Silver Shamrock III (Holland Half Tonner)

Silver Shamrock III was Ron Holland’s first centreboard yacht, designed for the 1977 Half Ton Cup which was held in Sydney just before the Southern Cross Cup series of the same year. Given the pedigree of its designer and crew, which included Harold Cudmore and Butch Dalrymple-Smith, the tiger-striped yacht was expected to perform strongly in the series. The boat was constructed in a highly developed timber and carbon fibre layup, with a fractional rig. Her maximum beam was more amidships compared with her main competition, namely the Bruce Farr-designed boats such as a Gunboat Rangiriri and Laurie Davidson's Waverider. She also carried a degree of tumblehome, and a transom only half the width of the Farr and Davidson boats - the stern was distinctive in the way that it tapered to a narrow rounded tuck. 

Silver Shamrock III racing during the 1977 Half Ton Cup (photographer unknown)

Despite her lightweight construction, she displaced twice that of the Farr and Davidson boats, weighing in at some 7,000lb. Some of that displacement was attributable to last minute additions of ballast to bring Silver Shamrock III up to her Half Ton rating (21.7ft IOR). The crew ran out of time with the boat and the ability to optimise its rating. Approximately 625lb of ballast was added to the boat, and this was considered, not surprisingly, to affect the yacht's reaching performance.

Holland had adopted a different approach to the more upright centreboards of her lighter displacement opposition, with the centreboard case piercing the deck for’ard of the mast and the centreboard angling back at a reasonably acute angle. 

An unusual sight on an ocean-racing yacht - Harold Cudmore and crew fitting the centreboard to Silver Shamrock III before racing in the 1977 Half Ton Cup

As with the preceding One Ton Cup held earlier in Auckland, the Half Ton Cup proved again the superiority of the lifting foil. Within the first 10 minutes of the first race, the 22 boat fleet split into two divisions – the six centreboarders in ‘division 1’ and the keelers in ‘division 2’. With nothing between Silver Shamrock III and her main opposition (Gunboat Rangiriri, Swuzzlebubble, 2269 and Waverider), the 250 mile ocean race finale became the decider - this after Silver Shamrock III had a near disaster in the short ocean race when her mast fell over the side just 400 yards of the finish line.

Silver Shamrock III during the 1977 Half Ton Cup (photo DB Yachting Annual)

Silver Shamrock III needed to finish two places ahead of either Gunboat Rangiriri or Waverider in the long ocean race to win the contest. It was a light wind affair, and Silver Shamrock III gave herself the best possible chance by finding more breeze in the early stages and clearing out to an unassailable lead, leaving the regatta result hinging on the placings astern. Both Swuzzlebubble and Waverider held too close into the windless Botany Bay, which let Gunboat Rangiriri in for the second place she needed to win the title, finishing some three hours behind Silver Shamrock III, and just beating 2269, to take the Half Ton Cup from Silver Shamrock III by the narrowest of margins – just one point, with placings of 5/1/2/2/2 against Silver Shamrock III’s 1/4/3/5/1.

Silver Shamrock III climbs out to weather after a start in the 1977 Half Ton Cup, with Newspaper Taxi (3223) to leeward and Gunboat Rangiriri astern (3426) (photo Ajax)

That Silver Shamrock III dropped her mast in the short ocean race was therefore a deciding factor in the outcome of the regatta, although it was also fortunate that Silver Shamrock III lost her mast so close to the finish and lost just one place. Had it gone a few miles earlier, it would have been very costly. The loss of an earlier mast on Silver Shamrock III before the series also demonstrated the lengths that crews were going to in order to shave weight in all areas, and not just the hull. It was Holland’s view that in the first incident the bottom of the mast was probably due to too much chemical milling. During the contest itself, the toggle system attaching the runners to the mast seemed to have failed, similar to a problem experienced by B195 in the One Ton Cup. Still, Silver Shamrock III was exceptionally well sailed by defending champion Cudmore, and proved to be at her best in light winds, winning the first race as well as the long ocean race finale.

Silver Shamrock III follows Swuzzlebubble out to a start in the 1977 Half Ton Cup

The difference in performance between Gunboat Rangiriri, in the light corner, and Silver Shamrock III, in the heavy corner, or, as Farr put it at the time, “about as heavy as people want to go these days”, was minimal, and showed the IOR was coping with the differences in displacement concept, at least in the light to moderate conditions that prevailed off Sydney. They represented the development of two entirely different boat types to a similar pitch and were very similar in performance, and similar over a wide range of conditions, although Shamrock was faster downwind in the light, while the Farr and Davidson boats were faster downwind in the fresh. Between those extremes, observed Farr "they were so similar they really could have been the same design."

Silver Shamrock III leads the fleet back to port, with Gunboat Rangiriri and Waverider astern

Silver Shamrock III went on to sail for the EEC (the former European Economic Community) team in the Southern Cross Cup series (with Pinta and Variag), while Swuzzlebubble stayed on to compete in the New Zealand team (alongside the centreboard One Tonners Jenny H and Smir-Noff-Agen). Although they had been similar in speed in the Half Ton Cup, in the stronger breezes of the Southern Cross Cup the heavier Silver Shamrock III proved to be no match for the lighter Swuzzlebubble, with placings of 20/6/12 before the Sydney-Hobart race, compared to Swuzzlebubble's 9/4/2. 

Silver Shamrock III battles her way out of Sydney Harbour in light and choppy conditions at the start of the 1977 Sydney-Hobart race

Both boats, however, failed to finish the storm-afflicted Sydney-Hobart race, which saw only 70 yachts finish of the 130 that started. Silver Shamrock III suffered minor damage to her frames and withdrew. Cudmore commented when he reached the fishing port of Ulladulla, “We are not out to kill ourselves – the storm was very bad and we didn’t want to take any risks.” The other two boats in her team managed to finish, and helped the EEC team to a fourth placing overall. 

Silver Shamrock III (photo Peter Cavill)

Silver Shamrock III was sold in Australia (and replaced by a less successful version, Silver Shamrock IV for the 1978 Half Ton Cup held in Poole). She was found on a swing mooring in 1982 in Sydney Harbour by Australian sailor Peter Cavill. She was transported to Brisbane for a big renovation, including shallowing the cockpit to make it self-draining. The original 'mackerel' paint scheme was too difficult to replicate so the Unchu (Clipper Cup yacht) design was adopted instead. With a shortage of time and money the boat was re-launched for the local Gladstone race, with the Stern rig which promptly fell over 1 hour into the race. 

Silver Shamrock III showing good upwind form in the 1980s, possibly with the older Stern mast (photo Peter Cavill)

Cavill then put in a narrower and lighter triple spreader rig and some new North sails and started winning everything he entered, except the downhill coastal races. She was sold in 1985. Some years later it came into the hands of the Hodder family, by which time the centreboard case was falling out. The un-ballasted centreboard was changed for an elliptical keel and the mast was modified to be keel stepped. It was sold in the early 1990s, and her whereabouts are unknown, with some variability in her eventual fate judging by the comments below. 

Silver Shamrock III with a new paint job and new rig (photo Peter Cavill)

Update: Photo below of Silver Shamrock III (April 2024) on the hard at Airlie Beach (photo Facebook)

Article updated May 2024

Howzat (Whiting Half Tonner)

In 1976 New Zealand designer Paul Whiting was beginning to win world attention as a result of his success at the Quarter Ton level with Magic Bus and his Half Tonner Candu II. Auckland yachtsman Allen Walbridge commissioned a new Half Tonner from Whiting, which was essentially a development of Candu II but with a longer and more cruising-oriented cabin. The 31 footer was named Howzat - not just a cricketing reference but also a representation of the moment of truth when various measurement challenges were overcome in the midst of IOR rule changes and a Half Ton rating of 21.7ft was achieved.

Such challenges included the need to place her 12hp engine not just for'ard of the mast, but actually in the bow. This provided sufficient bow down trim to gain a critical rating benefit, but as can be imagined it made the boat particularly cranky downwind.

Howzat on launching day, Westhaven Auckland (photo Allen Walbridge Collection)

Profile drawing of Howzat (courtesy demi-coques website)

Howzat was raced extensively in Auckland regattas and some of the offshore classics, including the Auckland to Gisborne race. Her first major series was the 1977 South Pacific Half Ton Cup. By this regatta the hot favourite was another new Whiting boat, the centreboarder Newspaper Taxi, which won all but one of the races. Howzat finished fifth overall, with placings of 5/3/11/3/6. 

Howzat during the 1977-78 season (photo Allen Walbridge Collection)

Howzat alongside the Paul brothers' Farcical off the now-demolished Hobson Bay dinghy lockers sometime in the late 1970s (photo Allen Walbridge collection)

Howzat then went on to contest the New Zealand Half Ton Cup trials later that year, a series which was dominated by yet another new generation of yachts, the Farr centreboarders Gunboat Rangiriri and Swuzzlebubble and the Davidson centreboarder Waverider, and Howzat was out of the running for selection but enjoyed close racing with other 'second division' keelers such as Instinct and Farcical. 

Howzat during the 1977 Half Ton selection trials (photo Maritime Museum)

Mast reinforcements after withdrawing from the Tonga Race 1978

Soon afterwards Howzat contested the Southern Cross Cup trials, coming up against her centreboard Half Ton competition as well as their bigger One Ton sisters. Howzat initially gave a good showing in the fourth race, running second on corrected time in the early stages but fell back later after a big wind shift. Still, she had a consistent regatta, just finishing out of team contention in fourth place overall. Howzat went on to race in the 1978 Tauranga to Vila race, and then the 1979 Auckland to Tonga race - in the latter she suffered almost complete rig failure near the Kermadec Islands, but a jury rig arrangement saw them arrive back in Auckland safely.

Howzat inTauranga after a race from Auckland

She nearly made the Southern Cross Cup team in 1979, but after leading the series she was forced to withdraw from the final race after failing to find Groper Rock in fading light, big seas and high winds, and finished the series in fourth place overall.

Above and below - Howzat has been part of the racing scene in Tauranga before being recently transported back to Auckland

Walbridge has recently found his former charge in Tauranga and she has just been transported back to Auckland for a full refit. This will include repainting the yacht in her original colour scheme, and the fitting of a new keel and rig, in a similar manner to her earlier sistership Candu II. I will be following Howzat's refit with interest and will post updates on her progress here.

Howzat on arrival at the Okahu Bay boatyard, August 2013 (photo Heath Walbridge)

Later in August, the keel and rudder are off, the skeg has been cut out and the hull has been stripped back (photo RB Sailing)

More recent photographs (May 2014) can be seen here, being re-launched here, and photographs of her in on-edge conditions during a 2015 race here.

Howzat is presently for sale (August 2023).

Candu II (Whiting Half Tonner)

Ian Gibbs' mounted a series of campaigns to lift the Half Ton Cup in the course of his offshore racing career, commencing in 1974 with Tohe Candu (the former Titus Canby), and ending with Swuzzlebubble in 1979. The Tohe Candu effort was the first international effort with a New Zealand design (by Bruce Farr). 

After a disappointing result in the 1975 Cup with his Ron Holland design Measure for Measure, Gibbs decided to return to the light displacement route for the 1976 series with a new design by Paul Whiting, being a Half Ton version of the 1975 Quarter Ton Cup winner Magic Bus, and a near sistership and forerunner to the New Zealand Half Ton champion, Newspaper Taxi.

Candu II on launching day, note the hollow for'ard sections, long and wide stern and pronounced skeg

Candu II was conceived in the midst of preparations for the Magic Bus Quarter Ton Cup campaign (held in Corpus Christi, Texas), and followed the Whiting template established with his smaller Quarter Tonner, with a pronounced maximum beam, hollow waterline for'ard, offset with deep bow sections at the forward depth (FD) station and a long flat transom. The design also continued the use of a long shallow skeg extending beyond the after inner girth station (AIGS), as a method to shorten the rated distance between this measurement point and the after girth station (AGS). 

This view of Candu II shows her broad and tapered stern

The rig details and deck layout were a scaled up version of the approach used in Magic Bus, with a 102mm tapered tube section, stepped well for'ard and designed to be equally as bendy as the mast on the smaller Quarter Tonner. The rig featured the same big mainsail and small foretriangle ratio as Magic Bus, except that the foretriangle was even smaller on Candu II. In place of the normal inboard engine, Candu II carried an outboard weighing around 120lbs. This was because the increase in weight and drag from a shaft and propeller unit available through the engine propeller factor (EPF) measurement was considered by Whiting to outweigh the sail area advantage on this size and concept of boat.

Candu II was built in nine weeks on a crash schedule to be launched in mid-winter 1976 and in time for the Half Ton Cup series to be held in Trieste, Italy. Gibbs still owned Tohe Candu, and two days after her launching, Candu II was to compete against Tohe Candu to decide which yacht Gibbs would take to Trieste. Candu II was victorious and left soon after for the Half Ton Cup.

The outboard auxiliary solution was put to the test during the pre-contest measurement process. This involved boats having to motor a measured mile and recording their speed against their rated length. Many crews spent a great deal of valuable tuning time on engines - ten boats failed the first test, and three were barred from starting the series. Candu II, with the longest rated length, had to achieve the highest speed, and after a week of work on the engine she passed by just 0.2 of a knot. 

Candu II slipping along in light air during the 1976 Half Ton Cup (photo Bateaux magazine)

Candu II works out to weather of Idro

Whiting had to pay for Candu II's long length by trading off sail area, and the yacht was the outlier on both measurements in the 70 boat fleet. One of the more interesting boats to arrive in Trieste was Tuscany B, a former Quarter Tonner which had been cut in half and 'patchworked' together to give her the additional length necessary to achieve a Half Ton rating (21.7ft, instead of 18.0ft). The weird looking Half Tonner was nicknamed "The Italian Job", and was one of the few boats in Trieste to be lighter than Candu II, although this light displacement had to be traded for both length and sail area. Tuscany B finished tenth overall.

The converted Quarter Tonner Tuscany B, with bowsprit and a style of stern scoop not unlike that of the last of the America's Cup IACC yachts.

Unfortunately the regatta itself was plagued by very light winds and short, choppy seas which proved frustrating for the crew aboard Candu II. Prevailing calms wreaked havoc with the scheduled start time of 10am, and the earliest any race got underway was just after midday. The light weather was a disappointment for all 70 crews, particularly since good day breezes had prevailed before the contest began.

Another light air start in the 1976 Half Ton Cup series - Candu II visible in the middle of the photo to windward (photo Bateaux magazine)

Another light air start in the 1976 Half Ton Cup series

The series was won by the Holland design, the first of a series of yachts named Silver Shamrock, skippered by Harold Cudmore. She was a specially prepared production hull, with 500lbs less weight in her lay-up and a slightly bigger rig, although she was still one of the heaviest yachts, and with the largest sail plan she was undoubtedly the best prepared boat for the light conditions that prevailed, but some doubted that she would have been the fastest boat if the wind had blown. Defending Half Ton champion, Tom Stephenson, from Australia, sailed a sistership named Southern Shamrock, and finished fifth overall.

1976 Half Ton Cup winner Silver Shamrock - her stern sections contrast markedly with those of Candu II below

Candu II was by far the best reaching boat of the series, and no other boat could even begin to match her on that point of sail. Although not fully tuned, Candu II also proved fast on the wind over about 10 knots, with good pointing ability and boat speed. In 5-10 knots she could hold her own but sailed dismally under 5 knots and in the peculiar chop in the area. The light air and flat running conditions that prevailed in both ocean races were thus not Candu II's forte, and Gibbs and his crew did well to finish sixth overall in the 70 boat fleet.

Candu II on a reaching leg in Trieste, her favoured point of sail

The speed of Candu II was acknowledged at the prizegiving when title-winner Cudmore remarked on the untapped potential of the New Zealand yacht in a breeze, suggesting that the experience of sailing Candu II in the light air series "must have been very frustrating, much like sitting on a rocket but unable to light it."

Candu II, likely as Vice Squad, cruising off Torrent Bay (Abel Tasman National Park, New Zealand) in early 1982 (photo Rip magazine)

Candu II as Vice Squad, circa early 1990s (est)

 Candu II returned to New Zealand and was the benchmark for Gibbs' new Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble, designed and built for the 1977 Half Ton Cup. She was raced in Auckland and later sold to a Wellington sailor and named Vice Squad, then Can Do Too in the mid-1990s. Extensive modifications in 2000 included a bigger rig, which was moved aft, and a longer keel with a bulb providing improved stability. A Brett Bakewell-White designed rudder was added in 2001 which made the yacht more responsive on the helm. She was renamed Candu II in 2004.

Candu II racing in fresh Wellington conditions in November 2005

Candu II, as seen in July 2024 (photo Facebook)

Article updated August 2025