Conversations with Classic Boats

Illusion

Conversations with Classic Boats is a podcast about classic boat designs and the stories behind them. Hosted by Tom Darling, this episode comes about when Stan and Sally Honey search for and refit a famous name, Illusion, from an iconic 1960s class, the Cal 40.

The Cal 40 was designed in 1963 and 108 boats were built from 1963 to 1971. Radical in its time for the balanced spade rudder and its light weight- 15,000 pounds, the inshore ocean racer became the preferred ride for some of the most famous helmsmen from Ted Turner to the owner of Illusion, Emil “B us” Mosbacher, sailing out of Larchmont Yacht Club.

An all black boat, no bottom paint, just a white waterline, Illusion was the boat to beat from its 1965 launch. Sold in the late 1960s, she vanished, only to reemerge 20 years later in the hands of the Honeys.

Stan and Sally were sailing 505s when they decided to look for a Cal 40 for cruising and local racing. They found Illusion, chalky black with bullet holes and homeless people in residence, in a boatyard near Santa Cruz, California. The episode traces their restoration and launching of a rebuilt white Illusion.

Their quest to get the boat through the Panama Canal and to the starting line of the 2022 Newport to Bermuda Race is a string of memorable stories. Starting in squally condition, the crew surfed south to lead the fleet of over 100 well-prepared boats.

There is no one winner to the Bermuda Race, but Illusion topped 108 boats in the St Davids Lighthouse Division. It was the 4th time a Cal 40 won the division, following Vincent Learson’s Thunderbird in 1966 and Peter Rebovich’s Sinn Fein in 2006 and 2008. Racing with Olympic Gold medalist Carl Buchan, fellow Cal 40 owner Don Jesberg, and Bay area guru Jonathan Livingston, the Honeys had a decisive victory of over two hours over the second boat.