Imp (Holland 40)

The US yacht Imp was one of the most famous Admiral's Cup racing yachts of the late 1970s. Commissioned by David Allen, a San Francisco property developer, the boat was something of a breakthrough for her designer, Ron Holland. She was built by Kiwi Boats, a company headed by Gary Carlin, Holland's then brother-in-law, and based in Plant City, Florida. 

The framing of the mould for Imp (photo courtesy Tad Belknap)

The space frame prior to being added into the completed hull of Imp, at Kiwi Boats, Florida (photo courtesy Tad Belknap)

Imp as she was about to leave the Kiwi Boats yard (photo courtesy Tad Belknap)

Holland and Carlin had been involved in Allen's previous and bigger offshore yacht, Improbable, designed by Gary Mull. Improbable was a good boat, but too light, long and narrow to be a true all rounder under the IOR, and Imp incorporated some lessons learnt from experiences with Improbable. 

Imp being mated with her keel (photo Tad Belknap/Facebook)

Imp being launched at Snead Island Boat Works in Florida (photo courtesy Tad Belknap)

The concept of the design for Imp was not to worry greatly over the yacht's eventual IOR rating but to concentrate on a high-speed hull form with greater than usual stability and powerful stern sections, as a move away from the then-popular 'pintails' symmetrical hull forms which Holland and Doug Peterson had been producing at that time, to give the boat good performance when reaching in fresh winds. 

The lines of Imp

Notwithstanding the emphasis on a fast hull-shape, Imp still managed to measure in with a modest and competitive IOR rating of 30.9ft, and the performance of the boat was such that she could race alongside Two Tonners (32.0ft IOR), while rating more than a foot less.

One of the main features of Imp was her construction, which utilised a tubular aluminium geodesic structure that took all the loads and stresses of the keel and rig, with the hull itself being a lightweight layup of glass fibre with a balsa core and some carbon fibre reinforcement. This approach dispensed with the usual requirement for bulkheads and allowed plenty of space for sail stowage, pipe cots, the galley and the chart table, although in some ways it was an impractical set-up for anything other than an all-out racing boat. The space-frame was based on concepts tried on Holland and Carlin's earlier Quarter Tonner, Business Machine, which had finished second in the 1976 Quarter Ton Cup (behind New Zealand's Magic Bus). Imp carried a Stearn twin spreader masthead rig, adjusted with four hydraulic pumps (forestay, babystay, vang and backstay), and flew North sails, some of which incorporated experimental concepts, such as a tight leeched 'frisbee' shape for her mainsail. 

Imp demonstrating her downwind form during the 1977 Nassau Cup race with spinnaker and two staysails set (photo Eric Schweikardt)

Imp was launched just before the start of the 1977 SORC series - the optimisation of Imp for reaching and running meant that it was not a surprise to her designer to see her leading her class out of Tampa Bay at the start of the regatta. What was a surprise was seeing her still leading the fleet at the end of the race at the end of a 50-mile beat. The apparent compromises made to windward speed were not noticeable and so Imp went on to win five of the six races of the SORC, and the series overall, which ensured her selection for the US team for the 1977 Admiral's Cup, joining the larger Bay Bea and Scaramouche.

Imp during the 1977 Admiral's Cup

In Cowes Imp put on a dominant display, finishing third in the Channel Race (behind team-mate Scaramouche and Italy's Moby Dick), and going on to record a decisive win in the third inshore race - Imp was one of the smallest boats in the 57 boat fleet, but only three others crossed the finish line ahead of her that day, and the smallest of those rated a massive 4.6ft higher. Imp made another impressive showing in the final race, the Fastnet classic, keeping up with bigger yachts and even managing to finish ahead of Scaramouche, 6ft longer, to take a memorable victory from the English yacht Moonshine by six minutes, to complete the series as top scoring yacht overall (with results of 4/3/10/1/1). The US team finished second behind Britain.

Imp charges along on a broad reach (photo Tad Belknap/Facebook)

Imp powers upwind during the 1979 Admiral's Cup (photo courtesy Jonathan Eastland archives)

Imp went on to win the Big Boat Series in San Francisco later in 1977 and two years later she again qualified for the US team for the 1979 Admiral's Cup. Although she did not quite repeat her earlier standout performance from 1977 she still managed to finish as third placed yacht overall, including fifth in the storm-tossed Fastnet (series results of 11/13/3/17/5). 

Imp seen here just astern of the larger German yacht Duva during the 1977 Admiral's Cup (photo Facebook)

Imp rounding a weather mark (date unknown)

Imp at the end of the 1987 Fastnet race (photo Shockwave40 blogspot)

Imp is now owned by an Irish enthusiast, and is located in Kinsale. She participated in the 1987 Fastnet race. As of October 2021 she was undergoing a restoration, as seen in the photographs below (via Facebook), including a view of her internal spaceframe.

July 2022 update - the restoration of Imp has been completed, and she has been relaunched and is now sailing again (photos from Facebook):

Imp has also just competed in the 2023 Fastnet Race (finishing in 25th place in IRC 3 and 98th in IRC overall).

Imp seen here soon after the start of the 2023 Fastnet Race (photo John Green | Facebook)

The earlier history of Imp has also been immortalised in the Bill Barton's book The Legend of Imp (2010), above, which is available here, and a promotional image and film can be seen below. Ron Holland's new book All the Oceans also includes some of Ron's own recollections of this famous boat.

Article updated December 2023