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July 20, 2013  |  By Dorade Team

Dorade Unleashed on Transpac Run

Dorade crosses the finish at Diamond Head

The 83-year-old ocean thoroughbred was a winner before she started this year’s Transpac. Then she sailed to Hawaii in 12 days.

I’ve got to hand it to Matt Brooks for his determination, his persistence, and his fundamental belief in Dorade and the easily driven hull shape given to her by young designer, Olin Stephens, in 1929. Matt bought Dorade in 2010 and restored her to better than original condition, strong enough to sail in the ocean again. He became fixated on the idea of racing Dorade in all of the ocean races she did (and won) in the ’30s – Bermuda, TransPac, and Transatlantic. Some people laughed, others rolled their eyes.

Dorade crew 2013

Hawaii at the dock after finishing!

But Matt didn’t pay attention to the naysayers, and at 3:23pm local time yesterday, the 15th owner of the legendary ocean racer sailed her across the finish line at Diamond Head, Honolulu, in 7th place, boat for boat, and possibly winning her division and the race overall on corrected time. (Check out the Transpac Facebook page for a 30-second clip of Dorade sailing under spinnaker and mizzen spinnaker, five miles from the finish.)

Following the boats course from LA to Hawaii on the Transpac Race Tracker, it would seem that the Dorade crew plotted a nearly ideal course en route to their remarkable finish. But I’m sure it wasn’t a cakewalk.

Ten feet, three inches wide on deck and 52 feet long, Dorade slides along easily when the waves don’t get in her way. But handling her with an eight-foot tiller and keeping her on track is a challenge, as I learned when I was lucky enough to join the crew in last year’s Bermuda Race. We sailed her on a reach and downwind for 3 days, 11 hours and had an excellent workout! It’s hard to imagine keeping that up for nearly two weeks.

Hannah Jenner and Dorade’s captain, Ben Galloway, shot several good videos during the race and transmitted them for the rest of us to enjoy. I recommend the Day 9 video as a particularly strong one with footage shot by Ben at the masthead.

Last year, when we landed in Bermuda, I followed the example of her winning, 1931 Transatlantic Race crew and wrote a song called Dorade’s Bermuda Song. I offer a few lines of it this morning as affectionate praise for Dorade and the outstanding achievement of her TransPac crew:

Her narrow hull splits every swell,
Her bow swings left then right.
Her tiller stretches arms like hell,
Building muscles through the night.

To watch all of the Transpac videos from the boat, visit the Dorade Facebook page. Later, I’m sure they’ll all be collected on the Dorade website.

For a look back at 2012, see “Dorade Log 7: Newport to Bermuda Ocean Race Video Takes You Onboard“.

Article by John Burnham, July 21, 2013 in Antique and Classic Boats We Love. Original Article found here.

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doradesailing1929

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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
...

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
...

doradesailing1929

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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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