Podium Finishes for Dorade in June
July 19, 2024
Team Dorade sailed in two regattas at the beginning of June in Newport, and our favorite 94-year-old yawl earned silverware in both events.
Dorade’s Dinghy Was a Winner, Too
December 8, 2023
We learned recently that Dorade's dinghy once moonlighted successfully as a racing yacht herself.
Corinthian Classic Regatta Ups and Downs
August 14, 2023
Conflicting feelings arise when the team has sailed well but things haven't played out according to plan...and then there's a protest.
Two Trophies for Dorade at New York Yacht Club 169th Annual Regatta
June 24, 2023
Opening the 2023 season with a win in the shortened Around the Island Race, Dorade went on to finish a close second in the buoy racing portion of the regatta
Dorade Restoration in Italy (1996-1997), Federico Nardi Q&A
May 25, 2023
Team Dorade looks back at the first restoration of Dorade with the man who put several Sparkman & Stephens designs back in fighting trim
The Stephens Brothers’ Early Years, as Featured in The New Yorker (1957)
March 22, 2023
In a two-part magazine feature story, Morton Hunt tells the remarkable story of Olin and Rod Stephens rise to success, a story starring our favorite 52' yawl
Classic Trophies Awarded to Dorade in 2022
January 29, 2023
Vintage yachts deserve vintage silverware! At least that's what the New York Yacht Club decided when they began repurposing these extraordinary trophies in recent years.
December 31, 2022
Dorade and her veteran team dealt with their share of challenges, but made the most of the opportunities of racing throughout New England
June 2, 2022
The second chapter of Dorade's career began in the mid-'30s when she was sold to James Flood of San Francisco
Highs and Lows of Classic Summer Sailing
November 12, 2021
Last summer's sailing wasn't always about winning on the competitive New England circuit, but Team Dorade was pumped up to get out there racing again.
Dorade Scores Third at Tiedemann Regatta
June 28, 2021
Recovering from a 5th in the first race, Team Dorade found its way to the podium in a competitive classics regatta.
Back on the Water, Dorade Wins 167th Annual Regatta
June 22, 2021
Victory in the country's oldest regatta was sweet but simply sailing Dorade with a crew of long-time friends was even sweeter.
Speed Build: New Winches, Faster Bottom
February 18, 2021
This winter's feature projects are a more perfect bottom and a complete new Harken winch package to give Dorade an edge on the racecourse.
What Dorade Does in a Dry Spell
September 2, 2020
Despite never being launched, Dorade spent the summer staying wet, inside two tents.
May 21, 2020
Mike Fletcher's varnish and paint crew spent another vigorous spring keeping Dorade beautiful.
March 16, 2020
This comparison first appeared in the October, 1935 edition of The Rudder magazine.
Team Dorade Sets Sights on 2020
February 20, 2020
The team has planned a busy schedule of racing in Southern New England this summer.
Tie-Breaker at the Newport Classic Yacht Regatta
September 9, 2019
Light winds challenged the fleet in Newport, where Dorade traded firsts with the Herreshoff-designed Spartan.
First Again at the Herreshoff Classic
August 26, 2019
A breezy race on upper Narragansett Bay tested Team Dorade’s sailhandling skills and ultimately led to victory.
Dorade First Among Vintage Classics at Nantucket
August 19, 2019
The classic fleet moved offshore to compete in the two-day Nantucket Regatta and the wooden-boat classic, the Opera House Cup.
175th Anniversary Regatta, Day Five: Dorade Earns Second-Place
July 22, 2019
On the last day of a hard-fought week of racing in lighter and stronger winds, the series went to a worthy rival, the S&S 55 Santana.
175th Anniversary Regatta, Day Four: When Tonnage Takes Over
July 20, 2019
A close call at the start of the second race added intensity to a day of already-close competition with Santana.
175th Anniversary Regatta, Day Three: Rainy Day at Dorade Café
July 18, 2019
A wet day of northeasterlies set the stage for more tussling with Santana, this time amidst 12-Metre traffic. Coffee played a role, too.
175th Anniversary Regatta, Day Two: On the Right Side
July 17, 2019
Working the right side of the two upwind legs was a key to success on the regatta's second day.
175th Regatta, Day One: A Sweet Sea Breeze
July 15, 2019
The website editor goes sailing with Team Dorade during the New York Yacht Club's 175th Anniversary Regatta.
May 16, 2019
The elk hide block covers were worn out and it was time for new leather. A closer look at what's involved.
Brooks Appointed to Board of Pilot Commissioners
December 20, 2018
Dorade's owner, Matt Brooks, has been appointed to California’s Board of Pilot Commissioners, following in his father’s footsteps.
NYYC Cruise: Dorade Wins Astor Cup
August 14, 2018
On a rainy sunday, the Dorade team had one race, sailed well, and won the Astor Cup with NYYC Rear Commodore Chris Culver at the helm.
Women Skippers Set the Pace at Onion Patch
July 2, 2018
Swift and Dorade won the two divisions of the Onion Patch Series, skippered by Paige Krumweide and Pam Rorke Levy, respectively.
Dorade Wins Navigator Division of 2018 Onion Patch Series and Overall at Anniversary Regatta
June 25, 2018
The Onion Patch features the Newport Bermuda Race, New York YC 164th Annual Regatta and Royal Bermuda YC Anniversary Regatta.
Newport Bermuda Race: Evolving Fleet Competes for the Dorade Trophy
June 24, 2018
Named for the deck vent designed by the Stephens brothers, the Dorade Trophy features a beautifully aged vent mounted on teak decking.
Dorade Finishes the Newport Bermuda Race!
June 20, 2018
The 666nm Newport to Bermuda race may have been one of the lighter wind years but the competition was still fierce.
Dorade at the 164th NYYC Annual Regatta
June 13, 2018
The team took the class win for Friday’s Around the Island Race and fifth in class in Saturday and Sunday’s racing (both in ORR-Navigator Class).
Pam Rorke Levy, keeper and shaper of the Dorade story, passed away on January 4, 2024.
DORADE: S&S Design No. 7, 1929 – Minneford Yacht Yard, City Island, N.Y.
MISSION: Dorade was born to race in the open ocean. The goal for our current restoration and future sailing is to prepare Dorade to once again perform as a highly competitive ocean racer. To this end, I think it is essential that we work and consult with S&S, while continuing to rely on the advice, input and involvement of the current Dorade Team. By fostering active collaboration between Dorade’s original designer’s and her current keepers we will ensure that her history is honored and her lineage protected. We all acknowledge that Dorade is a very special craft, and all of us are committed to her preservation.
GALLERY
"The scenario must be as old as sport. Competition builds along certain lines which suit the participants and thus a norm is established. From year to year marginal advances are the rule. Then along comes someone, something of an outsider and more single-minded in his efforts to win, who seizes an opportunity that is obvious to him though unrecognized by the routine participants. The new player exploits a new way that offers a winning margin. I have wondered whether this is good for the sport, yet I recognize it as part of the game. It keeps competitors on their toes. In 1929 I sensed the opening."
-Olin Stephens
RECENT CAMPAIGNS
Nine times in nine events. Team Dorade was on the podium every time during the summer of '16. She competed throughout New England and earned first-place silverware at the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta and the Marblehead Corinthian Classic Yacht Regatta.
Sailing in the southern seas for the first time, Dorade competed in Australia in the second half of 2017. She sailed seven races off the south and east coasts, including the formidable Rolex Sydney Hobart Race in which she finished second in her division.
This classic series starts and ends with inshore regattas, sandwiching the Newport Bermuda Race. Dorade entered the Navigator's Division and on the strength of solid scores in the first two events finished as low-point boat for the series when she won the finale in Bermuda.
Return to Blue Water 2013-2015
Following Dorade's restoration, the goal was to repeat all of the major ocean races the yacht had won in the 1930s, matching or bettering her original performance in the Transatlantic, Newport-Bermuda, Fastnet and TransPacific ocean races. The results were extraordinary.