Rainbow II
Sparkman and Stephens
Rainbow II was designed by Olin J Stephens II of Sparkman and Stephens design office to meet the RORC rule. She was built of single skin splined kauri in 1966 by Max Carter for Chris Bouzaid who very successfully campaigned her on the one ton cup circuit which took New Zealand yachting to the global stage. Rainbow II is currently on public display at Heritage Landing, Silo Park, Auckland.
Words from Chris Bouzaid
It’s now approaching 50 years since Rainbow II’s ocean race win in the 1969 One Ton Cup shared equal front page billing in the Auckland Star evening newspaper with Neil Armstrong landing on the moon (“One Small Step For Man” on the left and “Rainbow Wins Battle Of Jutland” on the right) so it is easy to forget the impact she made on the New Zealand public. Heck – she even had her picture on the lid of the Arnotts Biscuits tin - a distinction usually reserved for racehorses in those days.
I take a lot of pride in the fact that people in a position to judge these things claim that Rainbow II’s feats in the late 1960s, backing up Jim Davern’s 1966 line honours win, in Fidelis, in the Sydney-Hobart, are credited with launching the New Zealand invasion of ocean racing which, in the next 40 years, resulted in Kiwi designed boats and crews winning every major event in world offshore racing scene, most of them more than once. That includes the Whitbread Round the World race, the Trophee Jules Verne and the America’s Cup, all three Ton Cups (Quarter, Half and One), plus the Admiral’s Cup, Southern Cross Cup and Kenwood (nee Clipper) Cups.
That domination of the sport extended to yacht design, boatbuilding, and the design and construction of rigs and sails.
Quite astonishing when you consider: New Zealand’s population was only 2.8 million when Rainbow won the One Ton Cup in 1969; 2.89 million when Pathfinder, Runaway and Wai-Aniwa finished first, second and third in the Sydney-Hobart classic to clinch the 1971 Southern Cross Cup; just 3.3 million when, in 1987, Propaganda, Kiwi and Goldcorp won the 1987 Admiral’s Cup; 3.36 million when Steinlager II won all six legs of the Whitbread Round the World race (on line and on handicap); and just 3.6 million when, in 1995, “Black Magic” (NZL 32) won the America’s Cup.
Now – is that punching ‘way above your weight?
The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (RNZYS) and its members have been integral to most of that phenomenal success (and one should never forget either the important part played by the Royal Akarana Yacht Club).
Rainbow’s 1968 challenge for the One Ton Cup in Heligoland was a first for the Squadron that, for the most part, in those days was content to organise racing for its magnificent fleet of harbour and gulf racers. The challenge in Germany was championed by Commodore Bruce Marler and senior club member Arnold Baldwin. What visionaries they proved to be.
We managed to raise, mostly from club members, almost £20,000 – an awful lot of money in those days. From the acorn of those small beginnings, a very large oak tree sprouted, and - look where it has led the Squadron. There is no yacht club in the world that has as much recognition for its successful campaigns, and no other yacht club has won as many international regattas.
I want to thank all of you who have helped us get this far. It has been a journey with lots of memories and old friends coming out of the woodwork in all parts of the world. And, it would appear that the old Rainbow magic is still a factor. Even though we kept fairly quiet about the Rainbow II restoration, a steady flow of interested parties found their way to Horizon Boats to check on progress - no easy task because the yard is well tucked away in a district north of Auckland that is only now beginning to make its way on to the GPS maps.
The modern era of the One Ton Cup started with yachts designed to the RORC Rule (1964 to
1969 - the Rainbow II era). Then the newly formulated International Offshore Rule (IOR) was introduced and, from 1970 to 1980, all competitors were designed and built to that rule. (the Wai-Aniwa era). During those two periods, the average Joe could afford to build, own and campaign a One Tonner. Then costs began to spiral and today you would not get much for the money you managed to scrape together for a whole campaign in days gone by, and this has had a serious impact on international competition. Maybe the old days weren’t so bad and maybe that’s why the idea for a One Ton Revisited regatta proved so popular.
Good and happy sailing
Chris
Racing History
Chris and his crew's winning results included 121 races over three years. Among the victories were the Whangarei-Noumea race in April, 1967, the Sydney-Hobart classic in December, 1967, finished second (1968) and then first (1969) in the One Ton Cup in Heligoland, and then, in August 1969, won the 245-mile Channel Race and finished first in her class in the 605-mile Fastnet Classic.
Her time in Bermuda
Chris sold Rainbow II to Charlie Berry of Bermuda in 1969 immediately after the Fastnet Classic. She remained in Hamilton, Bermuda for the following 43 years.
And Back to New Zealand
Chris Bouzaid was passing through Bermuda in 2009 and took the time to visit Rainbow II which was then owned by Jeremy Brasier. The old girl was in bad shape and not all that far from the scrap heap. With a couple of friends, he took her for a sail and was amazed how well she still slid along, especially in the light air. Unfortunately, the breeze increased during the day, and so did the volume of water coming in through the garboard planks. They were pretty lucky to get back to the mooring without drowning the engine.
Chris made the decision there and then that this was not a fitting end for a yacht that had inspired so much and so many. She had to be brought home to Auckland.A few quick phone calls to friends in New Zealand and Monaco produced some very generous offers of both financial and physical help. So, Chris bought Rainbow II from Jeremy and pretty soon, with the help of the Maersk Line, she was on her way home to the Waitemata Harbour.
The original concept was to put Rainbow II back into presentable shape and donate her for public display in the New Zealand Maritime Museum at Hobson Wharf Auckland. That idea was modified when it emerged that there was a lot of interest in Rainbow having another romp around the harbour with as many of the original crew as could still come sailing, before she was retired to a museum. So, what was going to be a quick lick tidy up, became a tad more complicated.
In October 2013 the plans all changed again. Over a few beers at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, it was suggested by Alan Sefton that we should see if there was any interest in having a rerun of the old One Ton Cups in Auckland around the time of the 2014/15 Volvo Ocean Race stopover in 2015. An announcement was made seeking “Expressions of Interest”. The international response – 28 from 9 different countries – was good enough for the RNZYS to commit to formal planning and a Notice of Race for a “One Ton Cup Revisited” regatta was published and disseminated in March 2014.
Rainbow’s “quick lick” now became a full restoration to enable her to go racing again. The target was to have all work completed by the end of August, 2014, with Rainbow re-launched at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s Westhaven clubrooms in mid-September, 2014.
The 2014 restoration
The works team on the job was Wayne Olsen of Horizon Boats Ltd and the amazingly resourceful Mike Smith. The invaluable volunteer helpers included Max Carter, the man who built Rainbow II back in 1966, John “Bulldog” Street, Tony “Womble” Barclay, and Roy “Rocket” Dickson.
A considerable list of equipment was donated, to ensure that Rainbow II lacked for nothing when she returned to the race start line again in the One Ton Cup Revisited regatta in Auckland in March 2015.
When Chris and Max set out to build Rainbow II in 1966, for weight purposes they opted for a single skin of kauri with glued splines between the planks (instead of caulking). It is amazing how well she stood the test of time, considering that the S&S 36-footer was raced very hard in the first three years of her life.
Once Horizon Boats had water blasted Rainbow’s exterior, they found a very small amount of rot in the marine ply deck but none at all in the hull – testimony to the qualities of the wonderful Kauri and to the boatbuilding skills of Max Carter.
The exterior of the hull was fibre glassed, undercoated and brought up to finish-coat standard. All deck hardware was removed, for refurbishment or if needs be replacement, while deck and cockpit were fibre glassed and repainted with anti-skid. The cabin top and teak toe rail were reinstated and coamings scraped right back and re-varnished. The interior, meanwhile, was sand-blasted prior to prep and repaint. New floors and mast step were installed. The original bunks will be restored and the galley and navigatorium were refurbished.
The engine was fully reconditioned and repainted and housed in a new engine box. All wiring and the two batteries and engine start panel were renewed. New deck and navigation lights and a new performance electronics package were installed.
With all work completed, Rainbow II was as close to original as they could make her with boat builder Wayne Olsen confident that she is stronger than she’s ever been.
Lorraine Street rechristened Rainbow II at the relaunch at Pier 21 on 2nd Feb 2015 in front of a gathering that included John Street, Chris Bouzaid, Alan Sefton, Bruce Marler, who was commodore of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and a driving force behind Rainbow’s campaigns for the Cup, current RNZYS commodore Andy Anderson, and Rainbow II crew stalwarts Roy Dickson, Alan Warwick and Peter Shaw. One more than interested observer was Bouzaid’s son Richard who, as a four-year-old, first tasted “stardom” when the Auckland Star newspaper photographed him sitting in the trophy that his father et al had just won in Germany.
One Ton Revisited
The One Ton revisited event was held from 1st to 7th March 2015. Regrettably only five boats made it to the start line, however they made for some very close and nostalgic racing.
Rainbow II showed off her pedigree and class by winning the five race series with impressive 2/1/1/1/2 placings. Here’s the full story by Alan Sefton
2017 / 2018 cruising fitout
Neil Gillard is the current skipper and caretaker of Rainbow II having taken over from Leo Bouzaid in late 2016.
By September 2017 Neil had sailed Rainbow II enough to realise that she badly needed more work to complete her refit that started when she was brought back to her original racing configuration. With the support of John Street and Chris Bouzaid it was decided to improve the interior of the boat to accommodate more comfortable cruising. Chris McMullan had a vacant shed at the time at Rainbow II was hauled out at Chris McMullen's yard in Mt Wellington late 2017.
Neil's background in boat builing came to the fore and a full interior fitout was completed over the following 15 months. Works included: Mahogany trim around the bulkheads, coamings stripped filled and glassed with Altex 2pot paint, interior sanded faired and repainted, galley and chart table installed, bunks installed in the forward cabin and aft quarter berth, new compact engine box, new hatches and cabin top dorades. During the covid19 "lock down" period fromm March 2020 Neil widened the saloon bunks, installed a holding tank, and made repairs to the keelson/lead joint water leak.
While Rainbow II continues to display her original racing lines she is now beautifully fitted out inside for comfortable cruising.