Clipper Cup 1980

The second edition of the Pan Am Clipper Cup attracted 64 yachts from Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Hong Kong, the United States and the United Kingdom. Fortunately renowned marine photographer Phil Uhl was there to capture the action, and this article features a number of his photos from the series. 

Winner of the 1980 Clipper Cup, Australian yacht Ragamuffin (photo Phil Uhl)

The fleet included three Maxis, Siska (Australia) and Windward Passage (US) and the smaller Mistress Quickly (UK). Condor of Bermuda had also planned to compete, but struck a coral atoll north of Tahiti enroute to Hawaii. 

The 73-foot Maxi, Windward Passage in her new configuration as a sloop, put in a dominant performance through the first four races of the series (photo Phil Uhl)

It was the Australian yacht Ragamuffin, a Peterson 45-footer owned by Syd Fischer (rating 35.2ft IOR), won the Clipper Gold Cup for the top individual yacht of the series, also winning on corrected time the final 775-mile Around the State Race, the Class B point score for the series and for the three inshore races. Ragamuffin was part of the Australia No.1 team, with Challenge and Sweet Caroline, that convincingly won the international teams prize, the King Kamehameha Trophy, with a runaway margin over the US Red team. Sweet Caroline, a Davidson Two-Tonner (31.9ft), also won the Class C point score for the series. 

Ragamuffin rounds a mark during the 1980 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

This result meant that Australia, in less than a year, had won the Admiral's Cup, the Southern Cross Cup and the Clipper Cup, and was their second successive victory in the Clipper Cup teams series, having won the inaugural event in 1978 (with Fischer's earlier yacht, the Frers-designed Ragamuffin, being part of that victorious team). 

The US Red team was comprised of two Holland designs, Tomahawk and Shenandoah who performed consistently, but the 1976 Farr One Tonner, Carrie Ann V, turned in five average results.

The Australian 77-foot Maxi, Siska (67.2ft IOR) (photo Phil Uhl)

The first race, the Around Oahu Race, was a line honours battle between the Maxis with Siska setting a new record and beating Windward Passage by 3½ minutes and Mistress Quickly by 6 minutes, although the placings were reversed on corrected time.

The Bob Miller designed Maxi, Mistress Quickly (63.2ft IOR) sporting her unique and recognisable spinnaker (photo Phil Uhl)

Soon after a start in Class D, with yachts Sweet Caroline (3557), Brother Dominic (KZ-4264) and Unchu (J-2611) visible, amongst others (photo Phil Uhl)

The Olympic Triangle courses again provided a showcase for racing skills among the offshore yachts, although winds were unusually light. Windward Passage showed her style and versatility by winning the Maxi class in all three of these races, while New Zealand’s Anticipation (a Bob Miller 50-footer) and Gold Coast Express each did the same in Classes A and D.

The New Zealand Davidson 46-footer Shockwave (photo Phil Uhl)

The 775-mile Around the State Race would prove to be a race for the navigators and tacticians trying to avoid the windless holes in the lee of Kauai and the Big Island. Windward Passage again took line honours finishing in four days, 11 hours and 32 minutes, but this was not enough to set a new record. Mistress Quickly was 11½ hours behind while Siska withdrew after she hit a coral head on the windward side of Oahu shortly after the start. 

Kiwi Klipper (35.5ft IOR), a production Farr 38, from the US (photo Phil Uhl)

Ragamuffin, Fischer's fourth boat of the same name, was a member of the Australian team in the 1979 Admiral's Cup and finished the series with results of 7/3/1/3/1, with her win of the quadruple points Round the State Race being enough to displace Windward Passage from the point score lead. 

Windward Passage leads Siska and Mistress Quickly off Oahu (photo Phil Uhl)

US yacht Shenandoah (30.9ft IOR) leads Shockwave and Challenge during the Laihana Sauza Cup, a warm-up event before the Clipper Cup - Challenge would suffer a collision during this race but was repaired in time for the start of the series (photo Phil Uhl)

It was noted at the time that Fischer's new Ragamuffin had been the least successful member of the winning Australian team in the previous year’s Admiral’s Cup. It was considered a good boat, but not outstanding at that level of competition. She seemed to be inferior to another member of the Australian No.1 team, the S&S 46-footer Challenge (34.5ft), owned by Lou Abrahams. Challenge had been the outstanding boat of the 1979 Southern Cross Cup series, and beat Ragamuffin in three out of the five races in the Clipper Cup, including winning the Around Oahu Race. She would have made it four if the ball joint at the top of her forestay had not failed on the final beat of the third race. A quick bear-away saved the mast, and with halyards rigged as a jury forestay she managed to finish the race at 17th on corrected time, after earlier looking likely to be third.

The US yacht Saudade, a S&S design (35.1ft IOR) (photo Phil Uhl)

Shockwave trails closely behind another Davidson design Snow White II (NZ, 37.4ft IOR) (photo Phil Uhl)

Ragamuffin's other team-mate Sweet Caroline was sailed consistently well throughout the series and was one of several Davidson designs which performed strongly in the Hawaiian trade-wind conditions. Shockwave, a Davidson 46-footer (33.6ft IOR) owned by New Zealander Neville Crichton, gave Ragamuffin and Challenge strong competition in Class B and finished second overall in the Round the State Race to finish second in the Clipper Cup overall point score, just two points behind Ragamuffin. 

The smallest yacht in the series, the Farr-designed Kev Flyer (20.0ft IOR), seen here alongside the Wilson-designed Ruffian (30.7ft) (photo Phil Uhl)

Other yachts which topped Ragamuffin, Shockwave and Challenge at times included Anticipation, a Lexcen 50-footer that benefitted from an age allowance (39.2ft IOR) that had been the leading yacht after three races (and was third going into the final race), and the new Farr designed 52-footer Zamazaan (41.7ft) which won Class A overall (and finished sixth overall).

Shockwave leads ex-New Zealand yacht Inca (both trailing Gerontius) during the 1980 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl)

Shenandoah with Unchu to leeward and New Zealand's Brother Dominic (another Davidson design) passing Koko Head (photo Phil Uhl)

The time-on-distance system used for calculating the handicap results appeared to favour the big yachts in the regatta. Apart from taking line honours in four of the races, Windward Passage (67.7ft IOR) also posted corrected time scores of 3/1/1/2, before falling to 13th in the Round the State finale and finishing third overall, behind Shockwave. 

Gold Coast Express, convincing winner of Class D (photos Phil Uhl)

The performance of Gold Coast Express, another Davidson design, was also notable as she won every race in Class D on both line and corrected time. She was unique in that she had 60 owners, all members of the small Southport Yacht Club on the Gold Coast of Queensland. She was a development of Davidson's famous Half Ton champion Waverider, and rated only 27.1ft with the centreboard fixed. But despite outclassing her competition in Class D, she could not figure higher than 15th in the overall fleet in a series dominated by higher rating boats. 

Foredeck action aboard Windward Passage (photo Phil Uhl)

Japanese yacht Unchu - this photo seems to be from the fourth race (third inshore) which she won, as she looks to be ahead of many larger yachts (photo Phil Uhl)  

One exception to the big boat hegemony was the result of the the 40-foot Japanese yacht Unchu (30.3ft) which won the fourth race, the final Olympic triangle after picking a favourable windshift. Unchu was designed by Ichiro Yokoyama, who had designed Magician V, the winner of the 1978 Quarter Ton Cup held in Japan. This was the first win for a Japanese yacht in a major offshore series outside Japan.

Japanese yacht Unchu, winner of the final inshore race (photo Phil Uhl)

The increase from 1978 in the number of competing yachts in 1980 was considered a good sign that the regatta was popular with offshore sailors, and attracted another quality fleet in 1982.

The 45-foot S&S design Inca (which sailed for NZ in 1978 but was US-owned by 1980) rounds a leeward mark followed by Timber Wolf (Farr, USA), Darth Vader (Tarrabochia, NZ) and Uin na Mara III (Farr, USA)

The Farr Half Tonner Don Quixote (rating 22.7 ft), not much bigger than Kev Flyer, rounds a leeward mark (photo Phil Uhl)

Mile High, a 50-foot fractional Peterson design (rating 39.0ft) from Hong Kong, seen here off Koko Head - she went on to finish third in Class A (photo Phil Uhl)

Another Davidson design, Brother Dominic, seen here rounding a windward mark (NZ, 32.1ft IOR) (photo Phil Uhl)

The Britton Chance-designed Glory (US, 43.7ft IOR) leads Snow White II (photo Phil Uhl)

The Tarrabochia-designed Darth Vader (33.4ft IOR) from New Zealand at a gybe mark during one of the inshore races (photo Phil Uhl)

Another view of Siska on one of the downwind legs (photo Phil Uhl)

Australia's Impetuous (Holland 42) leads Canada's Kanata (photo Phil Uhl)

Ragamuffin completing a gybe while rounding a wing mark (photo Phil Uhl)

The Australian yacht Mary Muffin, a Frers 47-footer (photo Phil Uhl)

Mile High, a Peterson designed 50-footer sailing for Hong Kong (39.0ft IOR), finished third in Class A, behind Zamazaan and Anticipation (photo Phil Uhl)

An aerial view of Snow White II on a downwind run (photo Phil Uhl)

Snow White II seen here alongside Ruffian, with the Farr 36 Country Boy (29.0ft) and Gold Coast Express in the background, during a pre-regatta race (photo Phil Uhl)

Article updated May 2026

Laurie Davidson (1926 - 2021)

New Zealand and the wider sailing world lost one of its great yacht designing talents, Laurie Davidson, this week (4 October 2021). Davidson was a major force in leading edge IOR design in the 1970s and 80s, starting off with his breakthrough Quarter Tonner Fun before going on to find further international success with winning designs in Half Ton, Three-Quarter Ton and One Ton world championships in the 1970s and was a key part of New Zealand's success in international yacht design through into the 1980s and 1990s. He will of course be best remembered for his breakthrough designs for Team New Zealand in their successful 1995 America's Cup challenge and 2000 defence, but created fast and beautiful looking yachts across the whole design spectrum.

Fun - fifth at the 1976 Quarter Ton Cup in Corpus Christi (and fifth again in Helsinki in 1977)

A tribute article can be found on the Yachting New Zealand website here, and some of his famous designs from the IOR era are presented in the gallery below.

Waverider - fourth in the Half Ton Cup in 1977 but went on to win in 1978 and 1979

Laurie inspecting the hull of Pendragon at the 1978 Three-Quarter Ton Cup in 1978 (photo Doug Wardrop)

Pendragon on her way to winning the 1978 Three Quarter Ton Cup

Laurie seen here checking in with the crew of Pendragon following her conversion to a One Tonner and winning the 1979 One Ton Cup (photo Paul Mello)

Pendragon winning the 1979 One Ton Cup (photo Paul Mello)

Stu Brentnall's 46-footer Shockwave at the 1980 Clipper Cup

Quarter Tonner Hellaby, racing at the 1980 Quarter Ton Cup in Auckland

The 38-foot Southern Raider at the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo John Malitte)

Graeme Woodroffe's 50-footer Jumpin' Jack Flash - although not designed to the IOR (and carrying a high 48.3ft rating), she was New Zealand's top yacht in the 1982 Clipper Cup

Digby Taylor's 51-foot Whitbread yacht Outward Bound during the 1981 New Zealand Admiral's Cup selection trials

Bernard Clay's 50-foot Great Fun during the 1982 Clipper Cup (photo Phil Uhl/Facebook)

Australian 39-footer Szechwan 

The One Tonner Canterbury Export formed part of the New Zealand team for the 1985 Admiral's Cup

The 44-footer Pendragon II (1981)

Mad Max (also known as Goldcorp) seen here during the 1985 Southern Cross Cup

One Tonner Swuzzlebubble VIII (ex-Beyond Thunderdome) at the start of the ill-fated 1994 Sydney to Hobart yacht race

Half Ton Classics Cup 2018

Checkmate XV, winner of the 2018 Half Ton Classics Cup, rounds a windward mark on Day 2 of the series (all photos from the Half Ton Classics Cup website)

With a convincing win in the final spectacular race run in glorious sunshine and big seas off Nieuwpoort, Checkmate XV (1985 Humphreys) and her crew of owner David Cullen, Darragh O’Connor, Nin O’Leary, Jonathan Sargent, Aidan Beggan, Niki Potterton and Frank Rothchild of the Howth Yacht Club claimed a well deserved overall victory in the 2018 Half Ton Classics Cup. For Checkmate XV this was the third time she had earnt the right to have her name engraved on the Half Ton Classics Cup (equalling the legendary Swuzzlebubble’s record) and for David and his team is was their second win, the first also being here in Nieuwpoort in 2015.

Checkmate XV seen here on a busy startline on the first day of racing

The final race was a cracker, sailed in a 14-16 knot westerly, huge seas and glorious sunshine. The first start was recalled so Race Officer Paul Charlier pulled out the U Flag and on the second attempt everyone behaved. It was nip and tuck all the way with Robbie Tregear’s Per Elisa (1992 Ceccarelli) initially heading the fleet from Philippe Pilate’s General Tapioca (1978 Berret), Checkmate XV, Toni Stoschek & Janne Tukolas’ Superhero (1988 Andrieu), Tom Florizoone’s Red Cloud (1981 Joubert), Paul Wayte’s Headhunter (1984 Van de Stadt) and Jonny Swan’s Harmony (1980 Humphreys). But the Irish team dug deep and by the final turn for home Checkmate XV had a decent lead with Per Elisa, Harmony and General Tapioca now hard on her heels. 

Red Cloud (fifth overall) powers her way upwind on the final day

At the finish Checkmate XV took the race by 52 seconds, with Harmony second from Per Elisa and General Tapioca fourth. Sadly a technical issue with the committee boat’s anchor made a second race impossible and so the championship closed with eight races completed.

Superhero in light airs on the first day (finished sixth overall)

In his thank you speech at the prize giving David Cullen made a few special presentations of his own before reflecting that “Being a Half Ton owner is a bit like being a heroin addict, you don’t really enjoy it but its very hard to stop! And a lot of that comes down to the camaraderie in this room and in this class". It was a sentiment that clearly hit the right note with the assembled crowd and he then went on to particularly thank Class Chairman Philippe Pilate and Class Secretary Bert Janssen for all their work in driving and supporting the class.

Checkmate XV in action on the final day of racing

In the Vintage IOR Division Albert Pierrard & An Callens’ A+ (1985 Nissen) had a superb last race loving every minute of the downwind sleigh rides, with Waverider second by 47 seconds and Nicolas Lejeune’s Skippy’s Ton (1984 Briand) third. At the prizegiving it was confirmed that the first ever winner of the new Vintage IOR Trophy was the local Belgian boat Waverider sailed by owner Jaques Lemaire, Michael Gendebien, Thibout de Kenchous, Michel Lefebure, Stephove Putseys, Winnie Berteloot and Pascal Aboosha. Ivan Van Burm’s Fantasy (1980 Humphreys) took second place by a mere half point from A+ in third.

Another packed startline during the 2018 Half Ton Classics Cup, with second placed Harmony in the foreground

Alongside the main trophies two further special prizes were also announced. The first was the Half Ton Classics Cup Corinthian Trophy, which goes to the top performing all amateur crew and was won by Rampage (1985 Briand) sailed by owner John Hicks, Rod Wootton, Will Parkinson, Mike Chamberlain, Becky Leach, Jane Hicks and Joe Cable from Cornwall, UK.

Blue Beret (left) and Skippy's Ton (right) sailing upwind during the 2018 Half Ton Classics Cup

The final prize presented is always the Spirit of Half Ton Trophy and it goes to the team who best embody that certain hard to define something that sums up the true heart of the Half Ton Class. For rescuing and totally rebuilding their boat against all the odds after she was almost completely destroyed when a crane fell on her some three years ago, this year the Spirit of Half Ton Trophy was presented to Nicolas Lejeune and Waverider. Waverider is a truly special Half Tonner; designed by Laurie Davidson in 1977 she won two consecutive Half Ton Cups in 1978 off Poole and in 1979 off Scheveningen. Her reconstruction has been a work of love and dedication by Nicolas and his friends and family, with the support of boat builders and fellow Half Ton sailors Tom Florizoone (Red Cloud) and Ian Van Burm (Fantasy). Waverider is a wooden boat so first she had to be put into a jig and left to settle back into shape before the rebuild could start. That work could only begin a few months ago and took the team until the night before the regatta to complete. The very first time the sailed the boat after her relaunch was the first race of this championship, so this was a hugely popular win and the entire team came to the stage to raucous cheers and applause.

Waverider in lighter airs on the second day (fourth overall and winner of the Vintage division)

There were thank yous to the many volunteers and sponsors who have made the event possible and every team taking part was called forward to receive gifts and prizes before Master of Ceremonies Bert Janssen confirmed that the next Half Ton Classics Cup will be held in 2020 and will be hosted by the Royal Ocean Racing Club in Cowes (dates to be confirmed). Finally Commodore Baudouin Meyhui of the Koninklijke Yacht Club Nieuwpoort thanked the competitors, wished them safe journeys home and hoped that they would all be back in Nieuwpoort again very soon.

Per Elisa (third overall) on the downwind leg on the second day of racing