B195 (Peterson One Tonner)

Sailing trials soon after launching

B195 was commissioned by Australian yachtsman Tom Stephenson for the 1977 One Ton Cup, held in Auckland. Stephenson was a seasoned offshore campaigner, having won the Half Ton Cup in 1975 aboard his Doug Peterson designed Foxy Lady, followed with a fifth place in the 1976 edition with his Ron Holland design Southern Shamrock. For the design of his new One Tonner, Stephenson returned to Peterson who came up with a yacht that was of quite a different concept to his earlier heavier displacement style. 

Her most distinctive characteristics were perhaps a fractional rig and use of a centreboard and internal ballast - this was an approach that became almost mandatory in the summer of 1977 following the failure of the Offshore Rating Council to plug the centreboard loophole the previous year. 

B195 under construction in Bruce Keir's Melbourne yard (photo Doug Peterson Tribute page)

Deck plan of B195 (Doug Peterson Tribute page)

The B195 half model

Hydraulic bobstay detail

B195 appeared to be quite close in a number of parameters with the Farr centreboarders that had arrived on the scene for the 1977 Cup, and her stern shape was reminiscent of the previous generation of Farr designs, if a little narrower. She could perhaps best be described as a development of Peterson's 1976 Quarter Ton design Star-Eyed Stella. In an interesting turnaround between the Farr and Peterson approaches, B195 had a measured displacement some 500kg less than the Farr boats, but this was traded for slightly less length and more beam. 

The overall result was a shallower, smaller boat that carried only fractionally more sail than the Farr boats. As another point of difference, B195 relied almost entirely on internal ballast, with a light centreboard, whereas Farr had sought additional stability with centreboards that made up approximately 20 percent of their overall ballast.

The B195 campaign was underwritten by the electronics manufacturer Pioneer Sound and the yacht originally sported her sponsors name. However, Rule 26 of the international yacht racing rules at the time dictated that the name could not stand, and, after a fruitless geographical search to find a water body of the same name as the sponsor, the yacht became known simply as her sail number. This problem mirrored similar issues in New Zealand with the likes of The Red Lion and Smir-Noff-Agen, and was a somewhat farcical situation given that the Cup races, and the preceding national trials, were normally named after their commercial sponsors.

B195 sails upwind in one of the inshore races of the 1977 One Ton Cup (photo Jenny Green/Sea Spray)

B195 won her Australian trial series, with close competition provided by the winner of the 1976 Sydney-Hobart, the stock Farr 1104 Piccolo, and another 1104 Wild Turkey and the Farr centreboarder Hecate. All four boats made the trip to Auckland for the Cup. In the first race B195 came in fifth, seemingly overpowered compared with the Farr centreboarders, and the crew felt that their sails were too full compared to the New Zealand boats. But of more immediate concern was the discovery of a long crack along the starboard side of the hull which necessitated urgent repairs overnight, and for the rest of the series B195 sported a prominent patch on her waterline. 

In the next race B195 had her worst result, finishing eighth. It was apparent that B195 was more tender upwind and gave away speed to the Farr centreboarders on this point of sail. This was offset in part by good downwind speed, though her lighter displacement and a centre of gravity that didn't change whether the centreboard was up or down. B195 bounced back in the middle distance race, however, finishing second behind The Red Lion. She also started strongly in the fourth race, but was unable to hold off the New Zealand charge on the final beat and finished fifth.

Close up view of B195 during the 1977 One Ton Cup (photo Maritime Museum)

B195 slides downwind (photo Doug Peterson Tribute page)

B195 seen here at the start of the middle distance offshore race, with Mr Jumpa (left) and Smackwater Jack (right)

B195 had the worst possible start to the final race for the White Horse Trophy (325 miles). The start was moved into the harbour due to high winds, and soon after the port runner popped out of the mast and a crewman had to be hoisted aloft to reattach it during the beat out of the Rangitoto Channel. By the time the recalcitrant runner had been tamed B195 was trailing the fleet, with only Heatwave astern after they had also experienced rig problems. B195 bounced back, however, in gale force winds on the beat to Channel Island. Jenny H and Hecate had to pull out with hull damage in the big seas experienced on the first night, but B195 handled the conditions well and was really flying on the downwind leg, and later pushed into the lead on the leg to the Poor Knights Islands. The race in the top group remained close to the end, but B195 found herself too far offshore in calms on the way to the finish and had to settle for fourth, which gave her fourth place overall.

B195 sails dead downwind under spinnaker and blooper during one of the offshore races

B195 slides along during one of the offshore races alongside Smackwater Jack

Afterwards Stephenson acknowledged the speed of the Farr centreboarders that had filled the first three places, but did feel that B195 was more of an all rounder, with untapped potential in light airs and a leftover sea. 

B195 nears a windward mark in pursuit of Jenny H during the 1977 One Ton Cup (photo Maritime Museum)

B195 in Port Phillip Bay and providing some exposure for the boat's sponsor

B195 returned to Australia in time to sail for the Victorian team in the 1977 Southern Cross Cup, and was the only boat to get close to the New Zealand team of Jenny H, Smir-Noff-Agen and the Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble, with placings in the first three races of 4/3/5. She was lucky to avoid disqualification in the middle distance race for an infraction of the radio schedule rules. Stephenson claimed radio failure, although this did not impress the race committee given that B195 was still owned at that stage by an electronics manufacturer (Pioneer). Like Smir-Noff-Agen and Swuzzlebubble, B195 retired from the fourth race, the Sydney-Hobart classic, after she cracked her hull about 80 miles off Gabo Island. She retired to Eden to wait out the gale force winds and huge seas that saw a record number of retirements from the race.

B195 on Sydney Harbour during the 1977 Southern Cross Cup

B195 (left) to weather of Lovelace and Country Boy

Later the yacht was renamed Magic Pudding after being bought by a syndicate headed by John Karrasch. Her next international appearance was in the inaugural 1978 Clipper Cup held in Hawaii, where she came up against Farr keelboats Country Boy and Lovelace from New Zealand and Carrie Ann V from Hawaii in Class C. Honours were fairly even until the long ocean race (around the Hawaiian islands) when Magic Pudding held the breeze in the vital stages to finish a whopping six hours ahead of Carrie Ann V and 11 hours ahead of Country Boy to win the race overall, giving her third place in the fleet standings (second in Class C), and backing up team-mate Ragamuffin's second place to secure the King Kamehameha Trophy for Australia.

B195 (as Magic Pudding) to weather of Love Lace at the 1978 Clipper Cup (photo Facebook)

B195 (as Magic Pudding) powers along to leeward of Country Boy during the 1978 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl/Facebook)

Magic Pudding sails past South Point of the big island of Hawaii during the 1978 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl/Facebook)

The boat was later sold in the US and was sailed to San Diego, where she came to a sad and untimely end when she caught fire in a marina. Her bow section graced Doug Peterson's garden for many years after.

Doug and the bow of B195 (photo Doug Peterson Tribute page)

A sistership to B195, Australian yacht Deception

Mr Jumpa (Farr One Tonner)

Mr Jumpa started life as Mr Jump, one of four new Bruce Farr designed centreboard One Tonners built in Auckland for the 1977 One Ton Cup. She was commissioned by top New Zealand yachtsman Graeme Woodroffe, who had campaigned the earlier fixed keel Farr One Tonner 45 South II at the One Ton Cup in Marseilles the year before. As with her sisters, Mr Jump was built of cold-moulded wood construction, utilising three skins over closely spaced stringers and ring frames.

Mr Jump on launching day 18 August 1977 (photo J Green)

Mr Jump was last of the new boats to launch, and just one month before the One Ton Cup trials. She was the most distinctive of the new Farr boats, with a varnished hull, and the same open transom and central console style that Woodroffe had employed on 45 South II. Woodroffe combined her more radical arrangement with a curved mainsheet track, specially designed steering pedestals and side deck spinnaker hatches. Mr Jump was also the biggest sail carrier of the four, albeit by just 10 square feet over Smir-Noff-Agen for example, and this was offset in part by her shorter rated length (32.2ft), and by the use of a feathering (rather than folding) propeller that gave her a low EPF (engine propeller factor) of 0.9649. Still, the centreboard had to be trimmed in length (depth) to achieve a One Ton rating (27.5ft IOR).

Sailing downwind on the Hauraki Gulf with spinnaker and blooper set

Mr Jump was named after her main sponsor, a woollen goods manufacturer, but at the time such advertising was seen to be in breach of IYRU Rule 26. Before the One Ton Cup trials, a warning was issued to Woodroffe by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, as the organising body of the One Ton Cup 1977, that unless steps were taken to remove advertising from the boat, the One Ton Cup committee would recommend that Woodroffe's trial entry be rejected. Thus Mr Jump became Mr Jumpa, with a large light green 'A' appearing at the end of the yacht's name. The fact that it could barely be seen from a distance did not appear to be a problem and was sufficient to avoid any further action from the organisers.

Judging by the crew that look very relaxed in this photo, perhaps taken in the pre-start of a One Ton Cup or trials race. Note the addition of the 'A' to the end of her name, as an amendment to the original exclamation mark

Woodroffe was joined by Peter Lester for the trials, and Mr Jumpa went on to put in a consistent regatta, finishing first of the new Farr boats and second behind Smackwater Jack, with results of 3/1/4/4/3. A knockdown on one of the reaching legs cost Mr Jumpa the win in the first race, after the spinnaker pole broke and allowed the spinnaker to take over. 

Mr Jumpa in a fast upwind mode above and below

Her bigger sail plan seemed to give her an edge over her competition in the lighter airs of the second race, which she won. Mr Jumpa's performance in the middle distance race was hampered by the need to lie hove-to and bare-headed in order to rig an additional reefing line. While finishing third in the final long offshore race, her list of breakages was extensive - another spinnaker pole had bent as the boat broached in big seas and a 40-knot squall on the way back from Channel Island. The crew tried to straighten it but in the process managed to break it. They had to run under main and genoa until they had stripped the aluminium tubes from four pipe cots to affect a temporary repair.

The broken pole had followed a torn spinnaker, broken luff spar and mainsail slide problem which caused the mainsail to rip away from the mast as Mr Jumpa gybed around Groper Rock in high winds. She got clear but it was a tense moment with the boat situated against a lee shore.

The build up to the One Ton Cup was hampered by the fact that the yacht was on to its third mast - the tearing of the mainsail out of its track at Groper Rock had damaged the first mast, and second mast never even made it onto the boat after colliding with a telephone pole while being trailered to Westhaven. In the One Ton Cup itself, Mr Jumpa was again the bridesmaid, finishing second behind The Red Lion, with results of 4/2/3/2/2. The racing was always close, and Mr Jumpa, while leading the fleet on occasions and always pushing the top boats in the fleet, was never able to pull off a race win. She finished the windy long race finale unscathed however, and in a solid second place behind Smir-Noff-Agen.

Mr Jumpa sailing downwind amongst the spectator fleet (photo Maritime Museum)

This photo may have been in the fresh conditions at the start of the final race of the One Ton Cup (photo Leon Hamlet)

Mr Jumpa racing in the 1978 SORC (photo Guy Gurney)

Mr Jumpa was later sold just prior to a US yachtsman, just in time for the 1978 SORC. There she put in a dominant performance to win Class D (25 entries), but she was fortunate to not be disqualified from the event for failing to provide a valid measurement certificate. She also sailed in the 1978 Onion Patch series (Newport, Rhode Island) in 1978, but her performance in this regatta is not known. 

Mr Jump seen here with other boats on Harbor Springs awaiting the thermal breeze in summer 1978 (photo Phil Uhl)

Mr Jumpa, her varnished topsides still gleaming, at Newport during the 1978 Onion Patch series (photo Paul Mello)

Mr Jumpa - prior to the addition of a keel

Mr Jumpa was based at the Hyannis Yacht Club on Cape Cod for a number of years. However, she broke her mooring and was wrecked sometime in the 1990s. The boat was then bought from the insurance company and taken to Maine where she was rebuilt and fitted with a Mumm 36 keel. She has been based at the Royal Kennebecasis Yacht Club in Saint John, New Brunswik since 2001.

Mr Jumpa in her current livery and looking better than ever

Mr Jumpa, seen here at anchor in November 2022 (photo Facebook)

Article updated December 2023

Smackwater Jack (Whiting One Tonner)

Smackwater Jack was another joint Paul Whiting and Murray Ross effort, following the Quarter Tonner Magic Bus and Half Tonner Newspaper Taxi. While Newspaper Taxi had been designed with the 1977 Half Ton Cup in mind, Whiting and Ross elected to enter the larger higher profile One Ton class with a new boat. 

As a development of the Newspaper Taxi concept, Smackwater Jack featured a broad stern with a long sloping transom and pronounced beam amidships. As with Whiting's earlier designs, volume forward that was lost through an aggressively concave waterline was replaced through a deeper forefoot, with a steep profile abaft the bow knuckle. A further topside concavity occurred near the transom in order to reduce volume and thereby minimise the after girth penalty. She had a longer rated length than her Farr-designed competitors (9.95m), and this was offset by a higher measured displacement (4,519kg), but also allowed more sail area, set on a relatively simple but bendy single-spreader rig.

Smackwater Jack on launching day - Okahu Bay, Auckland (above and below)

Smackwater Jack during the One Ton Cup trials (photo Jenny Green/Sea Spray)

Smackwater Jack sailing upwind, her concave bow shape clearly evident

Smackwater Jack cockpit detail

Whereas the Farr boats carried ballast within their centreboard fin, the centreboard on Smackwater Jack was only weighted sufficiently to ensure that it would sink (90kg), and the yacht thereby relied entirely on internal ballast to achieve the required minimum level of stability. The yacht was found to have insufficient headroom, and a new boxy cabin top was hastily constructed to meet regulations. The cockpit lockers shown in the above photograph were also deemed to be non-compliant and had to be filled in just before the One Ton Cup series.

Sailing to windward in the Hauraki Gulf, with her new the boxy cabin in view

Approaching a windward mark during the 1977 One Ton Cup trials

Smackwater Jack during the 1977 One Ton Cup trials (photo Maritime Museum)

Smackwater Jack started her racing career with wins in local coastal races, then went on to win the New Zealand One Ton Cup trials, held in September 1977. This did not look likely after the first race, when the yacht was forced to retire after breaking her forestay. This was followed by an indifferent fifth in the second race, but she went on to win the intermediate offshore race after holding out Jenny H. A third in the fourth race was followed by another win in the final offshore, for a clear win overall.

Sailing downwind during the 1977 One Ton Cup trials (photo Maritime Museum)

Smackwater Jack was the feature yacht on the cover of the 1977 One Ton Cup programme

However, alterations to the yacht before the Cup series proper seemed to have a detrimental effect on her performance, and a lack of on the water preparation seemed to affect her reliability. Some of her competitors sailed in the Southern Cross Cup trials which allowed them to develop their charges and overtake the Whiting design. The Cup regatta started disastrously for the crew, with the yacht again having to retire from the opening race, this time with a propeller that refused to close. She also had to retire from the gale-afflicted long ocean race finale, suffering from a host of gear damage after the second leg bash to windward where she began taking on large amounts of water. In the three races that she finished, Smackwater Jack failed to fire, scoring places of 6/4/6.

Smackwater Jack hauled out at Westhaven Marina (photo Facebook)

Smackwater Jack sails upwind with The Red Lion in close company to weather during the 1977 One Ton Cup

Sliding along in a light seabreeze on the Hauraki Gulf (photo Maritime Museum)

Smackwater Jack during one of the offshore races during the One Ton Cup 1977 (photographer unknown)

Smackwater Jack was later modified with a new rig, cabin and conventional companionway, and slightly more subdued gunmetal grey colour scheme, and joined Anticipation and the Farr 1104 Chick Chack in the New Zealand 'North' team for the 1979 Southern Cross Cup series. Smackwater Jack was now slightly out of One Ton trim, with a rating of 28.2ft, but had a good series, with an impressive second place in a light-air Sydney to Hobart race boosting her to fourth yacht in the individual standings, although the team finished a disappointing fifth overall.

Above and below - Smackwater Jack during the 1979 Southern Cross Cup series

Smackwater Jack seen here at the start of the 1979 Sydney-Hobart race, with Police Car visible to leeward and Anticipation towards the lee shore (photo Facebook)

A close-up view of the crew of Smackwater Jack at the start of the 1979 Sydney-Hobart race, with skipper and designer Paul Whiting in a red t-shirt to the left, and below, Smackwater Jack can just be seen to leeward and ahead of Bacardi (SM67) (photos Phil Uhl)

This panorama view by Guy Gurney shows how well-placed Smackwater Jack was at the start of the 1981 Sydney to Hobart race (fourth yacht from the right), where she would go on to finish as second yacht overall

A satellite photo of Cyclone Paul - 9 January 1980

Whiting and his crew then started in the 1980 Hobart to Auckland race, getting underway in calm conditions on 4 January. However, a storm developed in the Gulf of Carpentaria which crossed the north Australian mainland and entered the Tasman Sea as a full-blown cyclone, and tracked directly into the path of the Hobart-Auckland fleet. The Smackwater Jack crew managed to complete their scheduled radio call on 9 January, reporting that they were in difficult and heavy seas approximately 580 miles from Cape Reinga. That was, however, the last word ever heard from the boat, and a full scale search and rescue operation failed to find any trace of the yacht or crew. The NZ Herald reported in January 2008 that wreckage of part of the cockpit had been found on Ripiro Beach, on the west coast of the North Island, but this was never verified (and the wreckage did not look likely to come from Smackwater Jack in my opinion).

Updated December 2024