Clipper Cup 1984

The Frers 81-foot Maxi Boomerang, top individual yacht of the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

The 1984 Clipper Cup series attracted 69 of the world’s top IOR racing yachts from nine countries (Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Hong Kong, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Sweden and the United States). The Maxi fleet included Boomerang, Kialoa IV, Nirvana, Sorcery and Winterhawk (ex-Ceramco New Zealand) from the United States, Condor from Bermuda and Ragamuffin (ex-Bumblebee IV) from Australia. Renowned marine photographer Phil Uhl was there to capture the action, and this article features a number of his photos from the series. 

Boomerang crosses ahead of Kialoa IV as they approach a windward mark during one of the Triangle races in the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

The three Olympic triangle races were again the most hotly contested of the series, with the Maxis doing their best to save their time on handicap against the smaller yachts. The first two races were sailed in strong blustery winds before Hawaii’s standard tradewinds settled in. Boomerang had a slow start but by the second race was clearly the form yacht in Class A. Within the other classes, Monte Livingston’s Checkmate (ex-Bullfrog) took two firsts in Class B; US yacht Victory lead Class C with a second and first; Bondi Tram lead Class D with two first placings; and Exador lead the One Ton fleet that made up most of Class E, also with two first places.

The Soverel-designed 55-footer The Shadow, seen here rounding a windward mark in close company with Italian yacht Orlanda, a Farr 58-footer - The Shadow finished fifth yacht overall and first in Class B (photo Phil Uhl)

Kialoa IV (second yacht overall) powers upwind with Condor on her windward hip (photo Phil Uhl)

The rough conditions of the first two races caused some attrition in the fleet, and so only 58 boats motored out for the 150-mile double-points Kalua Koi Molokai Race. Conditions were fortunately much less extreme than in 1982, and saw Boomerang take line honours from Kialoa with a margin of nine minutes, but Kialoa only just edged out Sorcery by ten seconds. The Maxis also took overall handicap honours in the race, with Boomerang first, followed by Sorcery, Kialoa and Nirvana. In Class B, Australia’s Freight Train (Frers 62) finished first, ahead of The Shadow (with designer Mark Soverel at the helm), but Tomahawk (ex-Margaret Rintoull III) and Checkmate took first and second on corrected time. The vintage Peterson 43 Scarlett O’Hara, sailed by Dee Smith, took Class C honours from the Reichel/Pugh 43 Sidewinder.

Scarlett O'Hara rounds up during one of the reaches in one of the first two Triangle races, and below, running downwind during the Molokai Race (photos Phil Uhl)

Japanese yacht Zero, a Frers 52-footer and member of the eighth-placed Japan 'East' Team (alongside Karasu and Intuition, sails past the North Shore during the Molokai Race (photo Phil Uhl)

Bondi Tram extended her dominance of Class D, soundly trashing Revenge and the rest of the class, with a 13-minute lead on corrected time. Similarly, Exador continued to be the boat to beat in Class E, trouncing her sisterships Sundance, General Hospital and Indian Gibber, and correcting to fifth in fleet behind the four leading Maxis. 

Ragamuffin (ex-Bumblebee IV), 11th yacht overall and part of the fifth-placed New South Wales team, sailing upwind with Nirvana's mainsail visible in the foreground (photo Phil Uhl)

Condor, Nirvana and Ragamuffin on the charge towards a wing mark during one of the Triangle races (photo Phil Uhl)

Afterguard action aboard Boomerang (photo Phil Uhl)

Similar positions were recorded for the KHON/NBC triangle race, with Boomerang again winning the Maxi division and holding her time against the entire fleet, with Bondi Tram being again dominant in Class D. In Class E the Farr 40s again proved to be rocketships, with Exador surviving a collision and protest with Class D yacht Orihime to win the class. Checkmate added a second placing in Class B to her earlier firsts, and a second overall to secure the newly dedicated Hawaii Silver Jubilee Trophy for the top overall yacht in the combined ocean triangle races.

Close racing in Class C, with Hong Kong's Bandido Bandido seen here leading Shockwave (KZ-5070), Scarlett O'Hara and Bravura (photo Phil Uhl)

Bondi Tram, the dominant yacht of Class D, rounds a leeward mark in close company with US yacht Prism during the third Triangle race (photo Phil Uhl)

Above and below, the US yacht Bravura, a Frers 46-footer and member of the ninth-placed US 'Blue' Team, alongside Scarlett O'Hara and Libalia Flash (photos by Phil Uhl)

With only the 778-mile Around the State Race to go, Boomerang had accumulated 490 out of a possible 500 fleet points. Checkmate, however, lay just three points behind, and Tomahawk another three points further back. The performances of these latter two had bought their US ‘White’ Team within six points of the series-leading New Zealand ‘A’ Team of Exador, Shockwave and Sundance in the scoring for the Clipper Cup (also giving New Zealand a comfortable 34-point lead in that season’s Champagne Mumm World Cup). However, the Around the State Race counts for triple points, or three-eighths of the series scoring, which reduces the importance of all the preceding races by what some considered an excessive amount.

Boomerang crosses behind Condor, likely while the fleet played the windshifts off Maunalua Bay in the early stages of the Molokai Race (photo Phil Uhl)

The Dave Pedrick designed Maxi Nirvana finished fourth in Class A (with results of 2/3/4/3/5) (photo Phil Uhl)

The Around the State Race started in an easterly squall followed by light to moderate winds for the trek to Kauai and beyond Niihau. Fortunately the winds began to pick up again on the long reaching leg to South Point. Misfortune would strike when Exador was dismasted by a rogue wave off the Ka’u Coast off the Big Island. Boomerang was the first yacht around South Point, leading Kialoa by about six miles. As the wind freshened Boomerang extended her lead, finishing in 3 days, 22 hours and 34 minutes and beating the course record set by Kialoa in 1982 by an hour (and also beaten by Kialoa in 1984). Condor saved her best for the most important race, coming in third, followed by Sorcery, Nirvana, Ragamuffin and Class B’s leader Freight Train.

Close upwind racing in Class B, with Tomahawk to weather of Black Sheep (KZ-595), Artemis (US-31105), Orlanda (I-10149) and Checkmate (US-8997) (photo Phil Uhl)

The Frers 62-footer Freight Train sets off on a spinnaker reach during one of the Triangle races - she finished 13th= yacht overall and was a member of the fifth-placed New South Wales Team, alongside Ragamuffin and Sweet Caroline (photo Phil Uhl)

The Farr 40 General Hospital in strong upwind conditions - she finished 13th= overall and was a member of the third-placed USA 'Red' Team, alongside Sidewinder and Artemis (photo Phil Uhl)

US yacht Checkmate during the 1984 Clipper Cup - finished as fourth yacht overall with placings of 1/1/3/1/15 (photo Phil Uhl)

At about the time Boomerang finished, the Class C boats Camouflage and Sidewinder were sailing between Hawaii and Maui in the middle of the Class B group, involved in what would turn out to be a 165-mile match race to the finish. By late that night, the two were sailing less than ten boat-lengths apart under light spinnakers, passing Makanalua Peninsula in company with Class B yacht Zero. As they romped across the Molokai Channel, it became apparent that this race would not be another big-boat benefit: Camouflage beat Sidewinder across the line, but Sidewinder, rating some 2.2ft less, corrected to first easily, both in class and fleet, cementing a Class C win over Shockwave which had placed second for the race. 

The crew aboard the Farr 40 Sundance enjoying their work, and the warm conditions (photo Phil Uhl)

US yacht Camouflage, a Frers 44-footer and member of the winning US White team (photo Phil Uhl)

The Nelson-Marek -designed 49-footer Brooke Ann just under control in power reaching conditions (photo Phil Uhl)

Second in fleet for the race was Sundance, as the Farr 40 picked up where her dismasted sistership and team-mate had left off. In the process, Sundance also secured Class E honours for the series and third place overall. Bondi Tram came in third in fleet for the race, completing a sweep of five wins in Class D (and was sixth overall).

 Bandido Bandido, a Peterson 43, presses on with a tri-sail after presumably blowing out her mainsail (possibly during the first Triangle race as this was her worst result) - she was a member of the 11th (last) -placed Hong Kong team, alongside Tsunami and Bimblegumbie (photo Phil Uhl)

In Class B, Checkmate’s long beat to South Point knocked her out of the running, opening the door for The Shadow to take class honours for the race and, by a single point over Tomahawk, for the series. This was another obvious example of the effect of the heavy weighting of the Around the State Race, as Tomahawk and Checkmate had taken all the class firsts and seconds in the first four races (in comparison to The Shadow's results of 4/4/4/6).

Condor bashes into big seas on one of the first two days of racing, with Ragamuffin visible to windward (photo Phil Uhl)

Freight Train seen here with a twisted spinnaker (photo Phil Uhl)

Blast Furnace, above and below (with Orlando in the background, above), a 44-footer designed by Murray Ross that featured relatively clean aft sections resulting in a high 38.5ft rating - this approach was unsuccessful and she finished as 26th-placed yacht (results of 24/28/28/31/17) as a member of the seventh-placed New Zealand 'B' Team, alongside Anticipation and Black Sheep (photos Phil Uhl)

The one boat impervious to the last-race shuffling of the standings was Boomerang, which had finished first in class and tenth in fleet, and so won Class A easily as well as the King Kamehameha Trophy for the best individual yacht overall, ahead of Kialoa IV in second. In team scoring, Exador’s demise allowed the US ‘White’ Team to retain the Pan Am Clipper Cup, with New Zealand ‘A’ finishing second.

US yacht High Risk, a Frers-designed One Tonner, sails upwind during one of the Triangle races, with Sweet Caroline visible behind (photo Phil Uhl)

Tsunami, a Castro-designed 40-footer, in upwind mode (above) and below, rounding a windward mark alongside the Takai-designed Mimi and the Ohashi-designed Marie, and further below (and shortly afterwards) sliding down a big swell and still just ahead of Mimi.Tsunami was a member of the 11th-placed Hong Kong team (photo Phil Uhl)

Bandido Bandido surfs along on a windy reaching leg, this time with her mainsail intact (photo Phil Uhl)

Casa 7, a Takai 40-footer and member of Japan's sixth-placed Japan 'West' Team (alongside Saki VI and Mimi), with General Hospital to windward (photo Phil Uhl)

Casa 7 seen here on a reaching leg in one of the inshore triangle races, chasing Australia's Seaquesta, a Dubois 42-footer that finished 30th overall and sailed for the 10th-placed Victorian team (photo Phil Uhl)

Grey Fox, a fractionally-rigged J-41 One Tonner skippered by Lowell North - her performance did not suggest the change from the usual masthead configuration for this design was successful (photo Phil Uhl)

Seaulater, a Dubois-designed 40-footer,another member of the Victoria team, alongside Challenge III and Seaquesta (photo Phil Uhl)

Another image of Seaulater, with the bowman wrestling with a twisted spinnaker soon after rounding a windward mark (photo Phil Uhl)

The Peterson 42 Chimera (US)

Bloopers are deployed aboard Zero (above) and Prism (below) (photos Phil Uhl)

US yacht Flasher, a Frers One Tonner, rolls downhill mid-gybe, with the top yacht of the 1982 series, Tobiume, not far behind (photo Phil Uhl)

Another view of Flasher as she heads upwind, with Australia's Bandido Bandido on the charge on one of the reaching legs (photo Phil Uhl)

Scarlett O'Hara leads Challenge III and Bandido Bandido around a leeward mark (photo Phil Uhl)

Seaulater in close company on a reaching leg and keeping up with the higher rating yachts Commotion, High Noon and Expectation (a Farr 38, measuring in at 34.9ft IOR) (photo Phil Uhl)

Pre-regatta activity, with New Zealand yachts Blast Furnace, Sundance and Exador being unloaded from the ship (above) and Nirvana undergoing final hull checks (below) (photos by Phil Uhl)

Other Clipper Cup series covered on this blog: Clipper Cup 1978, Clipper Cup 1980, Clipper Cup 1982, Kenwood Cup 1986, Kenwood Cup 1988, Kenwood Cup 1990

Article updated July 2026

Bullfrog (Peterson 55)

Bullfrog (photo Dick Foat/DPT FB Page)

Bullfrog was Doug Peterson-designed 55 footer (Design #116) that had a very successful racing career through the early 1980s. Bullfrog was built for Californian yachtsman David Fenix by Newport Offshore in aluminium using a method to glue and rivet the skins to the frames instead of welding. This allowed for much thinner aluminium skin to be used. She was finished in a deep green topsides with white bottom which, allied with a sleek bow and stern profile and flush deck, resulted in a striking looking yacht.   

Bullfrog was perhaps the archetype of the heavy and powerful, masthead-rigged IOR yacht of the 1980s, but one that displayed the more balanced and easily driven lines of Peterson's later design approach than his earlier pintail types. Her IOR rating certificate shows a Centre of Gravity Factor well above the minimum (0.984) for good windward performance, and a relatively low rating of 44.4ft (under Mk IIIA). When well sailed as Bullfrog was, this type remained competitive in a transition period towards lighter fractional-rigged yachts, and she was the dominant IOR 'A' boat on the US West Coast over three years - she won the Big Boat Series twice as well as Long Beach Race Week.

Bullfrog emerges from the shed at Newport Offshore and ready for launching, below (photos Doug Peterson Tribute page)

Bullfrog also formed part of the US "Blue" team in the 1982 Clipper Cup, the bi-annual international regatta held in Hawaii, where she sailed alongside Clay Bernard's Davidson 50 Great Fun, and Jim Kilroy's Holland Maxi Kialoa IV.  Bullfrog was helmed by Tom Blackaller in this series, and started the regatta strongly, with a second in the first and second races, both Olympic triangles, and like the rest of the regatta, was held in very windy conditions.

Bullfrog in San Francisco (photo Facebook)

Bullfrog sailing upwind in San Francisco (photo Diane Betson, Doug Peterson Tribute page)

Bullfrog powers upwind (photo Yachting magazine)

But Bullfrog experienced continual problems through the series with her mast, a small-section triple-spreader Stearn spar. It featured an internal spinnaker boom track which also served as a stiffening member, but this came adrift regularly and its fastenings, however bolstered, were never quite strong enough for the job. She was sailed conservatively in the 143-mile Molokai Race, in very fresh conditions that saw many breakages throughout the fleet, but still managed a creditable fourth place in Class B (of 15 boats - her overall position in that race is not known). 

Bullfrog sails downwind with spinnaker and blooper flying (photo Seahorse)

Bullfrog during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl/Facebook)

Bullfrog during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo Facebook)

Bullfrog put in another strong performance in the fourth race, another Olympic triangle, finishing second, and went into the heavily weighted last race, the Round the State race, in first place overall, with team-mate Great Fun close behind in second. In the Round the State, Bullfrog again performed strongly in the early stages. But at the southern point of the island of Hawaii (not surprisingly known as South Point), while sailing alongside Jumpin' Jack Flash and several Class A boats in 15 knots of breeze, a toggle supporting the forestay at the masthead broke.  The repair took several hours and with it went any chance of winning the series, and dragged Bullfrog down to 11th place overall (and fourth in Class B). While Great Fun also dropped to fifth overall, Kialoa IV was well-placed in fourth after a dominant performance in the final race, and the US Blue team took out overall team honours for the series. The 1982 Clipper Cup also featured Monty Livingston's Peterson 50 Checkmate, which finished in ninth place overall. Both boats went on to race in the 1982 Big Boat Series, with Bullfrog (skippered by Steve Taft) posting dominant results of 1/3/2/1/1 to win Class B, with Checkmate finishing second (4/2/3/2/2).

Bullfrog during the 1983 Big Boat Series, where she won IOR Division 1 (photo Phil Uhl)

Bullfrog was later taken over by Livingston and his Checkmate team, and she went on to compete in the 1983 Big Boat Series, winning IOR Division I (the City of San Francisco Perpetual Trophy) with results of 2/1/1/2/3, edging out The Shadow and Tomahawk. 

Checkmate (ex-Bullfrog) in strong reaching conditions in the 1984 Clipper Cup, just to leeward of the Soverel 55 The Shadow

Checkmate (ex-Bullfrog) slides downwind during the 1984 Clipper Cup

Bullfrog was subsequently renamed Checkmate, and this has caused some confusion over the years with the earlier Checkmate, with both boats retaining the same moniker. The new Checkmate (or 'Checkfrog' as she was nicknamed) sailed in the 1984 Clipper Cup for the US White team, alongside Tomahawk, a Frers 50 (ex-Margaret Rintoul III), and Camouflage, a Frers 44. 

Checkmate running downwind during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

An aerial shot of Checkmate during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)

Checkmate was again dominant through the first four races of the 1984 Clipper Cup, with placings of 1/1/3/1, and with team-mate Tomahawk they more than holding their own against the fast Farr 40's Exador and Pacific Sundance (sailing for the New Zealand 'A' team, alongside the Frers 43 Shockwave). While third team-member Camouflage was less impressive, the US White team went into the final triple-point Round the State race only just behind New Zealand A. 

Checkmate to leeward in close racing in Class B, with Orlanda to weather, along with Tomahawk, Black Sheep and Artemis (photo Phil Uhl)

Checkmate again came unstuck in the Round the State race, being punished for a conservative rhumb line course down to South Point, and her eventual long beat to this turning point in the course knocked her out of the running for overall honours, finishing 15th, and dropping to ninth overall, while Tomahawk also finished relatively poorly in 12th and dropping to fourth overall. This demonstrated the effect of the heavy points weighting of the Round the State, as Checkmate and Tomahawk were clearly the form boats to that stage, having captured all of the Class B firsts and seconds in the first four races. However, while Camouflage was the weak link in the team, she had a stronger showing in the Round the State (fifth), and with Exador losing her mast in a freak wave off South Point, the US White team were able to carry off an overall team win. 

Checkmate crosses behind Orlanda, likely during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Facebook)

Checkmate powers along in San Francisco (photo Facebook)

Aside from her forays and success in the Big Boat Series, the later racing exploits of Checkmate are unknown. However, a video exists from 2008 where she remained in her original livery and was part of a sailing school (image above). Later, she was advertised for sale in 2014 while based in San Diego (photo and link below).

Checkmate in a 2014 advertisement by Yachtfinders

Article updated March 2025