2015
August 23, 2015
The 2015 Rolex Fastnet Race Prizegiving in Plymouth, where the Dorade team took home the Iolaire Block, Coates Scholfield Trophy and The Sparkman & Stephens Trophy.
August 21, 2015
The Dorade team dockside yesterday after wrapping up the 2015 Rolex Fastnet. (Photo Credit ELWJ Yacht Photography)
August 20, 2015
Today, at 6:33 p.m. BST, Matt Brooks and his team aboard the 52-foot classic yacht Dorade finished the 2015 Rolex Fastnet Race in Plymouth with an elapsed time of four days, six hours, 13 minutes and 42 seconds. The team’s preliminary standings (pending the rest of finishes) are second in IRC 4 and eighth […]
August 20, 2015
Dorade is enjoying some champagne sailing today, holding second place in IRC 4 as the team heads into the last 26 miles of the 2015 Rolex Fastnet Race. The ideal conditions come after a rough last night where the 52-foot yawl drifted perilously close to an exclusion zone. RETURN TO BLUE WATER CAMPAIGN The Rolex […]
August 19, 2015
Dorade rounded Fastnet Rock and has a little over 200 nautical miles to go until finishing the Royal Ocean Racing Club 2015 Rolex Fastnet in Plymouth. The team's standing is currently third place in IRC 4. Track the 2015 Rolex Fastnet Fleet RETURN TO BLUE WATER CAMPAIGN The Rolex Fastnet Race is the […]
August 17, 2015
A Light Air Affair After a light-wind start off Cowes yesterday for the 2015 Rolex Fastnet, Matt Brooks and his team aboard the 52-foot classic yacht Dorade are now 170 miles into the 603-mile offshore race. Up until early morning today, the team held the IRC Class 4 lead, but strong currents off the southern […]
August 16, 2015
It was a slow-motion start for Dorade in the 2013 Rolex Fastnet, but the team is now off and currently leading the IRC 4 Class. The 52-foot yawl won the race in 1931 and 1933 at the hands of its innovative designers Olin and Rod Stephens. Follow her again this year with owner Matt Brooks at […]
August 15, 2015
The Rolex Fastnet Race starts tomorrow, August 16 and classic yacht Dorade is joining forces with grand prix racing machines Comanche and Lucky, and entering the event’s Team Challenge for the Martin Illinworth Trophy. The trio will make up the New York Yacht Club Team for the 603-mile ocean race. To win the challenge, the […]
August 14, 2015
Matt Brooks, owner/driver of the 52-foot yawl Dorade, was part of this morning’s Rolex Fastnet Press Conference at the RORC Cowes Clubhouse. Brooks was joined by a selection of 9 other competitors all sharing their observations about the Royal Ocean Racing Club’s biennial 600-mile race. Dorade excerpt from today’s press release follows: A slightly different […]
August 12, 2015
In the 1930s, Dorade changed the offshore-racing game with its innovative design winning more ocean races than any other yacht of its time. Almost a century later, with owner Matt Brooks at the helm, the 52-foot classic Sparkman & Stephens yawl is still making history, taking on those same events it claimed victory in all […]
August 11, 2015
In the September 1933 issue of Yachting Magazine, Dorade was featured for winning the Fastnet Race. The article is a thorough account of the race and the 52-foot yawl’s performance with Sherman Hoyt at the helm. Writer Weston Martyr wraps up his chronicle with the following observation: "Dorade logged eight and one fourth for the […]
August 10, 2015
Report from Nick Bellico: It has been a busy week here in Cowes, not only with the boat prep, container work, servicing gear, and Fastnet race prep, but it is also the busiest week of the year for the local marinas with Cowes Week taking place. It has been an interesting dynamic to accomplish all the […]
July 30, 2015
Dorade at the Royal Yacht Squadron Bicentenary International Regatta. The team goes into the final day of racing tomorrow. (Photo Credit: Linda Campbell)
July 28, 2015
Following yesterday’s cancellation of the Royal Yacht Squadron’s Bicentenary International Regatta, Dorade and the rest of the fleet kicked off racing today on the Solent off Cowes, Isle of Wight. Racing in IRC 3, the 52-foot 1929 yawl took on today’s 17-mile race in a steady 25-knot breeze with gusts up to 35, finishing in […]
July 28, 2015
Dorade along with the rest of the St. Francis Yacht Club Team at the Royal Yacht Squadron for its Bicentenary International Regatta. Racing was cancelled yesterday due to continual strong winds on the Solent, so the first day of the regatta kicked off today. Stay tuned for a full race report this evening. For more information on the regatta, […]