The Shadow (Soverel 55)

The Shadow was a 55-foot Mark Soverel design, commissioned and owned by Richard Rogers, who was based in California and a newcomer to ocean racing. The Shadow was of the same era as Soverel’s smaller 43-foot design Locura and in general design terms she had some similar characteristics, featuring a broad stern and notable ‘S’-curve in her hull profile that minimised hull depth around the After Girth Station, to offset width in this area and reduce the likely after girth penalty measurement that she would have incurred. She also had a proportionally generous sail plan, set on a 15/16th fractional rig, and carried a reasonably high rating of 47.0ft. According to a Sports Illustrated article at the time, the yacht was named after a pulp magazine hero and 1930s-40s radio detective – she had a small tender named Margot Lane (The Shadow’s girlfriend), and the crew played tapes of The Shadow’s eerie laughter when coming in to dock.

The Shadow rounding a mark during the 1984 Clipper Cup, with the Farr 58-footer Orlanda close behind (photo Phil Uhl)

The Shadow was launched in September 1983, just two weeks before the St Francis Yacht Club’s Big Boat Series of that year. She raced in the City of San Francisco Perpetual Class Trophy division, where she finished second to the Peterson 55 Bullfrog, with placings of 3/3/3/1/1.

The Shadow, seen here during the 1983 Big Boat Series (photo John Hooker)

With that strong start she went on to race in the 1984 SORC, by now with a much more optimised rating of 45.8ft. Rogers had hoped that The Shadow would be able to compete in Class B in the SORC, but then Running Tide, a 12-year-old 60-footer with an age allowance that gave her a slightly lower rating than The Shadow's, also arrived. Running Tide's owner, Al Van Metre, asked to compete, as he had before, in Class A with the 70- and 80-foot Maxis. Race officials deferred to his wishes and so moved the similarly-rated The Shadow up, too.

The Shadow ghosts along in light airs (photographer unknown)

With her favorable time allowance relative to the Maxis and weather conditions that benefited smaller boats, The Shadow dominated the results in Class A, finishing first on corrected time in five of the six races and taking overall class honours. She was a less impressive in the overall fleet results, placing 26th, but the top placings were dominated that year by yachts in the smaller divisions, and in particular the crack One Tonners in Class E (such as the German yacht Diva, the top boat in the 1983 Admiral’s Cup).

"The maxis were intensely disappointed that we were in (Class) A", said Rogers in his interview with Sports Illustrated at the time, "and I agree with them. I think they should have their own class. I think it would've been more fair and more fun. It's hard to race a business against a boat like The Shadow".

The Shadow in or about 1984 (photographer unknown)

"The business" Rogers referred to is that of maxi management. Running a Maxi yacht, with a crew of more than 22, with an elaborate shore-support system, a tender, a sail program, and much much more, and moving them from regatta to regatta around the world (because that's where the maxis race, everywhere) is a demanding business. The most visible of the Maxi owners was Jim Kilroy, the owner and campaigner of not one but two dominating maxi yachts— Kialoa IV, which finished second to The Shadow in Class A, and his older Kialoa III which was being readied to compete at Antigua Race Week.

Kilroy, too, didn't think The Shadow should have raced in Class A, but his complaint, like Rogers', was with the race officials. "A 23-foot racing spread is a lot for one class", was all he would say publicly, but as spokesman for the Maxi owners, the men who spend the most on the sport, he had much to say behind closed doors to the SORC officials. Not unreasonably, the Maxi owners felt that if they go to the trouble of showing up for an event, lending it glamour, prestige and publicity it wouldn't otherwise have, they should be treated with greater consideration.

The wide and powerful stern sections of The Shadow are visible here in this image from the 1984 Clipper Cup 

It is likely that The Shadow would have done pretty well in Class B. Her wide stern sections, which Rogers calls 'Soverel training wheels' because they prevent the boat from heeling excessively, ran counter to the current thinking in new boats, most of which have moderately tapered sterns. "I wouldn't call Soverel a radical departure, but he's certainly different", says Rogers. Because she resists heeling, The Shadow was never reefed in the whole of the SORC series. Her greatest sail reduction was during the big winds of the St. Petersburg to Fort Lauderdale race, and that was to change down to a No. 3 jib. "If The Shadow had had a masthead rig, I would have had to shift down to the #2 genoa as the wind came up", Soverel explained. "But with a fractional rig like this one, you have the flexibility to power the mainsail up or down. With a fixed foretriangle area you have no flexibility. You've got to change your headsails”. The power inherent in The Shadow's length and overall stability resulted in the reported need for extensions to be welded to her winch handles to ensure enough runner tension could be applied to her lofty rig.

The Shadow sets off on a reaching leg during the 1984 Clipper Cup with Swiftsure to the right (photo Yachting magazine)

The Shadow then went on to compete in the 1984 Clipper Cup in Hawaii. At this regatta she raced in Class B, with a slightly increased rating of 46.2ft, alongside such yachts as the Frers 51 Tomahawk (ex-Margaret Rintoull III), the Peterson 55 Checkmate (ex-Bullfrog), the Farr 58 Orlanda and the Frers 50 Carat (ex-Retaliation). She ended up a surprise winner of this class, with results of 4/4/4/6/1. Although she had a very capable crew, she was out-performed by Checkmate and Tomahawk in the first four races.

The Shadow leads (just) Checkmate in power reaching conditions during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Charles P. LeMieux III | Yacht Racing & Cruising magazine)

Adequate righting moment in the typically breezy conditions had proved to be an essential ingredient for the top boats in the fleet, as witnessed by the performance of Checkmate and Tomahawk, which were two of the stiffest boats there. Soverel said later that The Shadow was ballasted to give a minimum Centre of Gravity Factor (0.968), to minimise her rating, which in hindsight proved to a mistake.

Breezy conditions during the 1984 Clipper Cup put a premium on crew-work, here the foredeck crew prepare for a gybe aboard The Shadow (Bruce C. Brown | Yacht Racing & Cruising magazine)

However, in the final race, the Round the State, points were heavily weighted (three times that of the Olympic tracks). During that race, Soverel noted that they started to feel disturbed wind as far as 200 miles out from the Big Island, possibly from other smaller islands up to windward. Later the wind really started to act strangely, “The Shadow would be doing a steady eight knots, just about on the wind, in a nice 20-22 knot trade wind, when suddenly, boom, we’d run into a light spot – maybe 8-10 knots of wind – that would last five or ten minutes, then we’d be back in the breeze. That happened a few times, then we hit a big hole and the breeze went from NNW into the south, so we tacked over onto the starboard tack layline. From here, maybe 60 miles out from the island, the air was light and fluky – sometimes we used a spinnaker – all the way to South Point. Once around the point it turned back into another nice race. The trades just collapse on the back sides of those islands. You get all kinds of different things – thermals, back-eddies and so on”.

The Shadow, seen here leading Checkmate and Jubilation during the 1984 Big Boat Series (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)

While Soverel and his team managed to keep The Shadow to the fore in the tricky breezes, Checkmate’s long beat out to South Point knocked her out of the running, opening the door for The Shadow to earn class honours for the race and, by a single point over Tomahawk, for the series. She also finished fifth in the overall fleet standings (with placings of 11/10/14/8/7). The Shadow also formed part of the New York YC team, alongside Nirvana and Artemis, which beat the Royal Akarana YC team from New Zealand (Anticipation, Exador and Shockwave) in the club teams competition.

The Shadow (on port) in a close race with Orlanda during the 1984 Big Boat Series (photo L Gee | Facebook)

The Shadow then returned to San Franciso for the 1984 Big Boat Series, where Tomahawk managed to prevail for Class B honours, with The Shadow finishing second. She competed again in 1985, but did not feature in the top places.

The Shadow races alongside Checkmate during the 1985 Big Boat Series (photographer unknown)

Her racing career after that is not known, and she didn’t compete in the large Class B fleet that assembled for the 1985 SORC, and did not compete in the 1986 Clipper Cup. However, she has been sighted more recently in Greece, and is understood to be in good sailing condition.

The Shadow, as seen in Lefkas, Greece in 2023 (photo Bohumil Kafka | Facebook)

   

Article dated June 2025

Victory of Burnham (Dubois 44)

Victory of Burnham was an Ed Dubois -designed 44-footer, commissioned by Peter de Savary for the 1981 offshore racing season and that year’s Admiral’s Cup in particular, and as a ‘warm-up’ for his bid for the 1983 America’s Cup. She was a good-looking yacht, with a low coachroof, raked transom and blue and gold paint scheme. Her design characteristics, with a return to more conservative design style, mast-head rig and narrower aft sections, marked something of a departure from Dubois’ previous breakthrough yacht, Police Car.

Victory during the 1981 Admiral's Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Victory was skippered by Phil Crebbin and made it into Britain’s three-boat Admiral’s Cup team, alongside Yeoman XXIII (a Frers 45-footer) and Dragon (a Dubois 40-foot minimum rater), racing with a very competitive, but ultimately inaccurate, rating of 33.1ft IOR. She finished as top boat in the trials, only once dropping out of the top three places in nine races. While this gave some indication of the issues to come, Victory sailed well and her anomalous rating is not understood to have greatly affected the outcome of the British trials, although Robin Aisher, skipper of second-placed Yeoman, recalled that Victory was tough to beat on corrected time.

Victory (K-302), seen here on the right, pursues Marionette during the 1981 British Admiral's Cup trials, with Caiman visible in the centre (photo Guy Gurney)

After the windless first race of the Admiral’s Cup, Victory won the next inshore race, with team-mate Yeoman second, covering the poor result of Dragon in 42nd and lifting the team to fourth. The team had a strong Channel Race and leapt to first place, and in another light airs inshore race, Victory finished second, with Yeoman in sixth, which saw them take a commanding lead into the Fastnet Race finale. In contrast to the storm-affected 1979 edition of this ocean racing classic, the 1981 race was affected by calms throughout and was a long drawn-out affair. Incredibly, Victory finished just under three hours behind the line honours winner, the Maxi-yacht Kialoa IV. It was a minimum-rater benefit, however, and Victory just managed 15th on corrected time in the Admiral's Cup fleet. Nevertheless, this gave her second place overall, just one point behind New Zealand’s Swuzzlebubble III, and helped her to lead the British team to an Admiral’s Cup win, by a whopping 98 points over the second-placed US team.

Victory during the 1981 British Admiral's Cup trials (photo Seahorse)

The review of the Admiral’s Cup series from ‘The World of Sailing 1981-82’ noted that in the immediate post-series review that the British victory could be attributed to three things – the first being that their boats suffered no broken gear, the second being the consistent sailing of Victory and Yeoman, and thirdly the performance of Dragon in the points-loaded offshore races. Of interest to the story that follows, it was also observed that only Britain completed the series without incurring a penalty, with team captain Aisher emphasising that the British team must keep out of trouble at all times.

Victory seen here during Cowes Week 1981 (photo Facebook)

Victory was later bought by Trevor Bailey of London, and she changed hands in January 1982, with a new measurement certificate issued by the RORC. She was transported to Florida for the 1982 SORC and put on a dominant performance, finishing first in Class C (1/1/3/5/2), and third overall.

Unfortunately, as it would transpire, Victory would be remembered mainly for the rating controversy in which she became embroiled after this success in the SORC. The preceding 1981 edition of that event, which doubled as the US Admiral’s Cup team selection series, had been impacted by controversy after the top three selectors’ choices of Louisiana Crude, Acadia and Williwaw were all found to have suspect ratings (and in the end the two reserve yachts, Stars & Stripes and Intuition were selected to join Scaramouche).

Victory has a strong start in the light-airs first race of the 1981 Admiral's Cup, seen here to weather of Australia's Apollo V, and US team-mates Scaramouche and Intuition 

There had been a feeling in the British fleet during the 1981 season that Victory's rating of 33.1ft was too good to be true. The designer, the late Ed Dubois, had even given the RORC’s rating office his predicted values for the hull depth measurements, because her rating was lower than he had expected and well below what Dubois thought was the best that could be achieved, at around 33.6ft. The inquiry on the issue that was conducted by the RORC noted that the original measurement was undertaken in April 1981, which came out at 33.3ft. Remeasurement was undertaken in June 1981 after some ballast relocation and Dubois’ recommended bumping of the CMD measurement point (to force another complete remeasurement of the boat), and again later that month (after the British Admiral’s Cup trials had commenced), with the rating now at 33.1ft. 

But the re-measurement of Victory, by another RORC measurer, concluded that the rating was correct. Based on this, and her performance during the trials as described above, Victory was duly selected for the British team and went on to finish second overall, and was the top scorer of that team.

Part way through the first race of the 1981 Admiral's Cup, Victory can be seen here just behind Italy's Almagores, with Scaramouche (US) to leeward, and Ireland's Woolly Jumper to windward (photo Phil Uhl)

However (as reported by the New York Times in March 1982), complaints were lodged after the SORC by two rival Class C skippers, William Power (High Roler) and Rodney Wallace (Thunderbird). Victory’s crew subsequently complied with the Race Committee’s request to return the yacht to Florida for remeasurement. When errors were discovered by the Chief Measurer of the US Yacht Racing Union (USYRU) they advised the RORC, who promptly sent one of their measurers over from Britain, and the boat was again remeasured, confirming the USYRU’s Chief Measurer’s work.

Victory struggles towards the finish line of the first race in the 1981 Admiral's Cup, with Germany's Pinta ahead on starboard gybe 

Victory’s remeasured freeboards showed her to float very slightly higher than expected, although this was of marginal consequence. The most significant issue, however, was that her out-of-water hull depth measurements were badly amiss (by an average of 1.65”) and all the errors added cumulatively to reduce the boat’s rating, as the computer rated the boat to be 1,675lbs heavier than she really was. The other major discrepancy related to her stability, with remeasurement showing her to be 13.5% more stable than originally assessed (noting that stability was a penalised feature in the IOR, up to a point). The USYRU remeasurement found that Victory’s rating was in fact 34.5ft.

The Chairman of the SORC disqualified Victory from that series on 23 March 1982, and High Roler was declared the winner of Class C.

A study in IOR sterns during the 1981 Admiral's Cup, with Victory on the right, alongside Australia's Hitchhiker, Rebel Country and Sweden's Ra Carat (ex-Louisiana Crude) (photo Phil Uhl)

In early May 1982, therefore, it became clear to the RORC inquiry team that a full remeasurement of Victory was desirable, where the yacht was prepared for measurement by Dubois himself. This remeasurement was within the expected tolerances of the early USYRU measurements. The inquiry exonerated Dubois from any fault, noting that he had previously advised the RORC of his opinion that the depth measurements were too large and asked them to be checked, and he did all that could reasonably be expected to warn that something might be wrong.

The question was then whether Britain’s earlier victory in the 1981 Admiral’s Cup should be declared null and void and the Cup handed over to the second-placed US team. However, it does not appear that Victory’s measurement saga was the result of any effort by de Savary or Dubois, who were exonerated in the RORC’s inquiry. That inquiry also found no evidence of fraud or other malpractice, and the issue appeared to be the result of a rushed check of the mid-depths while relying on the original measurement stations. The blame thus lay with the RORC’s measurer and the rating secretary, both of whom subsequently resigned from their posts.

Further, a re-calculation of the Admiral’s Cup scores, based on Victory’s corrected rating, did not suggest that Britain’s victory was in any way undeserved. Timothy Jeffery in his comprehensive Official History of the Admiral’s Cup noted that a re-calculation only dropped Victory’s contribution to the British winning total by 19 points, which would still leave Britain with a significant margin over the US. This is perhaps not surprising, as applying the formula typically used at the time to convert an IOR rating to a time correction factor (i.e., TCF = [R1/2 + 2.6] / 10) the difference in Victory’s rating would result in a TCF of 0.83, compared to 0.84. In a six-hour race, this would amount to just 3 minutes 36 seconds (approximately 1%). It is not apparent that this would have had a significant effect on the way that other yachts would have raced against Victory, even if they found her rating to be unduly ‘competitive’. Given her strong performance in the British trials, it seems equally unlikely that with a corrected rating she would have struggled to qualify for the team or would have been beaten by the fourth-placed Mayhem.

Victory racing in San Francisco, likely during the 1984 Big Boat Series

In any event, the 1981 Admiral’s Cup result stood as part of the historical record, along with Britain’s winning margin, as does Victory’s second place in the individual standings. This is, however, in some contrast to the USYRU's approach to the SORC results, albeit that the SORC is an individual event, rather than a teams-based regatta.

Victory bashes her way upwind during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Yachting)

Victory was later bought by US yachtsman Robert Butkus and competed in the 1984 Clipper Cup (by then with a rating of 34.2ft, and sail number 87312), sailing for the Cabrillo Beach Yacht Club, and with Dubois aboard. She finished in third place in Class C (results of 2/1/3/6/8). She went on to race in Class C in the 1984 Big Boat Series, although her results in that regatta are not known, other than the fact that she did not feature in the top four.

Victory lost her mast at some stage in her racing career (photo Facebook)

Article dated January 2025

Zamazaan (Farr 52)

Zamazaan is a 52-foot Farr design (Design #60), that was commissioned in 1977 by New Zealand architect Neville Price and conceived as a good all-round ocean-racing yacht with the emphasis on long passage races where a predominance of reaching and running conditions could be expected. She was also designed to be a fast yacht for its size for racing in Auckland Harbour and the Hauraki Gulf, where she would initially be based, using handicap systems other than IOR.

Zamazaan racing on the Hauraki Gulf during the 1979 Balokovic Cup (photo Maritime Museum)

The Farr design notes for Zamazaan comment that performance at that time for size and IOR handicap honours were conflicting parameters which required a compromise that was difficult to attain, and made more so by proposed changes in the IOR during the design process. These changes, which would penalise lighter displacement yachts for which Farr was renowned, went through three iterations during the construction of Zamazaan (in kauri wood), "requiring considerable use of the crystal ball". 

The underwater shape and sharp-looking profile of Zamazaan visible before her launch in 1977

The more significant changes made during that time were a switch from the planned centreboard (or drop keel) in favour of a fixed keel, a slight increase in displacement, alterations to the aft sections, and a slight change in the forward depth area where the dimension was to be restricted. These tweaks in response to the dictates of the IOR were evident in her stern overhang that resulted in a waterline length of just 39'6" and displacement of 21,043lbs (which compares favourably to the IOR 50-footers of the late 1980s that displaced approximately 26,000lbs), but ensured a competitive rating of 41.7ft IOR.

A photo of Zamazaan during her preparation for the 1979 Transpac - showing an alteration to incorporate a boarding platform within her transom (photo Facebook)

Zamazaan featured a large fractional rig, while the keel was a high aspect ratio minimum thickness foil with computer-developed sections to produce required lift with as little drag as possible. 

Zamazaan during the 1979 Laihana Sauza Cup in Hawaii, after the 1979 Transpac (photo Phil Uhl)

After some racing in the local New Zealand scene, Zamazaan was bought by US interests

A short documentary here follows a three-day yacht race in the Hauraki Gulf in autumn 1980, against a new Farr 54-footer Cotton Blossom, this being Zamazaan's first race under her new American skipper Warwick Tompkins, before being relocated to the US where she was owned by Bob Cole, but retained her NZ sail number (3883). She was delivered to the US by a crew of four, via Tahiti and then to Honolulu in time for the 1980 Clipper Cup where she finished first in Class A. She didn't feature in the results for the very windy 1982 series.  

Zamazaan on a close reach during the 1980 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Zamazaan seen here from aboard Great Fun during the 1981 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Zamazaan during the 1982 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Skippered by Paul Cayard, she finished third in the City of San Francisco Trophy division of the 1981 Big Boat Series (with results of 2/4/4/3/6), behind Great Fun and Swiftsure. In the 1982 series (now under semi-charter to the Sausalito Yacht Club) she finished in sixth place (6/5/9/3/7) in the nine-boat division. Zamazaan then continued to compete in the IOR racing scene in San Francisco, and other races off the West Coast of USA.

Zamazaan suffers a broach during the 1982 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

According to comments on Facebook, Zamazaan's luck faded in the late 1980s, after she was stranded on a reef in Hawaii. however, she was fixed up by a local sailor but was then confiscated by authorities.

Zamazaan seen here during a Friday night race off Waikiki after the 1987 Transpac (photo Phil Uhl)

Zamazaan (US-3883) seen here again in 1987 off Waikiki (photo Phil Uhl)

Zamazaan in another spot of trouble while racing in 2008 (photo Facebook)

Zamazaan seen here racing in the Pacific Cup in 2017 (photo Facebook)

Zamazaan has since benefited from numerous upgrades and renovations over the years. This has included a higher boom, so the crew doesn't have to hide in the 'foxholes' carved into the trimming stations. The current owner Greg Mullins has put a lot of effort into the boat over the past several years, with a new deck layout, floating leads, bowsprit, asymmetric spinnakers etc. 

Zamazaan in her current livery, circa 2022 (photo Facebook)

Part of the deck layout on Zamazaan, as seen in 2022 (photo Facebook)

Some onboard footage can be seen here (while racing in 2020).

Article updated March 2025

Big Boat Series - 1985-1990

The IOR 50-footer Abracadabra powers across a startline during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

The St Francis Perpetual Trophies Regatta, which became known as the Big Boat Series, was an annual regatta hosted in San Francisco Harbour by the St Francis Yacht Club, first run in 1964. After the unprecedented cancellation of the 2001 edition of the series, Latitude 38 magazine published a retrospective on the regatta, which itself was an update of its September 1993 article titled '30 Years of the Big Boat Series - Thanks for the Memories'. I have combined this overview of the results for the 1985-1990 period and have included a 'Sail' magazine article covering the 1985 regatta and some spectacular photos from Sharon Green, Guy Gurney and Phil Uhl. An earlier article featuring the 1978-1984 regattas can be seen here.

The Reichel/Pugh 43-footer Sidewinder sails downwind in typically fresh conditions during the 1985 Big Boat Series (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)

The 1985 Big Boat Series demonstrated once again that it pays to have a new boat, but not too new. The regatta, held from 15 to 21 September, featured five class winners (amongst the 54-boat fleet) that were recently built but had enough miles for rethinking, redesigning and rebuilding. The Reichel/Pugh 43 Lobo was sailing on its second keel, as was the Nelson/Marek 49 Crazy Horse, which was also on its seventh rudder.

Coyote in a hotly contested fleet of 40-footers, with Bondi Tram visible to leeward (KA-806) during the 1985 Big Boat Series

The 1985 edition was also notable for the support of the ‘new’ One Ton class, with only 0.3ft of rating separating the 15 smallest 40-foot boats, racing for the Rheem Trophy in a class that included ten One-Tonners and featured the toughest competition of the week. Constant changes in fortune kept the outcome in doubt until the final day, when a second place for John MacLaurin’s Davidson-designed Pendragon put them ahead of the Andrews 39 Impact. The Beneteau 39 Coyote (Irving Loube) and the Farr 40 General Hospital were close behind.

Fujimo leads Carat and Blade Runner during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Guy Gurney)

The San Francisco sea-breeze funneled in over the race area like clockwork, building to over 20-knots each day. Early races were sailed entirely on flood tides, which put a premium on upwind speed. This was no problem for Lobo, skippered by Tom Whidden, which won three races and Keefe-Kilborn Trophy, and edging out the Reichel/Pugh 42 It’s OK and the Nelson/Marek 41 Clockwork.

Abduction runs downwind alongside Lobo, seen here during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Two members of the 1985 US Admiral’s Cup team competed against eight other boats for the Atlantic Perpetual Trophy. After a rushed trip to California from England, Bill Power’s Nelson/Marek 43 High Roler set the pace, winning three races to lead from the Frers 43 Shockwave and fellow team boat Sidewinder, a Reichel/Pugh 43. Meanwhile, Crazy Horse won four straight races in the City of San Francisco Trophy. She was the third lowest rating boat in a class of ten boats with a rating band of 10.7ft. The flood tides gave the bigger boats more time to work clear, but on the Bay, courses are tight, with short legs and turning marks that come around nearly as soon as a sail can be packed. That kept Crazy Horse within striking distance of quicker yachts such as the Soverel 55 The Shadow and the Frers 50 Tomahawk (second). The 1984 winner of this class, Blade Runner, was third.

The amazing spectacle of the Big Boat Series in the late 1980s captured here by Sharon Green (Ultimate Sailing) - left to right Cadenza, Shockwave, Camouflage, Blade Runner and Mauni Lani Flash

Blade Runner with her colourful spinnaker and blooper set and backlit by the Californian sun during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl) 

The 1986 series featured 53 boats. Gary Appleby's Farr 40 Sagacious came up from Australia to win the subjective 'overall boat of the series', a new award; bumper stickers and buttons proclaiming 'Shit Happens' made their first recorded appearance; Shockwave's 'Twisted Sisters' set a torrid fashion pace. IOR I - Infinity; IOR II - Roller; IOR III - Sleeper; One Ton - Sagacious.

Carat VI sails downwind during the 1987 Big Boat Series, with Locura visible to the left (photo Phil Uhl)

Another shot of Blade Runner, seen here on a reaching leg during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Carat VI (left) and Fujimo during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

In 1987, contested by 45 boats, Pendragon won the 'overall performer' award (dropped after this series); Peter Stocker lost a bet and picked up the dinner tab for the Blade Runner, Bondi Tram and Sidewinder crews at Mulherns, probably the most expensive Big Boat Series dinner ever. General Hospital was dismasted in front of the clubhouse. IOR I - Jubilation, Blade Runner, Locura; IOR II - Insatiable, Quintessence, Sidewinder, Camouflage; One Ton - Pendragon III, Pacific Sundance, Coyote.

Lobo rounds a weather mark during the 1987 Big Boat Series ahead of former New Zealand yacht Equity (Farr 43) (photo Phil Uhl)

Australia's Contractor approaches a windward mark ahead of Camouflage during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Sidewinder (left) and Camouflage approach a windward mark during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Swiftsure leads Blade Runner downwind during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Another photo capturing the colour of top level racing in the 1987 Big Boat Series, with Fujimo seen here leading Swiftsure with Blade Runner further astern (photo Phil Uhl)

The Soverel-designed 50-footer Locura running downwind wtih spinnaker and blooper set during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Part of the One Ton fleet in the 1987 Big Boat Series, General Hospital follows Sundance (left), with Bondi Tram just visible ahead (yellow blooper) and eventual winner of the division Pendragon leading (photo Phil Uhl)

1988 was the Big Boat Series' 25th anniversary, as well as IOR's last big hurrah in the US. Although featuring a reduced entry of 38 boats, everything fell into place to make this a fabulous event - it followed a maxi year at the Kenwood Cup and the One Ton Worlds that were held two weeks prior on the Bay. Raul Gardini and Paul Cayard teamed up on Il Moro to decimate eight other maxis with five bullets, while Tom Blackaller called tactics on the victorious Farr 50 Great News against nine hot 50-footers, edging out Royal Blue and Abracadabra. Blade Runner hooked a buoy with its lazy runner and inverted her mast three feet, but it didn't break. The Peter Gilmour-driven maxi Sovereign broke theirs, however. Maxi - Il Moro di Venezia; IOR 50 - Great News; IOR II -Shockwave; One Ton - Pendragon.

Big Boat Series - The Shadow (Soverell 55) leads Checkmate and Jubilation (photographer unknown)

A mighty battle occurred amongst a fleet of eight maxis in the 1988 Big Boat Series, though it was won convincingly by Il Moro di Venezia - here we see Congere leading Matador (US-33700), Sovereign and Windward Passage II in tight reaching conditions on the Bay (photo Guy Gurney)

The bowman working in white water aboard Fujimo, trailing Insatiable, during the 1988 Big Boat Series (photo Guy Gurney)

The Vallicelli-designed 50-footer Springbok in power reaching conditions during the 1988 Big Boat Series (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)

For 1989 it was evident that interest had declined further, with entries reducing to just 24 boats, possibly the Big Boat Series’ darkest hour. Cadillac sponsored this series (the first time that sponsorship was allowed) and ESPN televised it (with a heavy focus on the 50-foot and 70-foot sleds). IOR I - Shockwave; IOR II - Pendragon.

Sorcery in a close tussle with Matador during the 1988 Big Boat Series (photo Sharon Green)

Bloopers as well as spinnakers kept the bowman busy during the 1980's - in this case Blade Runner during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

The 1990 series featured a whole new look, with the regatta shortened from its previous week-long format to six races over four days. Two different courses were used for the first time, and attracted 57 boats. The highly-touted IMS rule debuted to mixed reviews, while IOR wheezed through its final death throes. Meanwhile, the rest of the series quietly went one design. IOR I - Blade Runner, IOR II – Will.

More bowman action, again during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Article updated August 2025