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

Hitchhiker (Frers 40)

Hitchhiker (photo Powerboat-world)

Hitchhiker was a 40.5 foot yacht, designed by German Frers in early 1980 for West Australian yachtsman Peter Briggs. Her lines derived from Frers' earlier SORC champion Acadia, and his previous Two Ton champion Gitana, but with a more modern and conventional approach, with moderate displacement, relatively clean lines, flat garboards and a deep keel (see profile drawing below). Favourable sail area to displacement and wetted surface ratios provided excellent acceleration. The boat was built from Kevlar and Klegecell by Bakercraft in Perth, and featured longitudinal bulkheads to provide immense fore and aft stiffness. Briggs underscored his seriousness with his Hitchhiker campaign by fitting the yacht with a German-made titanium-stocked rudder from Speedwave, and ordered a spare Stearn mast for the boat. All her sidestay turnbuckles were connected below deck, and like most competitive IOR boats of the day, she carried a huge amount of internal ballast under the floorboards, with all possible weight centered amidships and down low. Hitchhiker measured in at 31.2ft IOR, a reasonably high rating for a 40-footer but reflected Frers' thinking at the time to not give up too much speed through excessive hull shape deviations in a quest for a lower rating.

Hitchhiker during the 1981 Australian trials (photo Offshore magazine)

So advanced was Hitchhiker’s design and construction, and her performance so competitive for the era, that she was selected to represent Australia at two Admiral’s Cups (1981 and 1983). Briggs commented in 2013 (during preparations for that year's Hamilton Island Race Week) that the reason why Hitchhiker was a great boat in its early days was because it was an all-rounder and was quick in all conditions. 

At the 2013 event, a bold battle flag donning a large red thumbs-up signal flew proudly on Hitchhiker’s forestay while the crew was immaculately dressed in matching red and white crew uniforms. Briggs explained that the concept behind the boat's moniker and flag came from the brainstorming of names in 1980 when they came up with ‘hitchhiker’. “Initially we thought ‘what a dumb name!’ but 'hitchhiker' means ‘free lift’ and that’s what you want in sailing, rather than when the wind knocks. The thumb went with the hitchhiking and red is my favourite colour so we went with that". 

Hitchhiker during the 1981 Australian Admiral's Cup trials (photo Chris Furey)

One of her former crew recalls that Hitchhiker had all her halyards exiting the mast below decks. "Our 'platform' had all halyard winches mounted along the front edge. I did the bow and I would knock on the deck signals to the pit man down below. One knock hoist. Two knocks stop. And so on". 

Hitchhiker was the star of the 1981 Australian Admiral's Cup trials, counting five wins and line honours in two of the races to confirm her place in the team, alongside Alan Bond's Apollo V and Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin (both Peterson 43-footers).

Hitchhiker amongst the fray during a general recall in the first race of the 1981 Admiral's Cup

Hitchhiker during the first race of the 1981 Admiral's Cup, with Pinta astern and to windward, and Britain's Victory to weather

Hitchhiker arrived at Cowes with a terrific reputation and this was further bolstered when Harold Cudmore was brought on to join skipper Noel Robins for the inshore races. Unfortunately, however, Hitchhiker's reputation came undone right from this first race when she got tangled up with US yachts Scaramouche and Stars & Stripes, and Spain's Bribon III, and ended up over the startline early. More photos from that race can be seen here. Although Hitchhiker went on to finish the race, she was disqualified, presumably for the startline collisions.

Hitchhiker gets caught on East Bramble buoy in the second race of the 1981 Admiral's Cup (the full sequence can be seen here)

Hitchhiker suffered from another poor start in the second race, and needing to improve from her dismal first race effort she approached East Bramble buoy too low, and found both Canada's Pachena and Potitos blocking her ability to tack, and against a contrary tide Hitchhiker ended up on the buoy. Hitchhiker collected a two-point penalty for hitting the buoy, and a further ten points for fouling Bribon III, and took just six points from the race.

Another view of Hitchhiker's predicament at East Bramble buoy

Robins and his crew on Hitchhiker did their best to make amends in the next three races, but could only manage average placings in the Channel Race, the third inshore and the Fastnet race finale, to finish in 34th place overall, the lowest placed yacht in the eighth placed Australian team.

Hitchhiker in power reaching mode during the 1981 Admiral's Cup (photo Guy Gurney)

Leeward mark action aboard Hitchhiker during the 1981 Admiral's Cup (photo World of Yachting 1981-82)

Hitchhiker stayed in Europe after the Admiral's Cup to compete in the Two Ton Cup in Porto Cervo in September 1981. She was small for a Two Tonner, and having not been designed for the event, it was necessary to fit a larger mainsail to lift her rating closer to the 32.0ft Two Ton limit. In generally light airs, Hitchhiker was the best boat at the series and won the Cup from Smeralda Prima (Peterson design), an Italian yacht helmed by Australia's John Bertrand, and Aries (Holland design), a US yacht helmed by Harold Cudmore.

Hitchhiker chasing Italy's Yena during the 1981 Two Ton Cup in Porto Servo, Sardinia (photo World of Yachting 1981-82)

Hitchhiker then went on to sail for the Australian team in the 1981 Southern Cross Cup, alongside Alan Bond's Apollo V and Syd Fischer's Ragamuffin. She finished with placings of 4/12/1/6 and 201 points, just two points behind top individual yacht Smuggler (Dubois 40), and the best of the third-placed team, with the series won by the New South Wales team (Smuggler, Szechwan and Beach Inspector) and Britain second (Wee Willie Winkie, Mayhem and Yeoman XXIII).

Hitchhiker seen here at the start of the 1981 Sydney to Hobart race, with Envy (808), Apollo III and Britain's Yeoman XXIII (K-711) to weather, and Challenge II visible to leeward (photo Phil Uhl)

Hitchhiker was the first and only boat to represent Australia in the Admiral's Cup, Clipper Cup and Southern Cross Cup teams. The strong breezes and choppy waters of the 1982 Clipper Cup in particular suited the boat, and she was consistently fast. Hitchhiker also benefited from an all-star crew, with Robins (skipper), Jack Baxter, Skippy Lissman, Joe English, Peter Gilmore, Peter Cavill, "Chas from Tas", Phil Smidmore, Geoff Gale and Dave Forbes ("4 Bears"), an Olympic gold medalist and America's Cup sailor. 

Hitchhiker powers upwind during the 1982 Clipper Cup

Hitchhiker (right) seen here in a downwind line-up during the 1982 Clipper Cup with Canada's Will O the Wisp alongside (centre) and an unknown US yacht

One of her crew recalls that "Noel had a habit of doing a conservative (late) start and simply sailing through our division and into the bigger boat division (that started five minutes before us) by the windward mark. By the end of the race we often found ourselves two divisions ahead of our division.

"4 Bears was brought on board to add to our steering depth for the long races at Clipper Cup. Hitchhiker would death roll like a pig square running in strong breezes (see photo, left). Most IOR boats did. In one of our triangle races at Hawaii Noel steered for the first four legs in a fresh breeze. When we turned the top mark for the square run Noel turned the tiller over to 4 Bears. It was the first time he had touched the tiller. Three death rolls later (30 seconds) the spin pole tip went under and the mast got pushed sideways and went over the side. In hindsight not the best time to introduce a new helmsman. Still, we got back together for the next race (unlike her team-mate, Police Car).

"In the Molokai Race we blew apart our favourite Kevlar mainsail. We knew it was on the way out but it was still fast. We carried a spare. However, because of the earlier dismasting the headboard slug would not go past the join in the mast. We removed both headboards off both mainsails and bolted the headboard off the torn mainsail onto the spare main. The whole process took over an hour while bucking our way to windward with just a #3 jib up (see photo, right). Once we got going again (in last place) we sailed through many divisions to arrive at the windward mark (as usual) leading our division and amongst the division of bigger boats that started five minutes ahead of us. We ran out of water in the Round the State race and found stainless steel nuts in the toolbox to suck to promote salivating".

Hitchhiker after a Sydney to Hobart race (photo Facebook)

Hitchhiker (left) on the start line just to windward of Di-Hard, with Once More Dear Friends (3000) during the 1983 Australian Admiral's Cup trials (photo Australia's Yearbook of Sail 1)

Briggs spent $100,000 refurbishing Hitchhiker for the 1983 Australian Admiral's Cup trials, including $40,000 worth of new sails from North Sails, a new Zapspar mast to replace the one that was broken in the Clipper Cup, and alterations to the deck and interior layout by boat-builder Ken Beashel. She retained a higher rating at 31.7ft (her key rating dimensions were 34.22 L, 12.26 B and 15,264 DSPL). While many new boats competed in the trials, including an updated version of Hitchhiker, Bondi Tram, she finished as unofficial top scorer of the series. Her race placings, 3/6/3/5/4/2/2/2/1/4 told the story of steady improvement through the trials as the crew, comprised of sailors from Perth and Sydney, settled in. She joined the Australian 1983 Admiral's Cup team, alongside Bondi Tram and Once More Dear Friends, a Dubois 39-foot minimum rater.

Hitchhiker crosses Bondi Tram during the 1983 Australian Admiral's Cup trials (photo Australia's Yearbook of Sail 1)

Hitchhiker seen here during the 1983 Admiral's Cup, rounding a weather mark behind Canada's Amazing Grace and Charisma V, with Italy's Almagores just visible approaching on port - also visible, although not an Admiral's Cup contender, is the original Jade (K-747) (photo Phil Uhl)

Hitchhiker put in a more solid performance in the 1983 edition of the Admiral's Cup, opening with a very encouraging first place in the opening race, but then dropping off the pace with placings of 23/15/18/29 to finish as 16th yacht in the individual results, behind Bondi Tram (13th) but ahead of Once More Dear Friends (20th), with the Australian team finishing fourth overall.

Hitchhiker in hard running conditions during the 1983 Admiral's Cup, alongside another Australian yacht, the Holland-designed Too Impetuous, which sailed for Papua New Guinea (photo Phil Uhl)

Later, in the Southern Cross Cup held in Sydney in December 1983, Hitchhiker was first around the windward mark in the short ocean race before being passed by the much larger boats on the return leg, and taking the overall win for the race.

Above and below - Hitchhiker racing in the 1983 Southern Cross Cup series (photos by Phil Uhl)

An epic shot of Hitchhiker during the inaugural Hamilton Island Race Week in 1984

Hitchhiker was transported to the East Coast for the inaugural Hamilton Island Race Week in 1984. In fresh breezes Hitchhiker played the underdog role and won by a mere one point after entering the final race four points behind.

Hitchhiker hoists her spinnaker while Inch by Winch loses hers during the 1984 Hamilton Island Race Week

Later, the beautifully maintained Hitchhiker was again transported 5,000km from Perth, Western Australia, across the bare Nullarbor Plain to Hamilton Island on a semi-trailer, apparently the longest distance in the world to drive a yacht of its size. With his three combined trips to Hamilton Island, in 1984, for the 25th anniversary, in 2008 and 2013 (where she formed part of the "First Fleet" division), Briggs has spent 30,000km on the road transporting Hitchhiker to the world famous regatta.

Hitchhiker during the 2014 Hamilton Island Race Week (photo Charterworld/Andrea Francoli)

“In the old days when we trucked over in ’84 we didn’t have to have a lead car and those sorts of things. Today, there’s a lot of rules and you have to have a car at the front saying ‘vehicle following’ which increases the cost considerably - it’s a big effort,” Briggs said in 2013.

Hitchhiker during the 2008 Hamilton Island Race Week (photo crosbielarimer.com/Sail-world)

Briggs still owns Hitchhiker and maintains her in original condition in Perth. The following video is of Hitchhiker sailing downwind, and giving her crew some white-knuckle moments, during the 2008 Hamilton Island Race Week:

Hitchhiker seen here in a Royal Perth Yacht Club regatta in November 2023 (photo Facebook)

Hitchhiker as seen in April 2024 in her marina at the Royal Perth Yacht Club (photo Facebook)

Hitchhiker is currently for sale (early 2024).

Article updated April 2024