SORC 1981

The 1981 edition of the United States' SORC series was generally considered as a great success, but was subsequently clouded by questions raised over the ratings of several of the best performing yachts. This issue took on even more significance than usual, because the regatta doubled as the US selection series for that year’s Admiral’s Cup.

Louisiana Crude and Intuition seen here at the start of the Ocean Triangle Race in the 1981 SORC, with Wildflower to the right (photo Phil Uhl)

One of the stars of the regatta was the new Kialoa IV, the new Ron Holland design which dominated all other yachts in the Class A division. She was built in high-tech material (Kevlar, carbon fibre and unidirectional glass fibre), which provided maximum rigidity that put her out on the edge of the technological evolution of racing yachts at the time. At the other end of the technological spectrum was Pat Malloy’s Peterson 42 Intuition, which would eventually be declared the overall winner of the series (after initially finishing fourth). She was constructed in aluminium, but rivetted and glued rather than welded, which allowed significant weight savings as this allowed lighter plating as there was no loss of form or strength through welding, and less use of fairing putty. The robustness of this construction technique was proved in the second race (St Petersburg to Fort Lauderdale) when she not only survived a collision with Shockwave (a Davidson 46-footer), resulting in a damaged stem, but went on to finish second in class and fifth overall.

Intuition in breezy reaching conditions during the 1981 SORC (photo Guy Gurney)

Two predictably fast entries were the New Orleans yachts Acadia and Louisiana Crude. Acadia, a Frers 39-footer built as a one-off by New Orleans Marine. She rated 29.9ft IOR and even before the regatta began there were some reservations expressed about the accuracy of that figure. 

Acadia racing during the 1981 SORC (photo Tor Maverstaard | Seahorse)

Louisiana Crude was the latest version of Doug Peterson’s Design 33 (first seen as the Dutch 1979 Admiral’s Cup entrant Schuttevaer). Another near sister was Love Machine, and the design later reappeared as the stock-built Serendipity 43 (the most famous of which was Scarlett O’Hara). The Peterson design had returned to the SORC in 1980 as the earlier Acadia which won the event and which went on to help win the Sardinia Cup that year for the US. Louisiana Crude, owned by Tom Dreyfus and Dick Jennings, and skippered by Tom Blackaller, was the new high-tech version, built in uni-directional glass and carbon fibre, and a rating of 32.6ft.

Louisiana Crude in light air downwind conditions during the 1981 SORC

Louisiana Crude had a Class C finish record of 1/1/2/4/2/1 and took out overall fleet honours with results that were never out of the top ten, even though she was also never higher than third. It did not seem to matter whether the contest was a big boat benefit, such as the Boca Grande, or a small boat race like Ft Lauderdale, Louisiana Crude always managed to get home in good time, while Acadia faltered in both the Boca Grande and Lipton Cup races. In explaining their success with a conservative and three-year old design, Blackaller said, "When they get their kind of conditions, specialised boats win races, but when they don't, they are apt to lose big. A boat like Crude can win the series without winning a race". Dreyfus quipped, "Crude is plain, straight vanilla. A simple boat sailed by simple people".

Louisiana Crude, 1981 SORC

During the big-boat races Seymour Sinett’s latest Williwaw (the fourth of that line), a Peterson 48-footer with a rating of 37.1ft, skippered by Dennis Conner, finished first in Class B and third overall. Observers continued to wonder at the ability of Acadia and Williwaw to sail so far above their ratings when conditions were right for them.

Williwaw in fresh conditions off Miami during the 1981 SORC (photo Phil Uhl)

Before the series was over Bill Martin, the owner of Stars & Stripes, a Nelson 39-footer, protested Acadia’s rating. At the same time, the crew of Intuition felt that they were seeing a very different Williwaw being measured to the one they had been racing against, and appeared to be floating on a different set of lines, and Malloy filed a protest against her rating. The US Admiral’s Cup Team Selection Committee subsequently undertook some basic freeboard measurements of the top contenders in Nassau. Neither Acadia or Williwaw were close to the numbers on their rating certificates, and suddenly a protest that was pending on Acadia began to look serious. Despite this, Acadia, Scaramouche (a Frers 45-footer that finished fourth in Class B) and Williwaw were announced as the US Admiral’s Cup team, with Stars & Stripes named as an alternate member.

Scaramouche - seen here astern of the smaller Louisiana Crude (photo Phil Uhl)

Once the team yachts were back in Ft Lauderdale in Florida, they were remeasured in order to avoid any potential rating difficulties in England. The results were described as nothing short of shocking, with Acadia jumping from 29.9 to 31.1ft, and Williwaw from 37.1 to 38.1ft. The issue was further complicated when it was revealed that Williwaw had been measured twice in 1977, and had gone down one full foot in rating, with only the freeboard measurement changing. It was plain that over two tons of lead would have been necessary for the 3.5” measurement difference at her bow, and she measured as less stable that she actually was, by about 5%. Acadia floated higher than her measurement certificate had attested, and thus approximately a ton lighter while racing, and was also more stable than her certificate showed.

A haul-out area in Florida (Snead Island), with Midnight Sun and Aries to the left, and Infinity (in slings) and Leading Lady (photo Paul Mello)

The method employed was that both yachts were alleged to have been fitted with extra-large water tanks to sink the boats during measurement so that they could claim an IOR Mk IIIA credit, which had been devised ostensibly to benefit older, deeper-gutted yachts.

The Holland-designed fractionally-rigged Aries finished in sixth place overall - note the very coarse mainsheet purchase arrangement (photo Phil Uhl)

Scaramouche increased by 0.4ft (from 34.1ft) due to a discrepancy in her original stability data, while Intuition and Stars & Stripes increased by just 0.1ft, and within tolerances.

Intuition, 1981 SORC (photo Phil Uhl)

While all this was going on, Dreyfus and Jennings announced that Louisiana Crude had been sold to Victor Forss of Sweden. Forss also owned the older Acadia (renamed Bla Carat) which had raced in the SORC (Class B), and Louisiana Crude became Ra Carat (meaning ‘Rough Diamond’). Later, and while the boat was out of the water being repainted and prepared for shipping to Sweden, one of the USYRU measurers noticed that bumps on her hull looked a little extreme. On further inspection they were confirmed to be of too small a radius to be accepted without penalty (IOR rule 326.2). A comment from Dreyfus to a USYRU official about the measurement and number of sails on board revealed that 11 sails had been included during measurement, rather than the eight allowed (thereby affecting flotation). With that, and despite no protest being made about her rating during the SORC, the USYRU declared in late March 1981 that Louisiana Crude’s certificate was invalid, and that news was passed on to the SORC committee. Notably, however, no hearing was held to determine the exact nature of the infractions that cost her the title of SORC fleet champion.

Infinity and Canada's Amazing Grace during the 1981 SORC (photo Phil Uhl)

The USYRU could not therefore provide the SORC or Dreyfus and Jennings with a valid IOR certificate. This prompted Dreyfus to label the USYRU’s actions a witch-hunt and, and both owners filed civil action proceedings in a New Orleans court, with Dreyfus seeking $5M in damages for humiliation, injury to reputation and financial impacts. The New York Times reported on 28 March 1981 that an attorney acting for one of the owners denied any irregularities. Dreyfus noted that Louisiana Crude had exactly the same hull as the 1980 winner Acadia, and questioned how it could now be illegal.

Ted Hood's One Tonner Robin, winner of the St Petersburg - Fort Lauderdale Race (and winner of two races in the 1980 series), seen here off Tampa Bay during the 1981 SORC (photo Phil Uhl)

Nevertheless, the SORC committee determined to exclude Louisiana Crude as she did not have a valid certificate and undertook rescoring of the regatta based on new ratings. As a result, the boat that had truly dominated racing in Florida became an instant non-participant. Her new owners were given until 31 May 1981 to produce a valid certificate, but she had been shipped to Sweden in April and any measurement would have to accept the changes made by Forss, including the re-fairing of the measurement bumps. The revised results therefore remained provisional.

The Frers Maxi yacht Bumblebee IV during the 1981 SORC (photo Guy Gurney)

The rescoring in Florida showed some interesting changes in the standings, but not as much as had been expected. With Louisiana Crude missing entirely, everyone moved up one place. Acadia’s new rating pushed her down to third overall, although she still won Class D. Williwaw was pushed down to sixth overall, but also remained first in Class B. These rather minor changes in standings seemed to indicate that Louisiana Crude would have needed to have had an astronomical change in her rating to move her out of first place overall.

The fleet assembled at St Petersburg Yacht Club during the 1981 SORC (photo Guy Gurney)

The US Admiral’s Cup committee decided that there was such a cloud hanging over the ratings of Acadia and Williwaw that they could not successfully represent the US, and were dropped from the Admiral’s Cup team, which was comprised instead of Intuition, Scaramouche and Stars & Stripes. One effect of this shake-up was that the US team went to Cowes with a lower rating team than the one they had initially planned.

Class B get underway at the start of the Ocean Triangle Race during the 1981 SORC, with (left to right) Amazing Grace, Gem, Williwaw and Merrythought (photo Phil Uhl)

Immigrant, a Dubois 42-footer, raced in Class C (photo Phil Uhl)

Meanwhile, the select committee of the USYRU appointed to investigate the irregularities of Acadia and Williwaw determined that the infractions by Williwaw were sufficient to ban Sinett from racing for a period of two years, from 23 July 1981. The penalty was largely based on the testimony of Harvey Ward, Sinett’s former boat-keeper, who stated that he had used a hose to fill the bilges of the yacht with water before the most questionable measurement session, an allegation that Sinett himself denied, as was his request to testify on his own behalf.

Another image from the start of Class B in the Ocean Triangle, with Bravura (second overall in Class B) sneaking in at the boat end to weather of Infinity (photo Phil Uhl)

The situation with Acadia was also contentious, and owner Burt Keenan also contemplated a civil suit against the USYRU, and instituted his own investigation and remeasurement. Two measurers in New Orleans found the yacht to be back within acceptable tolerances for a 30ft-rater, and Keenan maintained that he had been unduly maligned by USYRU officials. Nevertheless, he also incurred a ban for one year.

Class A yacht, the 50-footer Congere, with the foredeck busy with an errant spinnaker, went on to finish third in Class A (photo Phil Uhl)

Despite all the controversy behind the SORC and the US team selection, the team went on to acquit itself well in the 1981 Admiral’s Cup, finishing in second place. The series, that started on 29 July, was won by Britain, which itself was to face its own rating controversy following the remeasurement of team yacht Victory of Burnham after she raced in the 1982 SORC. As it transpired, the lower ratings of the US team were better aligned than the original team to the conditions for the 1981 Admiral's Cup, and its second place result was led by the minimum-rater Stars & Stripes which finished in fourth place on individual points, with Intuition 11th and Scaramouche 21st. Ra Carat formed part of the ninth-placed Swedish team (of 16), sailing with a rating of 32.7ft, just 0.1ft higher than her rating for the SORC. She finished a creditable 12th on individual points, just one point behind Intuition, and scored a memorable second in Class 2 overall in the Channel Race.

The afterguard aboard Louisiana Crude during the 1981 SORC (photo Paul Mello)

Stars & Stripes, the standout performer in the US team in the 1981 Admiral's Cup, approaches a leeward mark during that series, ahead of New Zealand's Wee Willie Winkie and Canada's Runaway 

Article dated August 2026

This article is based on accounts set out in The World of Yachting 1981/82; The Official History of the Admiral’s Cup (Timothy Jeffery); Great Yacht Races (Bob Fisher); and Seahorse (May/June 1981 edition), including articles at the time by designer Bruce Kelley; the New York Times (28 March 1981) and Sports Illustrated.