Smir-Noff-Agen - The Rebuild (Part 2)

Here are some recent photos from the re-build of the Farr One Ton centreboarder, Smir-Noff-Agen. As readers may recall from a previous article, Smir-Noff-Agen was found in a parlous state in Australia in mid-2016, and has been shipped to Dubai where she is in the process of being upgraded to have a second life as a modern IRC race yacht.  Her wooden hull has been saved, and she is due for relaunch in September this year. She will be re-named Oro Nero, and will feature a black and gold colour scheme. 

Update November 2021 (MKF, Sailing Anarchy): "Still refurbishing the old Farr 1 tonner Smir-noff-Agen here.... should have it in the water next season. What was amazing is that all the plywood has rotted away, but the Kauri wood was as robust as new, amazing wood".

Retaliation (Frers 51)

Retaliation in the 1982 SORC (photo Leutweiler/Seahorse)

Continuing the recent theme of the early IOR 50 footers, the feature for this article is the Frers 51-footer Retaliation, which was skippered by Dennis Conner to overall victory in the 1982 SORC. Like Margaret Rintoul III from the previous article, Retaliation was another development of Frers' earlier Blizzard, but with slightly less fullness in the stern.  

Retaliation was later sold to Swedish yachtsman Victor Forss. She was re-named Carat and went on to compete in the 1982 Sardinia Cup. However, despite her impressive performance in that year's SORC, she was disappointing in Sardinia, finishing a lowly 46th, struggling to save her time in the generally light airs against lower rated boats. She showed some of her earlier form, however, in the 1983 SORC when she finished as top boat in Class B (rating 40.0ft), with consistent class placings of 1/3/3/3/3/1, and was 22nd yacht overall.

Retaliation - above and below, on her way to winning the 1982 SORC

Retaliation (right) arriving at the dock after the final race in the 1982 SORC, the Nassau Cup, with Maxis Windward Passage, Ondine, Kialoa IV and Condor visible behind (photo Facebook)

Carat during the 1983 SORC (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)

Carat leads the Peterson 51-footer Artemis on a tight reaching leg during the 1983 SORC (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)

Carat was also selected for the Swedish team for the 1983 Admiral's Cup, alongside another Frers 51, Bla Carat, the ex-Acadia, winner of the 1978 SORC and which had finished second in Class B in the 1983 SORC. The third member of the Swedish team was the Norlin 42, Paper Tiger. Carat was one of three 40.0ft IOR "maxi-raters" in the 1983 Admiral's Cup, alongside Ireland's Moonduster, another Frers 51 footer and Bla Carat.

Carat before the 1983 Admiral's Cup

Carat during the 1983 Admiral's Cup

Carat had another disappointing regatta, as did the whole of the Swedish team, finishing in 32nd place (with redress points awarded for an incident in the second race). After two average places in the breezier first two races (23/21), Carat slumped to last place in the wind-less Channel Race, and then bounced back to win the fourth race held in the open waters of Christchurch Bay and in a breeze that was much more suited to the big boats. They were further helped by a windshift that came through just after they reached the first mark and affected the chasing pack, and a dying breeze that then slowed the smaller boats further. But Carat then finished 34th in the Fastnet race finale, and, with similarly lacklustre results by Bla Carat and Paper Tiger, the Swedish team finished in 14th place, of 15 teams.

Carat then went on to compete in the 1984 SORC, in Class B against a newer version of Retaliation (see photo above). With a slightly higher rating of 40.2ft, Carat finished sixth in class and 40th overall.

Carat also raced in the 1984 Clipper Cup as an individual entry, finishing fifth in the 15-boat Class B fleet, with placings of 5/9/3/5/7. She was captured performing an unscheduled gybe alongside US entry Artemis by photographer Sharon Green (Ultimate Sailing) in the two images above and below.

Carat soon after the start of a very windy Channel Race during the 1985 Admiral's Cup, from which she would later retire (photo Phil Uhl | Facebook)

Carat later competed in the 1985 SORC, finishing fourth in Class 2 (placings of 3/5/11/4/6/1, winning the Nassau Cup finale) and then made another Admiral's Cup appearance in 1985 as part of the 13th placed Swedish team.

It is understood that in later years the boat was renamed American Eagle and later on Crazy Horse, and it was raced on the Great Lakes, before it was eventually scrapped. 

Updated May 2023

Margaret Rintoul III (Tomahawk) - Frers 50

Margaret Rintoul III was a 50.5-foot design by German Frers for Australian yachtsman Stan Edwards as a replacement for his previous Margaret Rintoul yachts. Designed in 1981, she was a development of Frers' 1979-era 51-footers Acadia, Blizzard and Moonshine, with a slight reduction in displacement and length for a similar rating (originally estimated at 39.8ft IOR). 

The hull was built of aluminium, married to a composite sandwich deck using a combination of S glass, carbon fibre and Kevlar. The hull was built by the Maas brothers, who had built Lou Abrahams' 46-foot S&S design Challenge III two years prior. Weight saving was sought in every aspect of the boats' construction, where the hull plate thickness was lighter than contemporary aluminium yachts of the same size, with additional frames to provide extra strength.  In addition to the composite deck, the boat sported a Kevlar liferaft box, a carbon fibre steering wheel and an interior fit-out utilising Klegecell board and a teak veneer covering. The rig was based around a Zapspar section, developed in conjunction with Frers, and she flew North Sails.

The boat was commissioned by Edwards with the Southern Cross Cup and the 1982 Pan Am Clipper Cup in mind, where it was felt that the steady breezes and time-on-distance handicap system used in Hawaii and the US would encourage bigger boats rather than minimum-raters.

Margaret Rintoul III under construction

Margaret Rintoul III featuring in the centrespread of Australian Sailing magazine (photo Facebook)

The estimated rating for Margaret Rintoul III was about half a foot higher than Blizzard, but the new boat was expected to be more powerful than her predecessor, with lighter construction permitting more ballast for the same displacement (28,900lbs), and more sail area (1,266sqft). Her lines were relatively undistorted, being narrower at the waterline and flatter in the for'ard and mid-sections than Blizzard, with less wetted surface overall. She featured the sharply swept back transom of Frers' most recent designs, with only a slight hollow in the stern sections around the after girth station (see construction photo above). The design concept proved to have plenty of potential after near-sistership Retaliation finished as the winner of the 1982 SORC. Her actual rating turned out to be somewhat higher than expected, however, coming in at 41.2ft. 

Margaret Rintoul III launches over a wave during the boisterous conditions of the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo B Brown, Yacht Racing/Cruising)

Margaret Rintoul III was chosen to represent Australia in their Clipper Cup defence in 1982, alongside Hitchhiker (Frers 40) and Szechwan (Davidson 39). She was sailed by Graeme "Frizzel" Freeman, former sailing master of Bumblebee IV (Frers 76). Margaret Rintoul III performed strongly in the fresh conditions that prevailed throughout the series, proving able to sail to her relatively high rating and finishing second in Class B and seventh overall (3/1/10/10/20) and leading the Australian team to second place overall, behind the USA Blue team (Kialoa IV, Great Fun and Bullfrog).

Margaret Rintoul III became the feature of a North Sails magazine ad in the 1980s after this epic capture during the fresh conditions of the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo Richard Spindle), and below, a photo taken just prior (photo Facebook)

Margaret Rintoul III was subsequently sold to US yachtsman John Arens and was re-named Tomahawk. She had her first US regatta in the 1983 San Francisco series, where she started strongly with a win in the first race, but then had major spinnaker problems in the second race that nearly swept the crew off the deck, and then lost a man overboard in the fourth race. Nevertheless, she finished third overall in the City of San Francisco Perpetual Trophy (for the biggest IOR boats in the series), with placings of 1/2/2/4/2.

Tomahawk sailing upwind, possibly in San Francisco (Sailing Anarchy forums)

Margaret Rintoul III competing in the 1982 Clipper Cup also featured on the cover of Yachting magazine (December 1982, Guy Gurney)

Tomahawk made up part of the "USA White" team in the 1984 Clipper Cup, alongside Checkmate (Peterson 55, ex-Bullfrog) and Camouflage (Frers 44) and put in another strong performance, with close battles in Class B with teammate Checkmate, finishing second on individual points (just behind Pacific Sundance), for those boats racing within teams (2/3/2/2/12). The loss of Sundance team-mate Exador's mast in the Round the State Race let the USA team through to win the Cup, with Checkmate finishing 4th and Camouflage 15th.  The early dominance of Checkmate and Tomahawk came undone to some extent by poor performances in the heavily-weighted Round-the-State, with The Shadow overhauling both boats in Class B. Tomahawk finished fourth overall of all the boats competing (2/3/6/4/18).

Tomahawk (ex-Margaret Rintoul III) competing in the 1984 Clipper Cup (NZ Yachting magazine)

Tomahawk seen here leading the lower rating Crazy Horse (ex-Brooke Ann) in the early morning off the north shore of Molokai during the 1986 Kenwood Cup. Crazy Horse went on to be the top individual yacht of the series (photo Phil Uhl)

Tomahawk seen here during the 1987 Big Boat Series, in the photo below with Swiftsure to windward (photo Phil Uhl)

A new Margaret Rintoul IV was built for Edwards, and campaigned for a position in the Australian 1985 Admiral's Cup team, without success, before going on to race in the early years of the 50-Foot circuit.  

Margaret Rintoul III/Tomahawk was advertised for sale in late 2018 (above), lying in Lake Union Seattle. A more recent photo (moored in Deer Harbor, Orcas Island, WA) is below (from the Sailing Anarchy forums).

Tomahawk in the yard for a refit, November 2022 (photo Facebook)

Tomahawk back in the water, as seen in March 2026

Tomahawk on a cruise in July 2026 (photo Facebook)

Article updated July 2026

Checkmate (Peterson 50)

Checkmate is a 50 foot Doug Peterson design (Design #61, with input from Design Associates Bill Tripp and Bill Hardin) for US yachtsman Monte Livingston, and which was launched in April 1978. She was notable for her varnished topsides that showed off a Meranti veneer over her Cedar plank construction (and her glossy finish remains to this day). Checkmate was lighter and featured wider stern sections than typical Peterson designs of the time, and was aimed at doing well in the light air downwind races to Mexico on the US West Coast. These characteristics contributed to a reasonably high rating for a 50-footer of 42.6ft IOR. 

Checkmate on launching day, 7 April 1978 (photo courtesy Doug Peterson Collection)

Profile, sail plan and interior arrangement drawing of Checkmate

Checkmate on her launching day, 7 April 1978 (photo courtesy Doug Peterson Collection)

Checkmate raced in the inaugural 1978 Clipper Cup where she finished a very creditable 7th place in the 39-boat fleet. She went on to establish an outright elapsed time record in the La Paz Race in 1979 (where she also finished second overall and first in Class A), and held this record for about 20 years.

Checkmate sailing off Molokai in 1978, before that year's Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Checkmate during the Laihana Sauza Cup in Maui, possibly before the 1978 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Checkmate seen here during the 1980 Lahaina Sauza Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Checkmate seen here during the 1981 Big Boat Series in San Francisco, with Zamazaan to leeward (photo Phil Uhl)

The original Checkmate is sometimes confused with the Peterson 55 Bullfrog, which she campaigned alongside in the 1982 Clipper Cup, where Checkmate managed a podium position in Class B (third) after Bullfrog broke her forestay while leading overall and in class (finishing fourth in Class B). She later raced in the 1982 Big Boat Series, where she finished second in Class B with results of 4/2/3/2/2, behind class winner Bullfrog.

Checkmate seen here tacking out of Hanauma Bay followed by Great Fun and Jumpin' Jack Flash (photo Phil Uhl)

Checkmate, seen here during the 1982 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Checkmate leads Zamazaan and Great Fun during the 1982 Big Boat Series in San Francisco (Yachting magazine cover, photo J Eisberg, Doug Peterson Tribute page)

Bullfrog was later taken over by Livingston and his Checkmate team, and was renamed accordingly. This later Checkmate sailed with great success in the 1984 Clipper Cup, finishing fourth overall (1/1/3/1/15) and was a member of the winning USA White team, alongside Tomahawk and Camouflage.

Checkmate and the Farr-designed Sangvind running downwind in San Francisco, likely during either the 1982 or 1983 Big Boat Series (Doug Peterson Tribute page)

Checkmate seen here leading Jubilation on San Francisco Harbour, likely during the 1986 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

It was expected that the original Checkmate would sail in the 2017 Rolex Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race as Checkmate of Hollywood, but unfortunately the boat wasn't quite ready on time. The yacht profile from the Sydney-Hobart 2017 website provides some detail on the boat and her crew for the race:

"A change of pace for Ray ‘Hollywood’ Roberts who has chartered the 40 year-old IOR Doug Peterson designed Checkmate, built in San Diego by the famous Carl Eichenlaub, but updated in 2000 to make her a fast, comfortable boat. Roberts sailed Hollywood Boulevard, his Farr 55, to 36th overall for fifth in Division 1 in the Sydney Hobart last year, then placed fourth overall in the Brisbane Gladstone Race.... Roberts says Checkmate is a special (yacht), one of the last cold-moulded wooden boats. "It’s a showpiece and with her age allowance, we could be half a chance.”

Checkmate sailing upwind (above and below) after a recent restoration and while still based in the US

While Checkmate wasn't ready for the Sydney-Hobart, she made the startline for the 360nm Pittwater to Paradise Race (from north Sydney to the Gold Coast), and now featured a small cabin top (rear of the mast). Crew member Michael Spies reported that, with some good yardsticks in the fleet, including the Australian IRC champion Nine Dragons, it provided the perfect race to see where the boat was at performance-wise. Checkmate was fitted with a complete new sail inventory including main, J1, J2, J5, S2, S4, staysails and even a blooper. Headsails were intentionally built smaller to reduce the IRC rating (to 1.113). The bottom was completely re-done and the foils faired and optimised. 

Checkmate after a recent restoration and while still based in the US

All the work paid off, and Checkmate won all the handicap prizes (IRC, ORCi and PHRF), and finished fifth on line (in the 17 boat fleet). Spies commented afterwards that "It was our first Australian race, after the disappointment of missing the Hobart. We backed ourselves. The competition wasn’t soft. Nine Dragons is an Australian champion. It wasn’t ideal conditions for our boat, but the boat lived up to our expectations – more than! Having run grand prix boats for 30 years, with a world champion crew, a mix of youth and experience, Checkmate was vastly different. It’s a 40 year-old timber boat, not carbon fibre. She’s a lot harder to steer, but more forgiving in motion, not as hard on the body. It was nice to have a hot meal and good sleep. We actually had an oven! It just proves the IRC rule is doing its job". 

Checkmate of Hollywood on her way to overall honours in the 2017 Pittwater to Paradise Race (photo Sailworld/Howard Wright IMAGE Professional Photography)

Spies added "Full credit to Ray Roberts and his enthusiasm for Checkmate and supporting this event. He had a vision and supported getting this boat back to Australia. For the crew, it was different, we worked hard without breaking the boat, learning about it on the way. There’s a lot of depth of talent and we prepared well for Hobart with new sails, which were flying for the first time in the P2P.”

Checkmate, possibly at one of the ports during the 2017 Pittwatr to Paradise race

Regatta information and results here.

Checkmate, in Sydney Harbour 2025 (photo Vicsail)

As of April 2025, Checkmate was for sale and languishing somewhat on a mooring off Gladesville Bridge in Sydney Harbour.

Article updated October 2025