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July 15, 2019  |  By Dorade Team

175th Regatta, Day One: A Sweet Sea Breeze

John Burnham writes about crewing aboard Dorade in the New York Yacht Club’s 175th Anniversary Regatta.

Normally my job as part of Team Dorade is that of the website editor, but this week Matt Brooks and Pam Levy invited me to join the racing crew for the New York Yacht Club 175th Anniversary Regatta. We sailed opening day on Rhode Island Sound today, and it was a treat, with two races in a sea breeze that built to 15 knots.

We competed well, with front-row starts in both races and second place finishes in each. We couldn’t quite take the measure of Santana, a beautifully sailed Olin Stephens yawl, similar to Dorade but designed five years later (1935). Overall, it was a good day for the team, and there’s room for improvement.

With a slew of sails flying, Dorade crosses the finish in the opening race. Note, the mizzen has been dropped so the mizzen spinnaker will fill more effectively. Pam Rorke Levy photo

I have sailed a few miles on Dorade in the past, but my last time aboard was seven years ago, and all of the strings in the mid-deck of an 89-year-old yawl rigged for flat-out racing take some figuring out. I went out for a light-air practice session on Sunday and got a good orientation in our maneuvers from Dorade regulars—Kevin, Greg, Hazey, Mike, and Patrick.

I also learned to do Matt’s job in the practice session, trimming the main. Fortunately, Matt was back aboard today so I could concentrate on the rest of the lines. Even so, I fumbled my first attempt to tack down the mizzen spinnaker on our first downwind leg and other times felt a bit slow to catch on. Tomorrow, I’ll be a bit quicker!

 I wasn’t alone in feeling the need to improve. Kevin, our sailing master, led a dockside debrief after racing in which the whole crew suggested ways we could save seconds in our maneuvers and improve our speed modes. The newest aboard naturally had the most to learn—Nate, an experienced sailor backing up Patrick on the foredeck, and Malcolm, John H., and me, scrambling through the mid-deck maneuvers. I was glad to have Malcolm nearby, providing extra muscle on the winches and back-up to the foredeck, and John, who was game to gather the spinnakers on takedowns and repacked them all with Mike.

The forecast for tomorrow is for a southerly breeze, maybe a little lighter. We’ll be ready!

Previous StoryDorade Takes Second at 165th New York Yacht Club Annual Regatta
Next Story175th Anniversary Regatta, Day Two: On the Right Side

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Mar 26

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“I was lucky: I had a goal. As far back as I can “I was lucky: I had a goal. As far back as I can remember I wanted to design fast boats,” writes Olin Stephens in the opening words of his autobiography, All This and Sailing Too, which we heartily recommend. Today you can read another take on Olin and his brother Rod in our latest blog post, at the link in our bio—a look back at the two-part feature story on the Stephen Brothers written by Morton M. Hunt for The New Yorker's September 1957 issue. In this excerpt, we pick up the story with the publication of Olin’s first design in Yachting magazine and the beginning of the partnership that became the pre-eminent yacht design firm of the mid-20th century, Sparkman & Stephens. A yacht named Dorade was soon to follow…

[📸: Unknown]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #olinstephens @sparkman_and_stephens

“I was lucky: I had a goal. As far back as I can remember I wanted to design fast boats,” writes Olin Stephens in the opening words of his autobiography, All This and Sailing Too, which we heartily recommend. Today you can read another take on Olin and his brother Rod in our latest blog post, at the link in our bio—a look back at the two-part feature story on the Stephen Brothers written by Morton M. Hunt for The New Yorker's September 1957 issue. In this excerpt, we pick up the story with the publication of Olin’s first design in Yachting magazine and the beginning of the partnership that became the pre-eminent yacht design firm of the mid-20th century, Sparkman & Stephens. A yacht named Dorade was soon to follow…

[📸: Unknown]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #olinstephens @sparkman_and_stephens
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doradesailing1929

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Mar 22

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Racing in rough water at Antigua in 2012. [📸: Racing in rough water at Antigua in 2012.

[📸: Tim Wright]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #caribbeansailing #antigua @sparkman_and_stephens

Racing in rough water at Antigua in 2012.

[📸: Tim Wright]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #caribbeansailing #antigua @sparkman_and_stephens
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doradesailing1929

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Mar 19

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Team Dorade celebrates winning 1st overall in the Team Dorade celebrates winning 1st overall in the 2013 Transpac at the trophy ceremony. A stunning achievement as part of her "Return to Blue Water Campaign," the crew took to the podium 77 years after Dorade won the race for the first time. 

[📸: @sharon_green_ultimatesailing ]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #transpacificrace #transpac @sparkman_and_stephens @transpacrace

Team Dorade celebrates winning 1st overall in the 2013 Transpac at the trophy ceremony. A stunning achievement as part of her "Return to Blue Water Campaign," the crew took to the podium 77 years after Dorade won the race for the first time.

[📸: @sharon_green_ultimatesailing ]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #transpacificrace #transpac @sparkman_and_stephens @transpacrace
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Mar 15

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Lucie, a 1931 Six-Metre built for Briggs Cunningha Lucie, a 1931 Six-Metre built for Briggs Cunningham by the Nevins Yard on City Island, was the first of Matt and Pam's fleet of classic yachts. Designed by Clinton Crane, here is Lucie sailing upwind to 2nd place at the Newport Classic Yacht Regatta in 2016.

[📸: @silkenphoto ]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #lucie #sixmetre #ncyr #clintoncrane #classicyachtregatta #IYRS @classicyachtoa

Lucie, a 1931 Six-Metre built for Briggs Cunningham by the Nevins Yard on City Island, was the first of Matt and Pam's fleet of classic yachts. Designed by Clinton Crane, here is Lucie sailing upwind to 2nd place at the Newport Classic Yacht Regatta in 2016.

[📸: @silkenphoto ]

#doradeyacht #classicyacht #lucie #sixmetre #ncyr #clintoncrane #classicyachtregatta #IYRS @classicyachtoa
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