rating Almagores (ITA, centre) and Jade (inshore) in the stampede to the finish of the first inshore past Cowes Green during the 1985 Admiral's Cup

Phoenix and Jade finished fourth and fifth in the first race of the 1985 Admiral's Cup, giving the British team the early overall lead in the series. That was short-lived, however, after Panda and Jade finished 29th and 35th in the second race, with only Phoenix able to post a decent place of fifth, and the team slumped to fourth, and Germany jumped into the lead. But they bounced back in the fast and fresh reaching conditions of the third race, the Channel Race - Jade, Panda and Phoenix finished first, second and eighth to bounce back into second overall.

Phoenix in fresh conditions during the 1985 Admiral's Cup (photo is possibly before the start of the Fastnet Race)

While the fourth race, inshore on Christchurch Bay, saw the bigger boats into the leading positions, Phoenix took the race win. While Panda was the winner of the Fastnet, Jade lost her rig and although Phoenix finished fourth to take out the top yacht of the series honours, the German team put in a consistent effort to win the series comfortably.  

Port Barcelona comes back into the marina during the 1986 One Ton Cup in Palma de Majorque

Phoenix later became Port Barcelona and finished third in the 1986 One Ton Cup, held in Palma de Majorque (with placings of 4/12/6/5/16/3), and 10th in the 1986 Sardinia Cup (13/15/16/9/11).

Port Barcelona soon after a start during the 1986 Sardinia Cup, with Germany's Diva G ahead and to leeward

Port Barcelona during the 1986 Sardinia Cup

Jamarella (Farr One Tonner)

After sailing the three-year old Daniel Andrieu design Cifraline 3 to a very creditable fifth place in the 1986 One Ton Cup in Palma, Alan Gray commissioned Jamarella, a new Farr One Tonner for the 1987 Admiral's Cup and One Ton Cup. The boat was similar to the New Zealand yacht Propaganda (Design #182), but was a slightly different design (#184), optimised for racing in large fleets in UK conditions, and was particularly fast upwind in light and medium airs. This performance was helped by a deep draft fin keel with a fibreglass tip to avoid the boat becoming too stiff (under the onerous 'centre of gravity factor' measurement of the IOR), but still taking a draft penalty.  

Jamarella was skippered by Rodney Pattisson, who helmed the One Ton Cup champion Jade in 1985, and teamed up with Lawrie Smith (who helmed Panda to her Fastnet win in the 1985 Admiral's Cup), to create a very strong force at the back of the boat. Jamarella was built by Killian Bushe with Nomex honeycomb core. She carried a Sparcraft mast, which was held up with cobalt rigging, and flew a combination of Banks, Shore and Sobstad sails. 

Jamarella during the 1987 British Admiral's Cup trials (photo Seahorse)

Jamarella sailing downwind during the 1987 British Admiral's Cup trials (photo Seahorse/Histoiredeshalfs website)

Jamarella proved to be the most consistent of the new British One Tonners that lined up for the 1987 British Admiral's Cup trials, with three first places in the series, and she joined team Juno and Indulgence in the British team in a determined campaign to wrest the Admiral's Cup back from the Germans, who had triumphed again in 1985.  

Jamarella showing her upwind form (photos Histoiredeshalfs website)

Another view from astern of Jamarella sailing upwind in moderate conditions, with the topmast backstay showing plenty of ease! (photo Seahorse)

Jamarella on a downwind leg during the 1987 British Admiral's Cup trials (photo Seahorse)

She sailed the 1987 Admiral's Cup with a slightly lower rating than Propaganda (30.54ft, to 30.59ft IOR), and the two boats, both sporting the fastest shapes of 1987 and expertly sailed, had a series-long duel, with Jamarella outscoring her Kiwi rival in the first inshore and the Fastnet race, and in the latter demonstrating a slight edge downwind in light airs. The two finished first and second in the Channel Race, separated by just 16 seconds. In the end, Jamarella finished the series second overall, 30 points behind Propaganda (with placings of 14/2/4/24/3), and supporting the British team to second overall in the Cup proper. She was also the top offshore yacht in the series. More photos of Jamarella during the Cup can be seen here.

Jamarella showing her upwind form during the 1987 Admiral's Cup

Jamarella in close fleet action during the 1987 Admiral's Cup (photo Rick Tomlinson/Seahorse)

Jamarella rounds a windward mark during one of the inshore races on Christchurch Bay (photo Sailing Year 1987-88)

The boat went on to win Class II in the 1987 RORC series, and was named the RORC Yacht of the Year. 

Jamarella - RORC Yacht of the Year 1987 (photo Sailing Year 1987-88)

Jamarella (photo One Ton Facebook page)

She then went to Kiel for the 1987 One Ton Cup, where she finished sixth overall, although she had initially finished third overall following placings of 8/17/5/3/3, but was slapped with a "2 x 30 point" penalty, because of the discovery, on two occasions, of an unsecured five gallon fuel tank. The crew insisted it was spare fuel carried for seamanship reasons in case of a long motor home in a dismasting situation or water in the fuel tank. This became an issue of whether it was a tank under rule 202.2 of the IOR, or 'ship stores' under rule 109.4. In this respect she was perhaps an innocent victim of suspicions of cheating that had come to the fore as a result of allegations (later proven) against the German yacht i-Punkt. 

Jamarella in action during the 1987 Admiral's Cup, and crossing the stern of US yacht Blue Yankee

Rush, ex-Jamarella, during the 1988 One Ton Cup

Jamarella became Rush for the 1988 One Ton Cup in San Francisco, where she finished 11th overall. Alan Gray went on to commission a new Jamarella, a bigger Farr 50-footer, for the 1989 Admiral's Cup and to contest the burgeoning 50-foot circuit. 

Hitchhiker III ex-Jamarella during the 1989 Admiral's Cup

It is understood that the original Jamarella was chartered by Australian yachtsman, Peter Briggs, of Hitchhiker fame, for the 1989 Admiral's Cup, and the boat became the third yacht to wear the Hitchhiker moniker. Her stern was altered in response to the 1989 IOR rule changes, but Hitchhiker III didn't make the Australian team, and sailed for Ireland instead. A shadow of her former self, she finished in 32nd place (with results of 22/32/34/35/32/28), but was the best placed of the lowly 13th placed Irish team.


In 1995 Hitchhiker III was relocated to Holland and was optimised for the IMS rule - her bumps were removed, the stern was faired and a new keel was fitted. She was renamed ACE, and she went on to become the Dutch National IMS Champion in 1997.  

ACE is presently located in Muiderzand, Holland (photos above and below).

ACE seen more recently (2020) in Boorn, Netherlands (photo Facebook)

ACE in 2022 (photo Facebook)

One Ton Cup 1984

Sirius II, third overall

The One Ton Cup series experienced something of a renaissance in 1984, following the decision of the Offshore Racing Council in 1983 to increase the One Ton rating from 27.5ft IOR to 30.5ft. It also benefited from a central European venue, with 24 entries attending the regatta run by the Societe de la Trinite sur Mer on the South Brittany coast.

French yacht Passion 2, designed and skippered by Philippe Briand, was the outstanding boat of the series, and marked a general dominance of the event by the French, not just French-crewed yachts but in terms of designers, builders and riggers, and followed on from the success of Diva, the Joubert/Nivelt 40 footer that was top boat in the Admiral's Cup a year earlier.

Passion 2 had won the French selection series and dominated the One Ton Cup, although she had only a modest start in the first race in light, fluky conditions over an Olympic course in which she finished fifth. She won the next race in perfect 12 knot breezes, but only after some very close racing, mainly against the German yacht Sudpack, a new Judel/Vrolijk design.

As elegant as she was fast, the 1984 winner of the One Ton Cup, Passion 2

The third race was the short offshore, which was started in a near calm and Passion 2 was able to overhaul Super Stroumpf, a First 40 Evolution, soon after the first mark. Briand held the lead from there on to the finish, while mid-fleet placings changed constantly throughout the day and night. The racing was so close that 22 of the 24 yachts finished the 26 hour race within 30 minutes.

Close downwind action during the 1984 One Ton Cup, with Coyote leading Cifraline III

Passion 2 to weather of competitors in the 1984 One Ton Cup (Coyote to leeward and Regardless ahead to the right)

This win put Passion 2 at the front of the overall results. She lead from Sudpack, but the next race was the windiest, with up to 21 knots and Sudpack ran into difficulty when rig tension began to crush the composite construction beam supporting the mast. Sudpack was the most extreme of the new boats, with a measure beam (B) of 3.8m (right), and was finished only four days before the start of the series and competed without a full sail wardrobe.

The 1984 One Ton fleet head downwind (Sudpack leading from Passion 2, Sirius II and Jade)

Sudpack, the widest of the One Tonners in 1984 - construction problems in the fourth race forced her out of the final race and she finished 12th overall

The distinctive topside flare and curved sheerline that borrowed much from Briand's earlier winning Half Tonner Free Lance

The increased breeze suited the new Farr design Sirius II, owned and crewed by the Spanish Navy and assisted by Geoff Stagg, and she went on to lead the race from start to finish, to make amends for only average placings of 7/4/9 in the previous races. The win was all the more impressive for the margin of one minute, over another First 40, Coyote. Passion 2 finished fifth.

Passion 2 chases Sudpack downwind during the 1984 One Ton Cup

Sirius II (above and below) - enjoyed the breezier conditions of the fourth race

Passion 2 - above and below

The surprise boat by the end of the fourth race was the vintage Holland design, the masthead rigged Regardless which had been a top contender in the 1979 Admiral's Cup.  Regardless was lying a remarkable second overall and had put together a solid series with placing of 3/7/5/4.  The boat had benefited from a new mast, rigging, deck gear, carbon rudder and new sails to bring her up to 1984-standards. Experienced observers were heard to mutter, "if Regardless wins, she will set IOR design back five years!". 

The last race, the double points long offshore (255 miles), began with the overall result still wide open and the promise of more light weather. Passion 2 came again to the fore, rounding each mark consistently ahead, but with Coyote in close company. After 40 hours of racing, Passion 2 took the gun, and a clear 24 point lead to win the One Ton Cup. French yachts filled four of the top five places, with only Sirius II getting in on the act in third. Cifraline 3, a Daniel Andrieu design, finished second. Regardless finished a lowly 17th in this race, and had to settle for seventh overall.

Another view of Sudpack, from astern and showing her wide beam

One of the four First 40 Evolutions in the 1984 One Ton Cup, Fair Lady, and seen below to leeward of Sudpack

It was also notable that, with the series being the first under the new 30.5ft IOR rating limit, that the top Admiral's Cup and SORC yacht of 1984, Diva, finished tenth, and the second Admiral's Cup boat, Sabina, finished 18th.  In addition, series production yachts did reasonably well against the custom boats, with Fair Lady, Coyote and Super Stroumpf, all First 40 Evolutions, finishing fourth, fifth and ninth, and Alliance, a new X-Boats One Tonner from Denmark, finishing eighth. Diva, in German hands for the series, finished tenth.

The Danish X-Yacht Alliance (above and below) - finished 8th overall (placings 10/8/14/13/4)

 

Cifraline 3 rounding a windward mark

Stern view of Passion 2

Entries from England had disappointing results. Jade, the Humphreys masthead One Tonner, won the opening race to raise English hopes, but 11th was her next best result. The new Jade would make amends, however, in the 1985 series.

Jade rounds a windward mark ahead of Coyote