Flirt of Paget (Holland 40)

Flirt of Paget is a 40ft Ron Holland design built in New Zealand by Brin Wilson Yachts in 1981 for the Admiral's Cup of that year, and featured a kauri planked hull (around an aluminium space frame) and her varnished finish made her instantly recognisable. 

The yacht was designed as a 'minimum rater', coming in at 30.1ft on IOR, to meet the 30.0ft minimum set by the rules for the Admiral's Cup. Unusually for a racing yacht at this size she was fitted with a masthead rig, and this was expected to make her more competitive in lighter airs.  

Spritzer, as she was originally known, competed against other seven other yachts in the New Zealand trials, and finished in fifth place, with individual placings of 5/4=/4/5/3=/5. The line up for the series was notable for the resurgence of Holland designs (such as Ian Gibbs' Swuzzlebubble III) which had gained some ascendancy since the changes to the IOR that had severely penalised the light displacement designs of the likes of Bruce Farr and Laurie Davidson. There was little of the light airs which was expected to be her forte, but as it turned out her best results were in the fresher winds. Crucially, however, Spritzer couldn't foot it with the fractional-rigged yachts on a two-sail reach and although she was well sailed tactically, and often made up places by going the right way, she didn't have the boat speed of the others. 

Spritzer during the 1981 New Zealand Admiral's Cup trials

Spritzer crosses behind the larger Inca in the New Zealand Admiral's Cup trials 1981 (photo Sea Spray)

Spritzer in close company with Feltex Roperunner (4499) and Swuzzlebubble III in the NZ Admiral's Cup trials, and below, as Flirt of Paget during the 1981 Admiral's Cup





Flirt of Paget competing for Japan in the 1983 AC

Spritzer went on to compete for the Bermudan team in the 1981 Admiral's Cup, having been bought by a Mr Trimingham (of Paget) and renamed Flirt of Paget.  She generally failed to fire, although it was a year when Swuzzlebubble III was the top yacht of the series, and the Bermudan team finished last of 16 teams. Her result was not helped by losing her mast in the Channel Race. She went on to compete for Japan in the 1983 Admiral's Cup, although that team also finished last (from 15).

Being lifted for transport to the shed (L Klingstrom, 2007)

Flirt of Paget later competed in other regattas overseas, including the 1983 SORC where she finished third in Class E with placings of 11/9/3/3/2/4, and 27th overall. She also raced in the 1984 series, where she finished sixth in Class F, and 54th overall. 

Flirt of Paget competing in the 1984 SORC (photo Larry Moran)

In 2007 she was bought by Swedish yachtsman Lars Klingstrom. Lars has embarked on an incredible restoration of Flirt of Paget, and has applied a level of perfectionism and attention to detail that has drawn many admirers through his regular posts and updates in the Sailing Anarchy forums. She was shown to the public at the Gothenburg Boat Show (Sweden) in 2013, and more photographs from that and her restoration can be seen here. She was  relaunched in July 2014

Flirt of Paget's kauri hull gets the high gloss treatment (photo L Klingstrom, 2012)

 Rudder fitted and nearing completion, January 2013 (photo Claus Axtal)




Launched! July 2014

Corum Rubis and Corum Saphir

This post features a classic photo of the French yacht Corum Rubis, which was the Two Ton yacht of the French team which won the 1991 Admiral's Cup. Corum Rubis is seen here racing in the 1991 Two Ton Cup in boisterous conditions in Kiel. Corum was a principal sponsor of the French team for the 1991 and 1993 Admiral's Cup, and all three team yachts (which included the 50 footer Corum Saphir and the smaller One Tonner Corum Diamante) were turned out in immaculate matching livery, and this was complemented by highly cohesive team work. 

Patchy boatspeed was offset by excellent navigation, and in the light airs Fastnet race finale the French Corum team mounted one of the best ambushes ever seen in offshore sailing, coming from fourth  to take overall victory by just 0.62 of a point from the Italian team. To add to the spoils, Corum Saphir rounded out as top yacht of the series.

Corum Saphir approaches a top mark during the 1993 Admiral's Cup

Above and below: Corum Saphir during the 1993 series (photos by shockwave40 blog)

The team sought to defend their victory in the 1993 edition, but were not as successful and finished in third place overall.

Swuzzlebubble (Farr Half Tonner)

This article is a tribute to a famous New Zealand offshore yachtsman, Ian Gibbs, who had become a well known offshore yachtsman in the 1970s, after overseas forays in the One Ton and Half Ton Cups. He had campaigned the first Bruce Farr Half Tonner Tohe Candu, placing 8th in the 1974 Half Ton Cup in La Rochelle, before moving to a Ron Holland design Measure for Measure for the 1975 series in Chicago (10th). In 1977 he commissioned one of the new Farr centreboard Half Tonners (Design 65) - and she was christened Swuzzlebubble, the first of many of Gibbs' yachts to wear the distinctive moniker.

NZ Half Ton Trials 1977

Like her bigger One Ton sisters The Red Lion and Jenny H, Swuzzlebubble was as sleek as they come. She enjoyed extremely close racing with sistership Gunboat Rangiriri and the Laurie Davidson-designed speedster Waverider in the New Zealand Half Ton Cup trials, and all three were a step ahead of their fixed keel competitors. She won the series by the narrowest of margins, and then went on to dominate the Southern Cross Cup trials against mostly bigger yachts - even the One Tonners were unable to break clear of Swuzzlebubble on corrected time.

Undergoing a pull-down test

The Half Ton Cup, held in Sydney in December 1977, was not as happy a regatta for Gibbs and his team, where they finished 5th overall - although in contention for the Cup in the final race, they missed a crucial windshift and, along with Waverider, found themselves well behind the other contenders.

NZ Half Ton Trials 1977 (photo Sea Spray)

Swuzzlebubble being loaded aboard a ship for her 1977 Australian campaigns (photo Gibbs Family Collection)

But the crew picked themselves up again to put in a strong effort as part of the crack New Zealand team in the Southern Cross Cup - alongside the Farr One Tonners Jenny H and Smir-Noff-Agen they amassed a huge points advantage before the final race, the Sydney-Hobart. The series mixed yachts from Half Ton to Maxi size - Swuzzlebubble was involved in an incident with Kialoa III and it is reported that afterwards one of the Kialoa crew remarked, while pointing to a large hole, "We had a collision with Swuzzlebubble and she's still in there somewhere". 

Swuzzlebubble in the thick of the action during the 1977 Southern Cross Cup series (photo Phil Uhl | Facebook)

Swuzzlebubble during the 1977 Southern Cross Cup (photo NZ Yachting/Sail-world)

Swuzzlebubble during the 1977 Southern Cross Cup

As it turned out, their points advantage became an important buffer in the storm-affected race. The for'ard frames on Smir-Noff-Agen failed and they had to withdraw. Swuzzlebubble withdrew late on the second night, as Gibbs considered the conditions in Bass Strait were just too extreme for the 31 footer, although they had not broken any gear and the Kevlar-reinforced hull had withstood the pounding with no difficulties.

Gibbs sat out the 1978 Half Ton Cup, but re-entered the fray for the 1979 series, held in Scheveningen, Holland. By then the changes to the IOR, brought on as a reaction to the light displacement revolution spearheaded by designers Farr, Davidson and Paul Whiting, had taken effect, and like Waverider, Swuzzlebubble required urgent surgery to bring her into class for the series (later known as Swuzzlebubble II for the 1979 campaign). This involved much padding and filling out of the hull and more ballast to increase her displacement, and significant changes to her rear sections, including bringing the transom line for'ard. The centreboard was removed and replaced with a fixed keel. The advantage for the lightweights had been removed, but they were still some of the quickest yachts that year. Waverider won (following her victory in 1978) and Swuzzlebubble finished a close third.

Swuzzlebubble following her revamp in 1979 and before being shipped to Holland (photo Gibbs Family Collection)

Swuzzlebubble alongside Joe Cool (likely during the 1979 Half Ton Cup)

Swuzzlebubble (KZ-3494) has a poor start during the 1979 Half Ton Cup (photo courtesy of Jonathan Eastland's archives)

Swuzzlebubble during the 1979 Half Ton Cup (photo courtesy of Jonathan Eastland's archives)

Gibbs moved on to a bigger 40 footer for the 1981 Admiral's Cup with Swuzzlebubble III. The history of the original Swuzzlebubble since then is something of an unknown, although she is understood to have been raced in Ireland for a while, and had enjoyed success in Cowes Week before being sold to a Swiss owner. She was found in 2012 by Peter Morton (of Anchor Challenge and Bullit fame) in a very sorry state in Rhodes, Greece. Her hull was largely intact, although the bow was damaged and her keel was in very bad shape and she had been stripped of all gear. Morton has gone about rescuing Swuzzlebubble from what might have otherwise been her final resting place, and is currently refurbishing her so that she can join the strong European Half Ton fleet. As a 'long' Half Tonner and with an impeccable racing pedigree and experienced new owner she is bound to be a serious campaigner on the Half Ton circuit. You can follow the transformation of Swuzzlebubble here.

Swuzzlebubble as found in November 2012 in Greece (photo Peter Morton)

Swuzzlebubble is now sailed in Ireland by current owners David and James Dwyer, and in 2023 was awarded the Irish Cruiser and Racing Association (ICRA) Yacht of the Year Award.

Swuzzlebubble racing under the burgee of the Royal Cork Yacht Club (photo Afloat magazine)

Article updated December 2023

Love Machine 2 (1976 SORC)

This photo sequence (by the late Tom Leutwiler) is of the Tanton design Love Machine 2 (US) during the 1976 Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC), with the boat bashing its way through the Gulf Stream in the Miami-Nassau race. The boat itself is of the classic early IOR type, heavy displacement and masthead rigged, with an enormous foretriangle, and quite different to the types of boats that were being developed here in NZ at the time. This photo became very famous and, not surprisingly, was used in an advertisement by a wet weather gear manufacturer.

Featured Website - demi-coques.fr

Rob Humphrey's designed One Tonner Juno - 1989 Admiral's Cup (GBR)

I came across this website www.demi-coques.fr as its author 'Chorus' has compiled an interesting archive of yachts from the IOR era and he is a regular contributor to Sailing Anarchy forums. 



His website is written in Francais, but a translation function allows English readers to discern most of what is being said in his articles. One that caught my eye was a feature on the designs of Phillipe Briand, which I always thought were some of the prettiest of the period, such as the One Tonner Passion 2, winner of the 1984 One Ton Cup. 



'Chorus' has also taken an interest in my book "A Lighter Ton", or "Une Tonne Legere", and has provided a French translation of Chapters 9 and 10 (these chapters are about the 1977 New Zealand One Ton, Half Ton and Southern Cross Cup trials, and the Cup series themselves) - look under the tab "Articles voile".

The Red Lion (Farr One Tonner)

The Red Lion was commissioned by NZ sailor Stu Brentnall who was keen to have another crack at the One Ton Cup after his efforts with Jiminy Cricket in the 1976 series held in Marseilles. The yacht was one of a number of new centreboarders to emerge from the board of Bruce Farr in 1977, and she joined sisterships Jenny H, Smir-Noff-Agen and Mr Jumpa for the New Zealand One Ton Cup trials, for the regatta held in Auckland later that year. 

These new generation One Tonners were a significant development of Farr's earlier keelboats from 1975/76 - after the rulemakers failed to close the centreboard loophole exposed to great effect by the Britton Chance design Resolute Salmon in 1976, a centreboard was used for the new boats, although the fins on the Farr yachts weighed about 360kg, despite the fact that this was discouraged by the IOR.  The need for a large amount of internal ballast meant that a higher displacement was necessary to achieve a higher ballast ratio, but this in turn allowed for more sail area, and better light air performance. 

The Red Lion on launching day, sporting her original Lion Breweries-influenced signwriting which was removed before long after a protest under Rule 26 from the Royal Akarana Yacht Club sailing committee

Although narrower in the stern than their 1976 counterparts, clever design of the after girth stations allowed for undistorted stern sections and a more upright transom. The design was able to reach high speeds very easily, and they were particularly fast in reaching conditions.

The Red Lion shows the clean and narrower stern shape of the 1977 generation of Farr One Tonners

The sharp end of The Red Lion

Joining the Farr boats for the One Ton Cup trials was another centreboard design by Paul Whiting, Smackwater Jack and the redesigned Jim Young yacht Heatwave. The Red Lion faced an early challenge over sponsorship advertising, and changes were made to the yacht's signwriting before the trials began (including the removal of a Lion emblem from the bow).

The centreboarders took out the top places and thus filled all the places for the New Zealand team, with Smackwater Jack taking out overall honours (some of the out-moded keelboats went on to compete in the Cup proper as overseas charter entries). The Red Lion failed to fire in the trials, but nevertheless qualified for the team with a fifth placing. She also competed soon afterwards in the Southern Cross Cup trials, but missed out, finishing behind the Half Tonner Swuzzelebubble, Smir-Noff-Agen and Jenny H. 

The Red Lion during the 1977 One Ton Cup and sporting her new Ross&Jones mainsail

Efforts were made to find another gear in the yacht's performance for the One Ton Cup. A new mainsail and no.2 genoa from Murray Ross' sail loft yielded significant improvements. Roy Dickson joined the crew from his failed Half Ton campaign, and this gave added depth in the afterguard. The Red Lion went on to put in a much improved and consistent performance (with places of 2/1/1/4/3) to hold out challenges from Mr Jumpa, Smir-Noff-Agen, and the Australian Peterson centreboarder B195, to win the coveted trophy.

The Red Lion in light airs during the start of the middle distance race of the 1977 One Ton Cup

Spinnaker and shooter set on a downwind leg in the 1977 One Ton Cup

The Red Lion powers upwind during the 1977 One Ton Cup series

The Red Lion was soon sold to an Italian sailor, and she went on to compete in the 1978 One Ton Cup in Flensburg, Germany. 

The Red Lion under her new Italian ownership at the 1978 One Ton Cup

Brentnall commissioned a new One Tonner from Farr, Export Lion, for this series which was designed with lighter conditions in mind.  The regatta proved to be windier than expected, and although this should have suited The Red Lion, she finished a disappointing ninth overall.  She was later fitted with a fixed keel following changes to the IOR that had removed the rating benefits of centreboards. More difficult to overcome were the rule changes that dictated much greater displacement and The Red Lion and her light displacement sisters were effectively ruled out of the game, at least in level rating terms. 

The Red Lion was bought in 1980 by her current owner, where she is maintained to an impeccable standard, and regularly updated. She is kept in Salerno, Italy, and is still racing.  Photos here.