Kenwood Cup 1986 - Part 2

This post follows an earlier article about the 1986 edition of the Kenwood Cup (formerly the Clipper Cup) that featured photographs by Sharon Green. The following gallery includes photographs by Guy Gurney and Phil Uhl.

Windward Passage at full power on a reaching leg during one of the triangle races (photo Guy Gurney)

Jubilation, a Frers-designed 53-footer, finished in third place in Class B (photo Guy Gurney)

Challenge III, a Frers 43-footer, sailing for Australia

Some of the competing yachts from New Zealand berthed outside the Waikiki Yacht Club (left to right, Starlight Express, Black Sheep, Night Raider, Thunderbird and Mad Max), photo Phil Uhl

More views of Jubilation (photos Guy Gurney)

The New Zealand Davidson 40 Mad Max, second overall in Class D (photo Phil Uhl)

Tomahawk seen here leading Crazy Horse down the North Shore of Molokai (photo Phil Uhl)

Foredeck action aboard Maxi-yacht Sorcery, the eventual winner of Class A (photo Guy Gurney)

Windward Passage powers upwind on her way to third place in Class C (photo Guy Gurney)

The programme cover for the 1986 Kenwood Cup, featuring The Shadow from the 1984 edition (photo Phil Uhl)

Article dated April 2026

Anticipation (Lexcen 50)

Anticipation was a 50-foot Ben Lexcen design, commissioned by Don St Clair Brown who was widely regarded as the Father of New Zealand yachting. Don had sailed several Flying Dutchman and Dragon class yachts and a Tornado, before eventually building Anticipation (in aluminium) in 1975 where he left his greatest mark on New Zealand's ocean racing scene. Anticipation was of moderate displacement for the period and masthead rigged, and with her distinctive broad yellow stripe she was a feature of the New Zealand keelboat scene for many years, and Don campaigned her in most of the major Pacific ocean races including the Clipper Cup and Sydney-Hobart as well as local New Zealand regattas.

Anticipation in her early days

Anticipation racing during the 1975 Sydney-Hobart (photo Jenny Farrell | Maritime Museum)

Anticipation, with her original rating of about 40.3ft IOR was a strong performer in the New Zealand 'B' team in the first Clipper Cup in 1978, alongside Lovelace (Farr One Tonner) and Inca, an S&S 46 footer). 

Anticipation during a local Auckland race in 1979 (photo Maritime Museum)

During the 1979 Southern Cross Cup trials

Anticipation at the start of the 1979 Auckland to Suva race (photo Maritime Museum)

With the benefit of an age allowance, she again sailed strongly in 1980, even though winds were lighter than ideal for her, with results of 5/2/5 in the first three races to initially lead such famous new yachts as Challenge, Ragamuffin and Shockwave.

Anticipation during the 1980 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl | Facebook)

Anticipation with spinnaker and blooper in excellent trim (possibly during the 1980 Clipper Cup)

Although now seven years old, Anticipation finished in fifth place in the New Zealand trials for the 1982 Clipper Cup, now with a lower 38.5ft rating, and formed part of the New Zealand 'Red' team (alongside Bad Habits and Solara). The 'Red' team finished in sixth place (ahead of the smaller yachts making up the 'Green' team in 9th), where she finished 17th overall with placings of 20/21/18/27/18.

Anticipation - seen here during the 1982 Lahaina Sauza Cup - featured on the cover of 'Sailing' magazine in March 1985 (photo Phil Uhl)

Anticipation on a tight reach during the Lahaina Sauza Cup ahead of the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Anticipation fully pressed on a tight reach during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Powering along upwind during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo John Malitte | Sea Spray)

Anticipation again made the running in 1984, further benefiting from the IOR age allowance with a rating of 37.9ft, and was part of the seventh-placed New Zealand 'B' team (with Black Sheep and Blast Furnace). She outperformed both of her team-mates to finish 18th overall.

Anticipation off Molokai during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Charging along downwind, possibly during the 1984 Clipper Cup (photo Facebook)

While Don owned and continued to race Anticipation until his death in 2008 (at 94), he also commissioned Thunderbird, a Farr 43, in 1984 in which he sailed in the 1985 Southern Cross Cup and went on to win the 1986 Kenwood Cup (the former Clipper Cup) alongside Equity and Exador. 

Anticipation soon after the start of the 2006 Coastal Classic race (photo Richard Gladwell | Sail World)

Anticipation competing in an Australian regatta, date unknown

Anticipation is sadly now languishing as a houseboat of sorts in Mooloolaba, Australia (photo below from 2022, Facebook).

Article updated September 2025

Kenwood Cup 1986

This post features a selection of great photographs by Sharon Green (Ultimate Sailing) that capture some of the action during the 1986 Kenwood Cup held in Hawaii. The 1986 edition of this famous regatta was the first with Kenwood as the new sponsor, with the event becoming the Kenwood Cup Hawaii International Ocean Racing Series, and the Waikiki Yacht Club turned over the helm for managing the event to the newly formed Royal Hawaiian Ocean Racing Club.

Startline action in the 50-footer division, with Australia's Great Expectations just to windward and ahead of US yacht Springbok

A total of 48 yachts entered the regatta, from Australia, Japan, New Zealand, Tahiti and the United States. The 1987 America's Cup had reduced the number of available offshore crew and the general downturn in IOR racing contributed to the decreased number of entries. With only two Maxis, the 50-footers in Class B would prove to be the most competitive fleet and included Dennis Conner and his crew from Stars & Stripes aboard the Frers 50 Springbok.

The One Tonners approach a leeward mark

An adjustment to the time allowance system provided a boost to the smaller yachts and the 40 and 43 footers had a field day on the Olympic triangle races off Waikiki, which became a three-way battle between the three New Zealand yachts Equity, Exador and Mad Max. Exador emerged the winner of the Hawaii Silver Jubilee Trophy with the other three tied only four points behind. It was a fitting return for Exador after the disappointment of her dismasting in the 1984 series during the Around the State Race.

Australia's Great Expectations, a Farr 50-footer

The line honours victors for the Molokai Race was of no surprise as the big red Maxi Sorcery easily beat her rival Windward Passage by 12 minutes. However the main contest was among the One Tonners who were all vying for the corrected time win. In the final tally One Tonners took the top four places with Exador leading Mad Max, General Hospital and Sagacious V.

Japanese yacht Rariko (Kanto design rating 34.5ft) flying a blooper, although these were much less popular by 1986

In the Around the State Race, Sorcery and Windward Passage match-raced for 775 miles, with Sorcery winning by just 1 minute 55 seconds. The Japanese 50-footer Zero easily won on corrected time after sticking to the rhumbline course on the long trek from Niihau to South Point.

Blade Runner (first overall in Class B) chases Tomahawk (ex-Margaret Rintoul III)

The top overall yacht and winner of the King Kamehameha Trophy was Crazy Horse who beat Sleeper by two points. The New Zealand team of Equity, Exador and Thunderbird turned in a strong performance to be the top team overall and winners of the Kenwood Cup on its first presentation.

US yacht Jubilation (third overall in Class B)

The New Zealand Davidson 40 One Tonner Mad Max (second overall in Class D)

US yacht Checkmate, a Peterson 55 (ex-Bullfrog)

US yacht Springbok, a Frers 50-footer

Thunderbird (a Farr 43), part of the winning New Zealand team

Crazy Horse, top yacht overall

Springbok rounds a leeward mark

The New Zealand Farr 43s

Switchblade - Southern Cross Cup trials (A Sefton)

This article is about the three Farr 43s that formed the basis of New Zealand offshore campaigns during 1985-87. They were an evolution of Farr's Design #151 that first showed its form through the US yacht Snake Oil at the 1985 SORC, and later that year with Australia's Admiral's Cup yacht Drake's Prayer. 

The 43 footer was conceived in the wake of Farr's very successful One Tonners which had dominated the 1983 Southern Cross Cup in Australia, the 1984 Clipper Cup and European contests throughout the year. According to the Farr design notes, the goal was to produce a larger boat that had the same outstanding upwind and reaching qualities of the Farr's One Tonners in moderate and strong wind conditions, and dramatically strengthen the performance in light running conditions where the One Tonners were consciously trading off in their performance. Tom McCall was quick to see the potential of the design, as he had been with this earlier Farr 40 Exador, and was the first New Zealand yachtsman to commission a new 43 footer, Switchblade.

Switchblade during the 1985 Southern Cross Cup trials (above and below, left)

Switchblade was soon joined by Don St Clair Brown's sistership Thunderbird (below right) as part of an impressive line up to contest the 1985 Southern Cross Cup trials. McCall brought Ray Haslar on to skipper the boat, and stacked the boat with crew from his earlier Exador days, while St Clair Brown's crew included some familiar faces from his older yacht Anticipation. Both yachts used the Feltex Regatta as an initial opportunity for tuning, although Switchblade didn't have an IOR rating until the final race. This was later confirmed at 33.8ft, slightly lower than her predecessor Snake Oil, but half a foot higher than Thunderbird. McCall and Haslar didn't want to do anything drastic to reach parity, McCall opting instead "to work away to get down to 33.6 or 33.5 and then concentrate on sailing to it."

Switchblade made it into the New Zealand 'A' team to spearhead the defence of the Southern Cross Cup, while Thunderbird made it into the 'B' team - this second team made possible by sponsors Fay Richwhite who saw value in exposing three more crews to international competition. Switchblade joined Exador, the two obvious form boats, with Switchblade never finishing out of the top three. Switchblade opened her campaign strongly by taking line and handicap honours in the invitation race, helped by a rating that had been trimmed down to 33.4ft. She went on to enjoy a series-long match race against Thunderbird and Australia's Drakes Prayer. 

In a reversal from the trials series, Thunderbird had the measure of Switchblade, and finished in sixth place overall (2/9/12/2/17) against Switchblade's 13th (3/12/13/7/22). 

Thunderbird (left) and Switchblade arrive at a windward mark during the 1985 Southern Cross Cup

Thunderbird prepares to gybe during the 1985 Southern Cross Cup (photo Alan Sefton)

Switchblade tacks just ahead of New Zealand One Tonner Fair Share at a windward mark

Unfortunately, however, the selectors had chosen Swuzzlebubble V over Mad Max for the A team, and this proved to be a huge error as Mad Max was the star boat of the series and took out the top individual yacht honours, while Swuzzlebubble V was a disappointing 20th. Thunderbird's performance over Switchblade also contributed to the New Zealand B team finishing second, ahead of the New Zealand A team (fourth).

Thunderbird surges down a wave off Sydney during the 1985 Southern Cross Cup (photo Alan Sefton/NZ Yachting)

The unveiling of the modified keel design on Equity

Following the disappointment of New Zealand's Southern Cross Cup effort, attention turned to the 1986 Kenwood Cup. Del Hogg, who had campaigned Pacific Sundance, the fastest of the New Zealand Farr 40's in the 1983 Southern Cross Cup, and the top individual yacht of the series, also commissioned a new Farr 43, named Dollar Equity, for this series. Dollar Equity came off the same Cookson mould as Switchblade and Thunderbird but featured a completely different keel. After feedback from key crew members Peter Lester, Fraser Beer and Richard Macalister, following the 1985 Admiral's Cup, Hogg had Farr review the keel situation. The outcome was a keel that was slightly elliptical in its leading and trailing edges and sported a refined bulb effect at the tip. Dollar Equity was based in Wellington, but moved up to Auckland in February 1986 to begin her build-up again the top IOR yachts of the country, Mad Max, Exador and Thunderbird. McCall meanwhile had elected to put Switchblade up for sale before the Kenwood Cup trials.

The New Zealand Kenwood Cup team Equity andThunderbird (rear), along with Mad Max, prepare to be loaded aboard a ship at the Port of Auckland

Thunderbird during the Southern Cross Cup 1985

The ever consistent Exador was able to shut out Mad Max and the Farr 43s in light airs and flat water during the trials, but Dollar Equity, helmed by Peter Lester, and Thunderbird improved significantly in rougher water and more breeze. Their dominance of the final two evaluation races was a measure of that improvement, and in the end both Farr 43s were selected, along with Exador, for the Hawaiian series. 

After a number of efforts since 1978 to win the regatta, formerly known as the Clipper Cup, this New Zealand team were finally victorious, holding onto its points lead through the last and longest race. It was a close result, and their pre-race lead of 82 points was whittled down to just 12 points, after Exador just managed to wriggle home after joining other smaller yachts in running out of wind before the finish.

Dollar Equity during the 1986 Kenwood Cup

Dollar Equity leads the pack on a reaching leg during the 1986 Kenwood Cup (photo Phil Uhl/Facebook)

Equity rounds a leeward mark during the 1986 Kenwood Cup (photo Phil Uhl/Facebook)

Dollar Equity and Thunderbird were sold to Japanese interests following the 1986 Kenwood Cup (and so did not feature in any New Zealand regatta after this time). Dollar Equity raced in the San Francisco Big Boat Series in 1987, before being sold to Japanese interests where she was renamed Mimi. She then raced in the 1988 Kenwood Cup (27th overall and fourth in Class D) and again in 1990, while Thunderbird became Carrera. Both yachts are understood to have moved to Vladivostok in or about 2005. 

Thunderbird during the 1986 Kenwood Cup

Thunderbird during the 1986 Kenwood Cup (photo Sharon Green|Ultimate Sailing)

Carrera (ex-Thunderbird) sailing in Vladivostok circa 2005 (photo Facebook)

Carrera sporting her original Lidgard Sails-built mainsail and spinnaker (photo Vitaly Gnyubkin | Facebook)

Equity during the 1987 Big Boat Series (photo Phil Uhl)

Switchblade remained unsold by the time of the New Zealand 1987 Admiral's Cup trials, and McCall contemplated contesting the series with Switchblade. In late 1986 she was revamped to boost her rating by a foot to try to make the 34.2ft minimum for the 'big boat' slot in the team. However, following disappointing results with the new set-up it was decided not to carry on with the campaign, as it was felt that a lot more time and money was needed to make the boat competitive at that rating, and even then it could only hope to compete in a narrow range of conditions. In the end, the big-boat slot was taken by a new generation Farr 43, Kiwi.

Mimi (ex-Dollar Equity) in action during the 1988 Kenwood Cup (photo Sharon Green | Ultimate Sailing)

Mimi sailing in Hiroshima, Japan, and below, in 1992 (photos Facebook)

Mimi (left) competing in the Orange Cup Race in 1992, where she finished 16th (Offshore magazine | photo Nobuyuki Hara)

Switchblade was eventually sold to Hong Kong yachtsman Peter Whyte. She formed part of Hong Kong's team for the 1987 Southern Cross Cup series and was changed back to a more competitive rating of 33.84ft, and fitted with a modified keel, new rudder and a new sail wardrobe. Despite these changes she did not have the speed to save her time on the top One Tonners, even in the two inshore races which favoured the bigger yachts. Her series was not helped when officials boarded yachts after the second race and cited Switchblade and US yacht Sidewinder for incorrect measurement figures. Switchblade accepted a 10 percent-of-placings penalty, and went on to finish with a respectable ninth place overall following placings of 14/10/19/9 and a sixth in the Sydney-Hobart finale, helping the Hong Kong team to fourth place overall in the eleven team regatta.

Switchblade comes ashore in a storm in Phuket, November 2013

Switchblade stayed in her new home of Hong Kong, going on to contest regattas in Phuket and the like. Unfortunately, she was washed ashore from her mooring on the south coast of Phuket in a storm in late November 2013, and just before the Kings Cup Regatta, and from the photos it would appear that she was a write-off.   

A sad end for Switchblade - November 2013

Article updated February 2026