Jenny H (Farr One Tonner)

Jenny H was a centreboard One Tonner designed by Bruce Farr (Design #62, 27.5ft IOR) for Ray Haslar for the 1977 One Ton Cup, held in Auckland, New Zealand. Jenny H joined three other Farr centreboarders Smir-Noff-Agen, The Red Lion and Mr Jumpa. Another yacht to the same design was built in Australia (Hecate). All these yachts were to a similar design but various small differences were apparent on the rating sheets, with Jenny H tending towards the theme of a bigger boat and smaller sail plan, relatively speaking (rated length of 32.35ft and rated sail area of 616 sq ft).
 

Design 62 (Jenny H) cut-away hull profile (Farr Yacht Design)

Jenny H on her launching day at Westhaven Marina

The yachts were very experimental at the time, combining light displacement and high ballast ratios with the use of a deep and efficient centreboard and a more flexible and complex rig than Farr's earlier fixed keel One Tonners. Jenny H contested the New Zealand trials to determine the New Zealand six-boat team for the One Ton Cup, but her campaign got off to a disastrous start with a DNS in the first race. She went on to record placings of 4/2/6/4 to finish fourth overall and secure a place for the Cup series.

Jenny H also entered the Southern Cross Cup trials, to select the New Zealand three-boat team that would compete for the Southern Cross Cup to be held in Sydney at the end of the year. In a mixed boat fleet Jenny H had a close tussle with other centreboarders that dominated the results. Jenny H held off The Red Lion to make the team, joining the Half Tonner Swuzzlebubble and Smir-Noff-Agen for the trip across the Tasman. 

Jenny H shows her upwind form in the 1977 One Ton Cup

Haslar and his crew went on to sail more consistently in the One Ton Cup and employed a different rig set up for the fourth race that extracted more speed and saw them take the gun.

Jenny H in fresh reaching conditions during the 1977 One Ton Cup with her small spinnaker set

However, the final race, the long offshore, was held in a near gale and Jenny H succumbed to the huge seas out near Channel Island - the yacht dropped off one of the biggest waves and cracked some for'ard frames and the decision was made to retire. The yacht made its way to Whangarei and was transported back to Auckland. This retirement dropped Jenny H down the points table, finishing fifth overall with placing of 3/4/5/1/DNF. 

Jenny H is pulled out of the water before the final offshore race after an over-enthusiastic spectator craft damaged the stern after the yacht's win in race 4 of the One Ton Cup.

Jenny H made her own way across the Tasman for the Southern Cross Cup (after a controversial process to obtain the necessary Category 1 safety certificate). In Sydney and in a fleet of mixed company, with teams made up of anything from Half Tonners to Maxis, the New Zealand team was dominant.  

Jenny H leads Smir-Noff-Agen triumphantly through Sydney Heads at the end of the middle distance race (photo DB Yachting Annual)

Jenny H sails on through Sydney Heads during the 1977 Southern Cross Cup (photo DB Yachting Annual)

Jenny H to leeward of Smir-Noff-Agen in light airs off Sydney (photo Offshore magazine)

New Zealand went into the Sydney-Hobart race finale with a massive 130 point advantage over the second placed New South Wales team. Atrocious conditions in the Sydney-Hobart meant, however, that this points buffer became the team's lifeline as Smir-Noff-Agen retired with damage for'ard after falling off a large wave, and then Swuzzlebubble also withdrew after Ian Gibbs and his crew decided that the conditions were too extreme for a small Half Tonner. Jenny H continued on, though not without their own problems with another failure in a for'ard frame. Haslar and his crew nursed the boat through the worst of the storm and managed to finish in fifth place, and finished as the top yacht overall to secure the Southern Cross Cup for New Zealand.

Jenny H seen here (above and below) at the start of the 1977 storm-tossed Sydney to Hobart Race - alongside the yacht Pinta (sailing for the European Economic Community team) which finished sixth in the race, behind Jenny H in fifth (photos Phil Uhl | Facebook)

Jenny H was sold to US yachtsman John B Kilroy Jr (son of Jim Kilroy, of Kialoa fame), who shipped the boat to the west coast of the US in early 1978 where she was renamed Scalawag and enjoyed a great deal of success in mixed fleet and One Ton class racing, and won the 1978 North American One Ton series held in Michigan by over 20 points. 

Scalawag seen here during the 1978 North American One Ton series in Harbor Springs, Michigan (photo Phil Uhl | Facebook)

Scalawag (photo Phil Uhl/Facebook)

Scalawag was then taken to Flensburg, Germany, for the 1978 One Ton Cup where she finished third - overall victory was possible but unbelievably the mainsheet blocks were stolen from the boat the night before the long ocean race finale. The jury-rigged replacement broke in the 35 knot winds encountered during the race while they were leading.

Scalawag (above and below) during the 1978 One Ton Cup

 Alterations to the boat were carried out in 1979 to meet the rating challenges arising from the punitive changes to the IOR that came into force that year. These alterations were carried out under the guidance of designer David Pedrick and included the addition of a new keel, and rudder, and a re-designed bow, with a steeper profile to help to shorten her rated length.  

Scalawag was transported to Newport, Rhode Island for the 1979 One Ton North American series, and the One Ton Cup which would follow soon after. Scalawag was again beset with sabotage - this time someone had taken a hacksaw to the upper shroud, and after the crew set the sails, in just 6 knots of wind, the rig came tumbling down, along with Kilroy's chances of defending his North American title. Two other yachts were later found to have the same problem (including the eventual winner of the series, Firewater), but light airs meant that the race was cancelled and no other rigs were lost. That fellow competitor would go to the effort of climbing the mast to carry out such sabotage is difficult to comprehend, but as with suspected damage to the rig of Smir-Noff-Agen in the 1977 One Ton Cup, it is perhaps an indication of the prestige associated with these level rating regattas at the time.

Scalawag arrives in Newport for the 1979 North Americans and One Ton Cup regattas (photo Paul Mello)

Scalawag returns to the dock after sabotage to the upper shroud saw her rig collapse at the start of the 1979 North American One Ton series (photo Paul Mello)

The police are brought in to investigate the sabotage to Scalawag's rig (photo Paul Mello)

It appears that the rig was able to be repaired in time for the One Ton Cup but I have not been able to find any record of Scalawag's result (she is seen in the photograph below passing to the lee of Pendragon). Kilroy continued to race Scalawag on the west coast and then donated her to the USC. She was later bought by West Coast yachtsman Mick Shlens, and later by a New Zealander who ran a floating dock in Santa Barbara and returned the boat closer to its original configuration but included an open transom and a new paint scheme. 

Scalawag sails to the weather mark behind Pendragon during the 1979 One Ton Cup (photo Paul Mello)

Tom Cahalane of The Sailing Foundation then bought the boat in 2003 and proceeded to carry out an extensive overhaul of the yacht and her rig, and renamed her Azzurra. Further upgrades were carried out in 2014. Details of her restoration and some sailing footage is available here. 

Azzurra after a repaint in 2014

Azzurra was for sale, in Redondo Beach, California, for some time, before being acquired by Alaskan sailing interests (Resurrection Bay Sailing) in June 2024. You can see her journey on an Instagram post here.

Article updated March 2026

Swuzzlebubble VIII (Davidson One Tonner)

This post continues my tribute to New Zealand yachtsman Ian Gibbs' series of offshore Swuzzlebubble yachts. Swuzzlebubble VIII started life as Beyond Thunderdome, a Laurie Davidson-designed 40 foot One Tonner owned and sailed by the late Warren Jones (Australian Ocean Racer of the Year 1994). 

Beyond Thunderdome sailing in Sydney sometime prior to 1993

Beyond Thunderdome after finishing the 1990 Sydney to Hobart race in seventh place (photo Facebook)

Beyond Thunderdome

Beyond Thunderdome was chartered by Gibbs for the 1993 Sydney to Hobart Race and renamed Swuzzlebubble VIII for the ocean racing classic. 

The race marked something of a return to offshore racing for Gibbs, following a focus on inshore sailing on a couple of Etchells yachts (Swuzzlebubble VI and VII) which he campaigned sometime between 1986 and 1993. 

Swuzzlebubble VIII makes her way to the start of the 1993 Sydney-Hobart race (photo Gibbs Family Collection)

The race was an unhappy one for the Swuzzlebubble VIII crew. Like the 1998 edition which affected the older Business Post Naiad (ex-Swuzzlebubble V, see earlier post) a few years later, the race was affected by a significant storm. The race was started in a good breeze and sunny conditions, but about eight hours or so later the southern horizon turned black. Within 15 minutes a double weather bomb hit the fleet which resulted in horrendous seas and winds over 70 knots. The storm was enormous, with satellite photography at the time revealing a spiral cloud stretching down the Queensland coast across the Tasman Sea to the South Island of New Zealand, and back across to Tasmania. The storm centre of 986hpa was right in Bass Strait, near the race fleet. The winning yacht Ninety Seven recorded 78 knots of wind on either side of the low off Gabo Island on the night of 27 December. 

Swuzzlebubble VIII in the early stages of the race to Hobart

The mast stump

Sometime after midnight on the second night, Swuzzlebubble VIII was just entering Bass Strait when one wave, bigger than all the others, caught the yacht. The helmsman lost steerage and the yacht turned sideways and then rolled upside down where it practically went into a freefall. The yacht stayed upside down for over a minute, sinking, but very stable due to the combination of wide beam and minimum cabin size. Kevin Dibley was part of the crew and recalls that the only reason Swuzzlebubble VIII righted herself was due to "a fairly significant, punchy wave, that hit the keel with such force that it snapped the mast thus allowing the yacht to right herself again". Although upright, the yacht was swamped, with water entering the boat through various cracks in the deck and cabin top, and the spreaders of the broken rig were punching holes into the carbon fibre hull.

Fortunately all the crew on deck were harnessed on and were able to be recovered. Down below the crew worked frantically to plug the hull and pump out seawater, while looking after a badly injured Gibbs. The remainder of the rig was then cut off, the no.3 headsail was deployed as a sea anchor and the crew bailed the yacht while other yachts stood nearby. Dibley recalls that one of thew crew took the engine apart, cleaning the injectors and put it all back together again, while the rest of the crew were busy cutting the rig off as the spreaders were punching holes into the topsides. Eventually the flooded engine was brought to life and the crew motored for 12 hours towards Eden Harbour to join some of the record 66 yachts that had retired from the race.

The boat suffered extensive damage and after being considered write off by her insurers the yacht was rescued by a couple of Australian yachtsmen, and it is understood that she returned to racing under her original name and as of 2006-07 was sailing from her port of Brisbane.

The bow pulpit was torn off by the force of the wave that capsized Swuzzlebubble VIII (photo Gibbs Family Collection)

Damage to the cabin structure is clearly evident here (photo Gibbs Family Collection)

Beyond Thunderdome was advertised for sale in 2016 (photo below). 

 

More recently (November 2023), Beyond Thunderdome is now sadly looking somewhat worse for wear on a mooring in Gladstone Harbour Marina (below)

Article updated November 2023

Swuzzlebubble V (Farr 39)

Design 138 (Farr Yacht Design)

Continuing the series on Ian Gibbs' fleet of Swuzzlebubble offshore IOR yachts brings us to Swuzzlebubble V. This yacht was a development of Bruce Farr's dominant One Ton design, Design #136, which formed the basis of New Zealand's outstanding 1983 Southern Cross Cup team (see earlier post - Geronimo). Swuzzlebubble V, and her sistership Epic Lass, were designed and built with a view to competing for New Zealand in the 1985 Admiral's Cup series, and were versions of Design 138, optimised for the lighter airs expected in Europe being slightly shorter in length (approx 7in), lighter (approx 190lb), with a fractionally lower ballast ratio, and carrying more sail.

Swuzzlebubble V and Epic Lass, the latter commissioned by Healing Industries, were both launched together amongst much fanfare outside the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in December 1984. Swuzzlebubble V was rushed to the startline of the Auckland-Gisborne race, finishing in fifth place in the IOR division.

Building the mould for Swuzzlebubble V and Epic Lass, the IOR 'crease' clearly visible, along with the bump at maximum beam

Launching day, Westhaven 20 December 1984 (photo Gibbs Family Collection)

The functional and stripped-out interior (photo Gibbs Family Collection)

In the five-boat Admiral's Cup trial series held in early 1985, Swuzzlebubble V lined up against sistership Epic Lass, veteran performer Exador, the Davidson 40 Canterbury Export, and the Peterson 43, Barnstorm. The trials series was closely fought, but Exador and Canterbury Export selected themselves while two more races had to be added to the evaluation schedule to determine whether Epic Lass or Swuzzlebubble V would make the team. Being slightly smaller than their predecessor Exador and optimised for European conditions, both yachts gave no real indication of being an improvement on the Farr 40. However, neither boat demonstrated that they were fully optimised either - changing gears was a problem common to both boats - and the selectors wondered how much performance was untapped.
 
Also in the selector's mind was Gibbs' track record at the Admiral's Cup itself, with Gibbs having taken Swuzzlebubble III to the top of the fleet in the 1981 series. In the end, both final races went Epic Lass' way, with skipper Peter Walker winning the first race and finishing third in the second. Swuzzlebubble V looked out of sorts twice on the windward legs, and looked a fraction off the pace just when Gibbs' charge needed to convince.

Swuzzlebubble V went on to campaign for a place in the New Zealand team for the country's defence of the Southern Cross Cup in 1985. The Fay Richwhite-sponsored trials, which commenced in November 1985, saw a sudden influx of new yachts, with eight boats entered and including five new boats. Gibbs had made a number of changes to the boat and crew, including a new white paint-job. The boat started off the 1985-86 season with a win in the IOR division of the Feltex Regatta, and went on to qualify for the New Zealand A team, alongside the evergreen Exador and the new Farr 43 Switchblade. With the number of boats available, a decision was made to send a second 'B' team, made up of the Davidson 40 Mad Max, Thunderbird (a sistership to Switchblade) and Barnstorm. Mad Max didn't make the A team as she missed the first race, but was clearly one of the fastest boats in the series. 

Swuzzlebubble V during the 1985 Admiral's Cup trials

The helmsman struggles to keep Swuzzlebubble V on her feet on a fresh reach down the Rangitoto Channel, thought to be during the 1985 Southern Cross Cup trials (photo Gibbs Family Collection)

The composition of the two teams undermined an otherwise promising New Zealand effort, as Mad Max was top individual performer but let down by the lacklustre performance of Barnstorm, while Swuzzlebubble V proved to be the weak link in the A team, finishing the series in 20th place overall, following placings of 14/14/17/14 and 26th in the Sydney-Hobart race finale. 

Swuzzlebubble V racing during the New Zealand 1987 Admiral's Cup trials

Swuzzlebubble Six and Mad Max on a ship to Sydney

Swuzzlebubble V came back to New Zealand and later contested the 1987 Admiral's Cup trials, but despite further modifications, including a new keel and upgraded rig, she was off the pace against the new generation Farr designs Propaganda and Fair Share, and Mad Max (Goldcorp). She did make selection for the New Zealand team for the 1987 Southern Cross Cup, sailing in the same trim and equipped with a new Norths wardrobe, and renamed Swuzzlebubble Six for the campaign (to differentiate the boat from her earlier configuration). However, her experienced crew had to struggle manfully to keep Swuzzlebubble Six up with the pace, and had to settle for 18th on individual points, after a 12/22/17/8/17 series. Her team-mates Fair Share and Mad Max worked hard to overcome Swuzzlebubble's lack of form, but made a costly tactical error in the middle distance offshore race resulting in second place overall for New Zealand in the series, 74 points behind Australia. 

Swuzzlebubble Six on one of the reaching legs during the 1987 Southern Cross Cup series

Swuzzlebubble Six in a gybing manouevre while racing in the 1987 Southern Cross Cup

Swuzzlebubble Six was later sold in Australia, probably after the 1987 Southern Cross Cup. She was raced actively out of the CYCA until 1994 under Colin Boyle, competing in long races such as the Sydney-Southport and Sydney-Mooloolabla, and raced in the Sydney-Hobart again in 1987. She was bought by Bruce Guy in 1994 and renamed Naiad. Guy campaigned her extensively out of Launcestown, competing successfully in various offshore races out of Melbourne. Naiad became Business Post Naiad in 1998 - she went on to win the Three Peaks race that year and then lined up for the 1998 Sydney-Hobart race. The 1998 edition of this ocean racing classic turned out to be one of the most harrowing, when the fleet encountered huge waves of up to 30m and 80 knot winds. Only 44 of the 115 yachts reached Hobart. Business Post Naiad became a central figure in the rescue efforts that were mounted on the second night. Two crewmembers died, including owner Guy, after the yacht was rolled in the mountainous seas. After the remaining seven crew were safely winched off, the yacht was left floating off the southern NSW coast, with the two dead crew members still aboard. Another four yachtsmen died on two other yachts. It was the worst tragedy in the history of the race and a harsh reminder of the severe conditions that can affect Bass Strait.

Business Post Naiad as viewed from the air after rolling and losing her mast

Video footage showing BPN being located by Search and Rescue can be seen here, from Part 2 of the 1999 Cruising Yacht Club of Australia (CYCA) documentary "Into the Eye of the Storm" (from about 17:50): 1998 Sydney Hobart race documentary Part 2 (Part 1 is also well worth watching for some of the incredible footage of the maxis crashing through the seas and the heroic actions of the search and rescue crews).

The broken rig and bent stauntions visible in this photo taken post-capsize - note the missing cabin hatch

In the post-race inquiry it was revealed that BPN may not have had sufficient righting moment to be eligible for the Sydney-Hobart race. Under the IMS rules under which the race was sailed at that time, yachts were required to have a positive righting movement when capsized of an angle of 115 degrees from vertical, although this was reduced to 110 degrees for yachts that had completed previous Sydney-Hobart races. BPN had originally had a righting moment of 117 degrees, but is understood that the yacht, which had modifications carried out below decks sometime in 1997, including removal of some 300kg of internal ballast, had been remeasured by an independent surveyor just before the race, and had been assessed as having a righting movement of just 105 degrees. Full documentation was sent to race organisers at the CYCA in Sydney. However it is understood that Mr Guy's entry application for the event was then accepted and confirmed in writing, and the failure to meet the stability requirements was not detected.

The post-race technical analysis of the changes to the yacht indicated that the ballast changes would have had a significant decrease to its knock-down or capsize resistance, although it could not be ruled out that even with the original ballast configuration the yacht may still have rolled given the severity of the conditions during the race.

A broken and battered yacht at Eden after the ill-fated 1998 Sydney-Hobart race

BPN had been dismasted in the race, and it is not known what other structural damage the yacht had suffered, or what became of her afterwards.