HISTORY OF DORADE
1930s - OLIN & ROD STEPHENS

12 Metre Weathery
The Dorade Crew chartered the classic 12 Metre Weathery for the North American Nationals September 23-25, 2011. Weatherly came in 2nd in its class, three point behind American Eagle, skippered by Ted Turner. Ted Turner and I have agreed to return in the same boats for next year's 12 Metre Nationals for a grudge match. […]

1936 Transpac victor Dorade wins again in 2013
The Transpacific Yacht Race from California to Hawaii is one of the most prestigious yacht races in the world. The race is held every other year and this afternoon the legendary sailing yacht Dorade sailed into Honolulu as the overall winner. The 52-foot boat was built in 1930 making it the oldest boat to ever […]

2012 LES VOILES DE ST. BARTH REGATTA
America’s Matt Brooks and Canada’s Ashley Wolfe had a tremendous sailing experience at the 2012 Les Voiles de St. Barth Regatta and with some outstanding sailing skills as they were able to hit the ultimate victory in the Classic and IRC classes respectively. Both sailors along with their crews were consistent on the race course […]

2012 Technical Specifications
View as PDF document http://dorade.org/2012DoradeSpecifications.pdf Complied by Greg Stewart, Naval Architect, Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. e-mail: [email protected]

2014 BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival
Dorade turns in a 2nd, 1st and 3rd Place Results at the 2014 BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival Dorade results: BVI Sailing Festival | Round Tortola Race Dorade 2nd in the Racing CSA Division BVI Sailing Festival | Caribbean Insurer Island Invitational 1st in the Racing Division BVI Spring Regatta 3rd in the Racing […]

2014 Corsica Classic Regatta Pics
Post Race Dorade Crew Meeting Dorade motoring to start of next race Matt preparing to test drive a new Ferrari at Bonifacio Harbor (Ferrari was a Co-Sponsor of the regatta) More Dorade racing in the 2014 Corsica Classic Regatta. Photos courtesy of Bernard Rubinstein.

2015 Transatlantic Race May Take Longer
According to The Transatlantic Race organizers, this year's race may take longer than times past. One reason that this year's Transatlantic Race may take longer than ones in the past is the presence of icebergs further south in the Atlantic. This will force the fleet to go east for longer before turning north into the […]

2nd at the Anniversary Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Regatta
Dorade came in 2nd in its class today in the 2012 Anniversary Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Regatta The Anniversary Regatta of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club - Two races in Great Sound, off Hamilton, Bermuda on the Friday after the Newport Bermuda Race. In recent years the format has been altered to include a short […]

77 Years Later, Yacht Repeats Win in Transpacific Race – NY Times
To read the article in PDF, click here. It took a thousand or so miles of sailing with the long, powerful waves of the Pacific Ocean for Hannah Jenner, a rising star in ocean racing, to get comfortable in this year’s Transpacific Yacht Race. Jenner, a 31-year-old from Britain, is used to racing ultralight 40-footers […]

83-Year-Old Yacht Wins Trans-Pacific Race
...a feat it last pulled off in 1936. (Newser) – The boat that won this year's Transpacific Yacht Race was a feared competitor on the cutting edge of sailboat design … back in 1936, when it won the race for the first time. This time, the Dorade was a much less likely winner. When he […]

A Conversation with Joe Loughborough
Pictured above, Harry and Joe. Loughborough Marine Interests LLC has had q pretty good run of it these past several years, and Joe is a deserving fellow and long-time classic-boat owner. Restoration Quarterly: Restoration Quarterly: You seem like a fellow with boats in your DNA. Where did it all start? Joe Loughborough: In England with […]

A Course of Legend…
Article from the New York Yacht Club …with an entry to match. Eighty-two years after an historic win, Olin Stephens’ classic Dorade will once again challenge the North Atlantic. Among offshore racing tracks, none traces its origin earlier than transatlantic. The first race from the United States to England took place in 1866, the result […]

A fabulous end to a successful Med season
All the way back in July, Dorade was lowered into the Mediterranean Sea from on board the ship that carried her across from Bermuda. After emerging from her new paint job in Palma none of us knew what we might come up against in the series of Med regattas we had planned. We knew the […]

A Few Words from the Crew
After wrapping up at LMI, Ben and crew moved Dorade to the docks at IYRS. After speaking with the crew, everyone is in high spirits and is happy with the state of Dorade. The crew have arrived in Newport along with Matt Brooks and Pam Levy. The positive energy coming from uniting Dorade with these […]

A Million Pieces
It has seemed like the boat has been in a million pieces over the last few weeks. With the butterfly hatch restorations ending up a bigger job than initially hoped for. Extra repairs were necessary to a couple of the lids and all the usual stuff that comes up when you do a job. Once […]

A New Lease of Life for Dorade
An article on the Sparkman & Stephens Association's website about Dorade's latest activities. It highlights her race victories from the 1930's as well as her recent Transpac win in 2013. The article also mentions the restoration work done on the yacht and Matt Brooks' plans to enter Dorade in all the races where she was […]

A productive week
Despite temperatures plunging to all new lows and snow seemingly falling every other day, the refit project is forging ahead right on track. The deck team have been working meticulously to even up all the seems and remove old cotton ready for the re caulking stage to begin next week. It's always a satisfying part […]

About the 2014 Corsica Classic Cup
The artists Dominique Campana and Carol Haas are the creators of the trophy for the 2014 edition of the prestigious regatta the Corsica Classic. Inspired by sailing, the trophy is realized in handmade colored glass and sculpted stainless steel. The couple is known for large scale glass and metal sculpture. Recently three monumental pieces by […]

Almost ‘one month to go’
We are getting close to that critical 'one month to go' point. The decks are in the final stages of sanding, the bottom is all faired and ready for painting and the topside paintwork is prepped ready for re spray in damaged areas. Last week also saw the arrival of the interior parts for the […]

Anegada Passage
Dorade's new captain, Alex Greenson joined the yacht in Tortola, BVI, on the 23rd of January. The following day Dorade departed from Nanny Cay, Tortola, at 13:00. The beginning of the sail was a beat, up the Drake Chanel. At 18:30 Dorade sailed over the top of Virgin Gorda, which provided the perfect angle for […]

Antigua Wins
DORADE wins multiple honors in Antigua, for a clean sweep of Caribbean Series DORADE continues to rack up wins in a campaign designed to prepare her for a return to ocean racing, coming in first in her class in the 2012 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta. This victory follows overall class wins at both the St. […]

Antique Boat Night
by Greg Stewart Dorade participates in Eastern Yacht Club's Antique Boat Night on August 9, 2012. This event featured the dockside viewing of five classic yachts followed by Dinner and a presentation. The event started with dockside viewing of the 1930 Dorade , the 1926 Alden Q boat Noreaster, the1903 Herreshoff gaff rigged cutter Nellie, […]

Around the Island Race
Friday was one of the best days of sailing I’ve had in a long time. The Race— Newport RI for the New York Yacht Club Round the Island Race, the prelude to the 158th Annual Regatta. 19 miles around Jamestown and Conanicut Island. 2nd in class by 14 seconds behind Rives Potts’ Carina and 14th […]

Article on Classic Yacht – March/April 2013 Issue
Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy, owners of the classic yacht Dorade, discuss 2013 plans for the historic vessel. Dorade was designed by the legendary Olin Stephens, creator of six out of seven successful America’s Cup defenders between 1958 and 1980. In 1936 Jim Flood purchased Dorade and brought her to San Francisco where her […]

At least it’s dry in here
The team working away at the re caulking job are cracking on at quite a pace. Now all the black rubber had been removed, they are busy reefing out the seams and evening them up so when it comes to re caulk, our new black lines will be super smart and exactly the same width […]

Awaiting Transport
Dorade at Bannisters Wharf in Newport, RI awaiting loading onto Dockwise Yacht Transport (DYT) www.yacht-transport.com tomorrow morning to transport to St. Thomas, USVI for the winter Caribbean season. Dorade is docked next to Nirvana. Nirvana is a 65' classic Bermudan Yawl designed by John G. Alden and built in 1950 by Henry R Hinkley & Co. […]

Back in Corsica
Dorade motored back to the harbour in Bonifacio, Corsica this afternoon after winning the final race in this year's Corsica Classic Regatta, cinching the top spot in her class and taking home the Skylark Trophy as the overall winner in the regatta. Eight days of racing took the fleet of classics around the island with […]

Back in San Diego
It’s just over a week now since we returned from Cabo and I must say it has been nice to be back in San Diego. I’m really starting to like this place with its beautiful weather and everybody is so friendly and happy. It was opening weekend for the yacht clubs this weekend and I […]

Battery platform
The lower part of the forward starboard lockers has been fitted to accommodate Dorade'sbatteries. Twin lithium ion batteries will sit on top of the platform. Ample tie down and covering will be fitted once the batteries themselves arrive. After much deliberation, Joe has found a location that is both low enough and forward enough for these […]

Beating the stormy weather
A brief weather window opened up for us on Monday allowing us a smooth passage from Port Grimaud to Genoa. Since the end of Les Voiles, the weather here has been pretty wild. Epic squalls, driving rain and pumping mistral have made it feel more like England rather than the Mediterranean. We decided to take […]

Beauties on the Bay
Skipper Bill Belmont was naturally pleased to win the Farrallon Clipper class in last month's Jessica Cup (October 13),but to him the race will be especially memorable because he got to sail his 1952 woodie Credit alongside the classic beauty Dorade, which now graces San Francisco Bay once again. Read the full Latitude 38 article […]

Belay Pins at the Mizzen
Never mind the turquoise water! This post is for Paul, the gentleman building a scale model of DORADE for the SFYC. Paul spent a good bit of time on the phone trying to convince me that these pins were here on the rail at the mizzen last fall. Well, with credit to Tom at MHBW […]

Bermuda Race – Dorade a winner!
It was the slowest Bermuda race in history, with boats becalmed multiple times. A race that normally lasts three days stretched on to four... and then five... and some boats are still out there today. You might assume that would make it a relaxed affair, but in fact it was a physical and psychological marathon […]

Bermuda Race Prize Ceremony
Matt and Pam attended the Bermuda Race prize giving ceremony at a most spectacular setting -- high on a hill overlooking the water at Bermuda's Government House -- where Dorade placed second in the Team rankings of the Onion Patch Series , together with fellow NYYC Blue team members Stark Raving Mad and Temptation. The […]

Bermuda Race, June 14
The Dorade crew gathered at the New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court for one final group meal with friends and family. Matt and Pam presented a special gift to each member of the Bermuda crew — a bone-handled knife with a customized scrimshaw design commemorating this historic race, showing the Newport lighthouse on one […]

Bermuda Race, June 15
Friends and family of the Dorade crew gathered on the dock at IYRS today as the boat was readied for its first run at the Newport-Bermuda race in almost 80 years. There was a bit of a last-minute drama, as systems specialist Jim Thompson arrived at the boat just minutes before the scheduled departure, with […]

Bottom
Despite the blazing heat in the shed the guys are hard at work resurfacing the seams on DORADE'S bottom. Every seam along the length of her bottom has been scraped to remove any loose compound. The seams were then wire wheeled to promote adhesion of epoxy primer. Tomorrow the seams will be payed with two […]

Bound for the USA
After a wait that seemed to go on forever including a change of flights to accommodate a late ship arrival, Dorade was finally hoisted aboard the ship this afternoon. It happens to be the exact same ship that sailed her over to the med for the highly successful summer season. Let's hope that her ride […]

Bow Cleat(s)???
One of the projects this winter is to install bow cleat(s). There is good backing along the king plank in the middle of the deck. If this option were chosen, only a single cleat would be installed. This is a good strong option - the windlass has already proven it's strength under tow with a […]

Bow fitting update
At long last the new bow fitting has been permanently fastened to DORADE. Picture 1, 2 and 3 show the fairing of the hull and shaping of the bow piece to match. Picture 4 shows the custom through bolts that were fabricated. In picture 5 splines are glued in to some checks in the new […]

Cabin house winch placement
Cabin top winch placement was discussed with Greg and Brad. We looked at moving the main sheet winch outboard (see previous photo) to clear a dodger when in "offshore mode". Also found the old Meissner runner winches that were replaced by LVJ self tailiers. We are considering using these slightly larger winches (port) in […]

Cabin Sole
The interior is being fitted with a new cabin sole. During her refit in Italy, DORADE'S sole was built out of a tropical hardwood. This type of wood not only seemed untraditional but is quite heavy. So with our eyes on weight savings and authenticity, we have Sam constructing a new cabin sole out of […]

Cabin top
Dorade's fine looking cabin top had some fine looking leaks, primarily over the navigator's berth. When we dug into it, the original plan of fixing the bad seam along the starboard hatch runner went out the window. When the cabin top was sealed with fiberglass and bog, it was only taken up to the seams […]

Cabin top covering?
There is a question of which material to cover the cabin top with, dynell or canvas. What do YOU think? Please comment! Below is a break down (thank you Jeff Grey) of the two. DYNEL: Dynel cloth is a synthetic fabric that has many uses in boatbuilding but has been the material of choice recently […]

Cabo, Day 2 afternoon
By mid day the wind finally started to fill in from where it should be, and we are sailing again. After a long time struggling to keep the boat moving we are currently making a good 8 knots in the right direction. It was at about mid day the wind really started to provide enough […]

Camp Four Winds Dorade Song
We read about Dorade's victory this summer, amidst all the craziness here at Camp. Everyone at Four Winds was pleased to hear that a Camp alum was doing so well. Click PLAY to listen to the Dorade song. The lyrics of the Dorade song that we sing at Camp are: Dorade, I adore thee, And […]

Can we call it winter yet?
Since I arrived in newport back in November straight from the Mediterranean, I have complained of being cold! Well not really complained, I actually like the cold except for when you are working outside and can’t feel your hands. The usual response from the yard guys is “just you wait winter isn’t even here yet”. […]

Carina and Dorade join the NYYC Model Collection
Full-rigged models of Carina and Dorade will be added to the Club's unrivaled model collection this spring. Club Nights at 44th Street (March 26) and Harbour Court (March 21) will enable members to celebrate two of the most accomplished racing yachts in offshore sailing. The models are being donated to the Club by members Jonathan […]

China Storage – updated
*** Check out page 2 for more photos*** DORADE is a beautiful blend of elegance and speed. She will be used for racing and cruising. Lots of work has been going on down below the decks to preserve her classic look while increasing functionality. For example, each leaded glass cabinet is being outfitted to accommodate […]

Classic Boat – June 2014
Classic Boat Magazine June 2014 issue's article on Dorade’s Transpac 2013 victory. The Magazine cover is aptly titled " Winning Again - 1930 yawl takes the Transpac". The main article titled "How Dorade won the Transpac" narrates how Dorade won the 2013 edition of the Transpac race. Interviews with Eric "Chewy" Chowanski and Matt Wachowicz, […]

Classic Boat October 2013 Article – How Dorade won the Transpac
Dorade’s victory in this year’s Transpac (TT’s, CB303) in 12d 5h 28m might be the greatest ever racing achievement by a classic yacht. It seems her owner, Californian sailor Matt Brooks wasn’t kidding, as they say stateside, when announced his intention to campaign his Olin Stephens yacht Dorade in the major ocean races that she […]

Classic Dorade First on Corrected Time in Transpac
HONOLULU -- Dorade, a 1929-built Sparkman & Stephens-designed 52-foot wooden yawl owned by Matt Brooks, was named first overall on corrected time in the 2013 Transpacific Yacht Race -- better known as Transpac. Transpacific Yacht Club, organizer of the 47th biennial competition, reported that Dorade finished the 2,225-mile Point Fermin-to-Diamond Head race at 3:32 a.m. […]

Classic DORADE Likely to Win Overall Transpac Title
It’s not over yet, but due to this atypical weather pattern the S&S 52-foot wood yawl Dorade will likely win the race overall in corrected time, a repeat of her victory in 1936. Impeccably renovated and maintained, her victory may be aesthetically pleasing for the classic boat crowd but will not be a fluke: with […]

Classic Yacht Article – Dorade Wins TransPac Race Again After 77 Years
Read the PDF here. Honolulu, Hawaii - The yacht Dorade, designed by Olin Stephens at age 21 in 1929, is considered the first modern ocean racing yacht. And she won the 2,225 nautical-mile Transpac race from Los Angeles to Honolulu this year, 77 years after her victory in the same race. She beat the most […]

Cockpit Storage
Bro has completed a teak platform for the under cockpit storage area. The platform serves to divide the space into two levels of storage. Items that get less frequent use can be nested into the frames and floors below the platform. Upstairs allows room for keeping things that need to be close at hand. The […]

Coin under the mast step
In ship building, Mast Stepping is a ceremonial occasion which occurs towards the end of a ship's construction. It involves placing or welding one or more coins into the mast step of a ship, and is seen as an important ceremonial occasion in a ship's construction which is thought to bless the ship and as a […]

Companionway Hatch
Dave has built a plexi-glass drop board to be used when we are offshore. The piece provides light and visibility from down below while blocking water from entering into the companionway. This board will be fitted with hardware to be compliant with offshore racing rules. It will be securely lockable, have a lanyard and be […]

Compass Adjustments
During Dorade's first week in St. Maarten two of the refit engineers, Jim Thompson and James Harrison, were on board fine tuning some of Dorade's systems. Jim Thompson pictured above, designed Dorade's electrical system. On Sunday the 29th of January Dorade left the dock at Puerto Cupecoy, to make compass adjustments. The only place in […]

Compass Calibrations
Davis G. Murray the "master of deviation" made the trip over to Coral Bay from Saint Thomas yesterday to help sort out our compasses. Using his sun reading compass we re calibrated the B and G flux gate compass to exact precision. The box compass was adjusted and Davis wrote up an appropriate deviation table. […]

Concentrating on the 600
At last the interior varnish project is over! The interior now looks the best I've seen it but for how long I don't know. It's taken four of us the best part of eighteen days to get it done, we stripped most of the galley and nav area which had taken the biggest beating. Two […]

Corinthian Sailing in St Barth
Having read some of the crew profiles, with championship wins galore, on dorade.org, I was a touch apprehensive joining Dorade mid regatta – especially as they’d already scored firsts in each race. Skipper, Jamie Hilton, soon put any concerns aside as he introduced me during the pre-race briefing in the cockpit: “Nick is aboard today […]

Corsica Classic Winner
Dorade crew receiving the Corsica Classic Cup - August 31, 2014. In the picture (right to left) Kevin Miller, Eric ("Chewy") Chowanski, Greg Stewart, Hannah Jenner, Nick Bellico, John Hayes, and Dominique Campana (artist who created the Trophy). Other crew members not in photo: Tim Pope, Pierre-André Jeanne, Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy. Photo […]

Cory Silken joins the team!
We are honored to have Cory Silken join us as staff photographer for each regatta. An avid outdoor explorer, Cory Silken's photographic and outdoor interests lie in yachting. He has crewed aboard the classic America’s Cup 12 Metre Class fleet in Newport, Rhode Island and currently enjoys racing Firefly, a classic wooden Herreshoff S Class boat, […]

Cove stripe
The bow and stern details of a yachts cove strip are a very important and unique feature. Much research has been done to find clear enough photographs to accurately reproduce these figures. Dorade's arrow head and feather have been changed many times over the years. With the help of Doug, who is publishing a new […]

Cruise
Matt, Pam, Jack and Bill have been cruising around the Virgin Islands on DORADE for the last couple weeks. They have enjoyed some of the more remote anchorages available to boats of DORADE's size, and have also shared the company of mega yachts lke MIRABELLA and RANGER. Strong trade winds have kept them sailing at […]

Cruising Club of America has a new member
Cruising Club of America Newsletter’s (CCA GAM) Spring 2014 issue article write-up of Matt Brooks as a new member. It tells of Matt Brooks' passion for racing and cruising classic wooden boats. The article mentions the two boats that Matt owns and races competitively, namely: the Dorade and Lucie. It also mentions Matt's accolades as […]

Daughters of Dorade
The caption reads: The famous Olin Stephens-designed yawls of the 30s and 40s all trace their ancestry to "Dorade", launched in 1930. Pictured here at this year's Voiles de Saint-Tropez are no fewer than five of her descendants. From left: Skylark (1937), Cometa (1946), Argyll (1946), Stormy Weather (1933), and Manitou (1932). Photo from Classic […]

Delivery from Cabo to San Diego
After such a slow race to Cabo it was almost time to start thinking about turning around as soon as we got there. In fact as we finished the race a couple of boats were already heading back to beat the weather they knew was coming in. Fortunately for me Dorade is far to slow […]

Delivery to Coral Harbor, Saint John
After two productive days at Yacht Haven in St. Thomas, we delivered DORADE around to St. John. We have a mooring in Coral Harbor to use as home base until Matt and Pam arrive next month. The island hop went well in some very typical Caribbean conditions. Just outside the harbor in St. Thomas, we […]

Delivery Update 2014-08-12
August 12, 2014. We have pulled into Barcelona for a 24 hour stop over as there are still very strong mistral winds forecast for today/tonight. We have plenty of jobs to get on with so it won't harm the schedule. Just so you can keep the CIM guys updated Greg we should arrive in Port […]

Detailing the rig analysis
Email to Mike Toppa (North Sails) from Nelson/Marek concerning sail configurations and analysis for each of the proposed masts Mike, Good to talk on Friday about all of the recent information RE the Dorade rig configuration. You are correct that we would like you to model sails for each of the following Rig configurations under […]

Details of Moving Across the Country
The many, many tasks to ready Dorade for its move across the county are almost countless. Today the carpenter, Dan, is working on splash boards to protect the hull during its transit. These boards will be mounted on the shipping cradle. They should be painted this afternoon. Syd, the welder, continues to work like crazy […]

Details, details
Shown above is the locust pin rail around the mast partners. The port and forward pieces appear to be original, or at least quite old. We are lining the holes with copper, flanged top and bottom. This will make a better fit for the belaying pins and will save the pin rail from unnecessary wear […]

Dinghy
The outside of the sheerstrake, transom (in and out), inwales, trunk, daggar board, rudder, tiller, thwarts, thwart risers, knees, oarlock blocks for the rowing stations will all be bright. The inside of the sheerstrake will be painted white. The picture from the aft end of the dinghy that shows several frames installed.

Dinghy Mast
The mast is made of sitka spruce and was made using the bird’s mouth hollow construction method. It is light and easy to build (Tom is holding the mast with 2 fingers in the second photo). We purchased the wood at Downes and Reader in Stoughton, MA. The mast is 10’6” from the drawing from […]

Dockwise Yacht Transport
DORADE loaded onto SUPER SERVANT 4 this morning. A full ship for this passage to St. Thomas. It was the perfect morning for it, and all boats were loaded quickly and safely. The ship plans to depart Tuesday with unloading scheduled for the 13th. The loading was delayed a day due to high winds. Photo […]

Dorade – 83 years of wet, salty smiling faces
A few weeks ago I was given an opportunity to join Dorade on her migration south to the Caribbean for the 2013 winter season. I was floored when I arrived at her berth, noticing the lines that have been emulated by designers ever since, the beginning of "classic". I could imagine Olin Stephens first drawing, […]

Dorade – Transpac “Return to Ocean Racing” – Mainsheet Article
It was July 11th 1936 at noon when Dorade .rst crossed the start line of the Transpac Race. Setting sail from Santa Monica, owner James Flood and his crew were about tomake history sailing the then 2210 nautical mile course in an incredible 13 days 7 hours 20minutes and 4 seconds. Not only did they […]

Dorade (Dorado – a kind of Dolphin….)
Dorade was the boat that brought Olin Stephens to the attention of the nautical world. The young designer skippered his design to a spectacular victory in the 1931 Transatlantic Race with his father and brother in the crew. It earned them a ticker tape celebration in New York City on their return. Many articles have […]

Dorade 1931 Transatlantic Binnacle and Compass
Dorade Binnacle Dorade has replaced it long lost 1931 Transatlantic Binnacle and Compass. Considerable time was spend researching the various binnacle and compass alternatives before identified the best way to handle this project. And there was much time discussing it in detail, making sure the “T’s” were crossed and the “I’s” dotted, to get a […]

Dorade Arrives in San Francisco!
Sunday night / Monday morning, Dorade arrived by truck at the KKMI boatyard in Sausalito. Dorade arrived in good order. She did not shift at all during the 3,000+ mile journey in her new shipping cradle designed by Greg Stewart of Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. and fabricated by Syd Janes. Dorade rode smoothly across the […]

Dorade Back East
Dorade has made it back to the East coast in one piece after an epic year on the West side. After returning from Hawaii and enjoying the Americas cup she was broken down and loaded back into her cradle for trucking back to Rhode Island. Everything went smoothly in Sausalito and the guys at KKMI […]

Dorade Container Leaves for the Cowes!
This morning we finalized the packing of the Container, locked the doors and got the seal on the entrance door. We then loaded the Container onto the truck and handled the paperwork. All went smoothly. The Container is on its way to NY, NY and then to Cowes in the UK. Click below to play […]

Dorade crew sails like it’s 1936
Built for the same purpose but separated by decades of racing technology, two of the boats claiming prized positions in this year's Transpacific Yacht Race provided a striking contrast as they sat in neighboring docks. Lending Club, a powerful trimaran engineered to speed across the ocean, made a strong run at the course record and […]

Dorade Designated Sparkman Stephens Flagship
Sparkman & Stephens’ President Bruce Johnson announces the appointment of the 1929 yawl Dorade, designed by Olin Stephens, as the official S&S flagship. S&S has completed over 2,750 designs, winning countless races and acclaim worldwide. Dorade is considered to be the most famous of them, and is widely acclaimed as "the mother of modern ocean […]

Dorade Dinghy – Finishing Touches
The IYRS students will be priming and painting this week to get the dinghy ready for her launching on June 2, 2012. The dinghy would be white with a varnished mahogany sheerstrake. A question arose if it be preferred to have antifouling paint on the bottom of the dinghy The typical traditional bottom paint colors […]
Dorade gets extreme makeover
(April 1, 2014) - Matt Brooks, owner of the classic Olin Stephens designed yawl Dorade revealed today that she has undergone some radical modifications for the up-coming Newport Bermuda Race which starts this June 20th. “This wonderful old girl has won just about every great race there is from the Fastnet to the Transpac. We […]

Dorade has returned to Ocean Racing
It is a vanishingly small group of people alive today who've had the honor to race Dorade in a major ocean race. On a personal level I'd like to thank them because every one of them are the caliber of person to whom I entrust my life. While we might often have people we really […]

Dorade in Saint Thomas
Good bye Rhode Island! Hello Caribbean! DORADE made the transit on Dockwise safely with no damage, other than a lot of salt and soot. The off loading went as well as could be expected. It was a challenge explaining to the Russian line handlers that DORADE backs in circles, and that they would need to keep […]

Dorade is Back in the Water!
Dorade is back in the water! (Ahead of schedule) The results of the winter efforts in optimizing Dorade for its repeat this year of its 1931 Transatlantic and Fastnet Races is almost complete. These two Races will complete Dorade's "Return to Blue Water Series", which will have repeated all of Dorade's early historical races. This […]

Dorade Log 5: Entering the Gulf Stream
A report from John Burnham, not quite halfway to Bermuda on a 1930s Sparkman and Stephens design. Twenty four hours after the start, Dorade entered the Gulf Stream, after reaching and running in a northeasterly breeeze of 14-27 knots since the start. With it’s 6-foot tiller, the boat is sometimes pretty hard to muscle down […]

Dorade Log 6: Finished! Just After Midnight
The S&S 52-foot yawl Dorade completed her first race to Bermuda since 1934, finishing in just over 3 days, 11 hours. A few days ago, I wrote Dorade Log 5 late in the afternoon of our second day of racing the 635-mile course from Newport to Bermuda. The communications link subsequently went down, so reports […]

Dorade Log 7: Newport to Bermuda Ocean Race Video Takes You Onboard
John Burnham introduces his video narrative of the 2012 Bermuda Race and reflects on his Dorade experience. Last June, I helped Dorade sail from Newport to Bermuda for the first time in 82 years. Crossing the finish line represented the end of the first stage of what owner Matt Brooks calls “Matt’s Crazy Idea” — […]

Dorade Log No. 2: Like Dating Marilyn Monroe
Along with several other crew in training for the Bermuda Race, Boats.com's editor learns some unexpected lessons while sailing for the first time on the iconic Sparkman & Stephens yawl. Read more: http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2012/03/dorade-log-no-2-like-dating-marilyn-monroe/#ixzz1orCEfWxE

Dorade Model
Latest photos of Dorade model by Paul Reck. The model will be presented at the St. Francis Yacht Club at a lunch on Thursday, the 26th of January. All of the Club's Flag Officers and Staff Commodores will be aboard for the lunch meeting and presentation. "Here are last shots before she goes on her […]

Dorade Model in the Works
A new full-hull, rigged model of Dorade is in the offing. The model will represent the yawl as she was when she won the Trans-Atlantic Race in 1931. The scale will be 1:32, or 3/8"=1', and this will produce a finished model 19-1/2" long. The first step toward creating a new ship model involves gathering […]

Dorade Model to be part of NYYC Marine Art & History Month
Dorade to join the New York Yacht Club's celebration of Marine Art and History Month. On Saturday, March 21 and Thursday, March 26 (44th Street). Carina and Dorade Club Nights. Please join Harry Morgan and the Model Committee as they unveil new full-rigged models of a pair of storied Transatlantic Race champions, Dorade, the 1931 […]

Dorade Progress to Newport (May 17)
Position Report: May 17 Position: She is at the IYRS Dock in Newport, RI Comments: Looks to be in good condition. Terry Nathan President, IYRS May 16 Distance Run from last Reported Position: 201.1 Km or 124.96 statue miles or 108.58 nautical miles. Date: 5/16/2012 Time: 1030UTC Weather: Wind 185 at 22 Knots, gusting 29 […]

Dorade races in the BVI Spring Regatta
After a month away from Dorade, the team are back in the sunshine and competing in the BVI Spring Regatta. Dorade's program is predominantly based around offshore and ocean races but for the next two regattas we get to return to the dock after the days racing. We are now two races into the the […]

Dorade Readies for MOY Regatta
The main rig is going back into Dorade this morning (the mizzen was not un-stepped for Irene). Dorade is ready to launch thereafter. All is looking good for the MOY Regatta event this weekend. Dorade will likely leave the LMI yard dock for IYRS dock with Kyle, Mariah and Matt first thing tomorrow, barring any […]

Dorade Reuniting with its Original Burgee
The original blue burgee that flew on the Dorade during the 1931 Trans-Atlantic Race is currently undergoing conservation treatment at Riley Textile Conservation’s lab (RTC) in Oakland, California. Hannah Riley, RTC Principal Conservator, remarked that, “Taking into account the effects of salt air, time, and moths, the 80+ year-old woolen artifact shows amazing integrity.” RTC […]

Dorade sails to S.F. after winning Transpacific race
Read the San Francisco Chronicle article here. The America's Cup races might have the fastest boats in the world, but those high-tech wonders can't hold a candle to the yacht Dorade, which at 83 years old has just won the 2,225-mile Transpacific Yacht Race from Long Beach to Honolulu. It was the second time the […]

Dorade Tender Launched!
June 2, 2012 was Graduation Day at the International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) at the Newport, RI campus. As part of the graduation activities, it was also Launch Day for the Dorade Tender of the IYRS dock. The Dorade Tender looked great out on the water on Launch Day as Tom Cahir and Kelly Crawford, […]

Dorade TransPac Celebration – Transcript of Toast
Here’s how Olin Stephens described his decision to build Dorade back in 1929: “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 […]

Dorade Unleashed on Transpac Run
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 […]

Dorade Update – Twelve Days to Launch
In general: great progress and team work, good coordination and communication between all parties involved. Lots of hard work going on these day on DORADE… Brightwork Deck How to best measure the progress? DORADE decks are now officially a “No Shoe Zone”, all blue protective foil is gone and shiny brightwork is emerging. Everything went […]

Dorade Update: 120 miles to go
Following Dorade on her way to Bermuda? Here is her latest position. According to the Yellow Brick Race Tracker, Dorade was making 8.4 knots toward Bermuda at 8 am Monday morning. She is the easterly most boat of her class. Read more: http://www.boats.com/blog/2012/06/dorade-update-120-miles-to-go/#ixzz1yAHdpuLc

DORADE VICTORIOUS: First Overall in the 2013 Transpac
Not everyone else has finished yet, but it is certain that Dorade has won the whole shebang on corrected time, 77 years after she last did it in 1936. Which ain’t too shabby for a boat built in 1930. She bested her 1936 elapsed time by over a day and covered the 2,225-mile course from […]

Dorade weathers Hurricane Irene
Dorade has successfully weathered Hurricane Irene with crew, team members, and all equipment safe and sound. During the storm, Newport lost power along with 60 percent of Rhode Island residents and businesses. As we await a return of normal power, the Dorade team is busy with hand tools working on finishing details, while we wait […]

Dorade wins at the 5th Edition of the Corsica Classic Regatta
Dorade won all but one of the six races in the 5th Edition of the Corsica Classic Regatta, held from August 23 - 31, 2014. In the Regatta, Dorade raced with a fleet of classic boats, including one of the "Daughters of Dorade", the S&S yawl Argyll. Dorade won the Regatta overall and was presented […]

Dorade wins Class in Caribbean 600 Race
Dorade won her class IRC Three in the 2014 Caribbean 600 Race, finishing Thursday, February 28th at 08:35 AST. Dorade secured in addition to her 1st in IRC 3, IRC Overall -35th place and CSA Overall - 25th place. The race has been a learning experience, and we will have lots of feedback and lessons […]

Dorade wins her class in the Newport to Bermuda Race
I had never experienced preparing a boat for a race and then waving goodbye as it sailed over the horizon until the start of the 2014 Newport Bermuda Race. Having taken over as boat captain just about a month before the race start I had a jobs list of over 150 items to work through […]

Dorade Wins Leukemia Cup
Dorade returned to racing on San Francisco Bay this weekend with a big splash, winning the new classic division in the Leukemia Cup Regatta sailing against many fine boats including Paul and Chris Kaplan's magnificent Santana, driven by Ted Turner and Gary Jobson, who were gracious enough to pose on Dorade before the start of […]

Dorade wins Transpac
The classic S&S yawl Dorade won the 1936 TransPac. Now, 77 years later, she has not only claimed victory for a second time but has blown her own record out of the water. The TransPac, is a 2225-mile, biennial, offshore yacht race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Organised by the Transpacific Yacht Club, the first […]

Dorade Wins TransPac Once Again
The 1936 ocean racer proves her mettle with her second win, 77 years later The Bay Area's Dorade, a narrow-beamed wooden boat built in 1930, repeated history this week, winning the TransPacific Race from Long Beach to Hawaii this week for the second time in the past century.Winning on corrected time of 132 hours, 20 […]

Dorade, “Born to Race”
Join us at the Spaulding Center on Thursday, May 10th 7:00 PM Matt Brooks with Greg Stewart, Naval Architect Matt and Greg will talk and show a power point presentation on Dorade’s history since 1929 to today. Spaulding Members: $20 Non-members: $25 RSVP required, limited seating. Contact: [email protected] Office: (415) 332-3179 http://www.spauldingcenter.org/events/Dorade.html

Dorade, Sinn Fein, Bella Mente, and Spirit of Bermuda Among Bermuda Race Entries
Newport RI, March 17, 2014 - With two weeks to go before Applications for Entry close on April 1st for the 49th Newport Bermuda Race, 158 boats have filed Applications for Entry. Many boats long identified with the race are coming back, and there is an enthusiastic response from first-time skippers, who make up 20 […]

Dorade: “A kind of awakening” for yachting design
The 83 year old Dorade is enjoying a renaissance. Her new owners, Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy (or, as they describe themselves, the “current caretakers”) have invested in numerous renovations and upgrades to fulfill their dream of entering her in all the races she won in her early life. While her recent […]

Dorade: “A kind of awakening” for yachting design
The 83 year old Dorade is enjoying a renaissance. Her new owners, Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy (or, as they describe themselves, the “current caretakers”) have invested in numerous renovations and upgrades to fulfill their dream of entering her in all the races she won in her early life. While her recent […]

Dorade: A Benchmark at St. Francis
MAINSHEET 22 November 2011 By R.C. Keefe, Curator & Historian Jim Flood brought “Dorade” to the St. Francis Yacht Club in late 1935. At the time she was the most famous racing yacht in the world. The 53’ yawl was designed by Olin Stephens for his father’s account, and built by the Minneford Yacht Yard, […]

Dorade’s 1933 Transatlantic Passage
Original article published on Yachting Magazine September 1933 Issue - PDF scan found here. Well, here we are in the North Sea, since yesterday noon (June 12th), when finding favorable tide conditions we shot through Pentland Firth, by Scapa Flow, into this rather chilly, cheerless and choppy sea. We have had, on the whole, a […]

Dorade’s Busy Schedule – Article on Latitude38
Click here to read the article in PDF. After Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy's 83-year-old S&S 52 Dorade stunned the yachting world by taking overall honors in this year's very competitive TransPac — 77 years after she won it overall the first time — the slim classic yacht didn't rest on her laurels. In […]

Dorade’s Stern Post – a true slice of American history
Sometime in the mid 1800's an oak tree was felled in northern Ohio. Lacking chain saws or other powered saws, the lumber jacks squared up the tree to 16" X 30' - by hand with axe and adze. They then floated and shipped the wood to a shipyard in Charlestown, Boston. Intentionally buried in the […]

Dorade’s Owners Discuss 2013 Sailing Schedule
Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy, owners of the classic yacht Dorade, discuss 2013 plans for the historic vessel. Dorade was designed by the legendary Olin Stephens, creator of six out of seven successful America’s Cup defenders between 1958 and 1980. In 1936 Jim Flood purchased Dorade and brought her to San Francisco where her […]

Driscoll Boat Works Article
The famous S & S-designed yacht Dorade has spent time at Driscoll's preparing for the March 22nd Newport to Cabo Race, and then for the July Transpac Race. The 52 foot yawl Dorade was built in 1929-1930 by the Minneford Yacht Yard in City Island, New York. She has had an amazing racing career, including […]

Eight Bells for Jack Brooks
Along with the St Francis burgee, we fly our house flag showing two stars. Those two stars are in honor of Matt's father, Jack Brooks, who served in the merchant marines and then in the navy during WWII as a ship’s engineer. Fifty years later, he was honored for his service to the nation with […]

Electronics. Electronics. Electronics.
We have a small problem - it is proving to be exceptionally difficult to find a Raymarine radar antenna for the C120 chart plotter that is in Dorade. The question is whether to update the entire chart plotter system or not. Pros for keeping the C120 It works It's already installed If we could find […]

Engine is in
Just after lunch today the engine made its final trip from the shop floor up into the boat. I am happy to report that the engine is resting on its mounts, ready for the prop and shaft to be fitted to the aqua drive. All wiring and equipment fittings have been assembled on the engine. […]

Engine update
The engine on it's "faux" beds. This is very close to the final location. Blue tape indicates the first go around for systems layout. We are awaiting the AquaDrive and a stuffing box for the final fit. Then bronze engine beds will be created to bear the load. Since the thrust from the propellor will […]

European CIM "Vintage Yacht" Class Conformity
The contents of this posting are written by Matt It is a central objective the current work that any of the solutions and scopes of work considered for Dorade do not change the essence and classic nature of Dorade. S&S's suggestion via Jeff that we look at returning the original (1930's) fractional rig vs the […]

Exit Boxes
As mentioned in an earlier post, we have managed to internalize a couple of the mast control lines. Greg has done a great job with the engineering here. The other Greg, one of our carpenters on the mast team is fitting these tricky bits beautifully to the spar. The thumbnail photo is of the upper […]

Extremely High Tide
December has been a busy month with the past two weeks particularly full! Last time I blogged I mentioned the pending protest against Dorade after the second race of the Seaweed soup Winter Series. We were protested by Spirit of Elvis for our leeward mark rounding, claiming we did not give them room at the […]

Favorite Dorade Story
From Dick Enersen [email protected] Swiftsure Race, early 60s. The course leaves Brochy Ledge off Victoria and goes out the Straits of Juan de Fuca. This requires avoiding Race Rocks, which lie off Vancouver Island and do not have a required side. As the boat approaches the rocks, hard on the wind, G. Franklin Eddy (the […]

Finding good wood – stem and stern post update
Finding clear unchecked oak has proven to be difficult. Mount Hope Boatworks is on the second piece of oak for the stem and the third for the stern post. There was a mix up with the stern post, it was recreated in the form of the original, which turned out to be misaligned with the […]

Five Days to Launch!
Time is flying on our way to launch DORADE, here comes probably the last update before the launch later this coming week. Brightwork Deck Good thing we pushed hard to make the deadline 04/12 - it allowed us this week to pick a few areas and go for one more coat: cockpit, some areas of […]

Fo’c’sle
Gabe has been charged with making the forepeak an efficient space for sail handling and stowage. His first job has been to build a raised platform to reduce the depth of the aft section of the forepeak. Previously the drop in was nearly six feet. Now the average person will be able to hand sails […]

From Cannes to St. Tropez
It seems to be a theme of our Mediterranean racing circuit that day one of each event is cancelled due to high winds. Corsica, Cannes and now St Tropez have all suffered the same fate. We all want to be out on the race course, it's what we love to do but despite the breeze […]

From Painting to San Pedro – One Month in Palma
Exactly one month ago a still beautiful but slightly tired looking Dorade was craned back into the water in Palma after her 10 day crossing from Bermuda on the deck of a ship. Despite it being a quiet time of year over here in Palma, with the majority of workers taking their holidays, we managed […]

From racing to refit…
After a short season of racing we have now decommissioned the boat to go back into refit mode. Much was learned during our brief but busy sailing circuit. Improvement was very noticeable from beginning to end. Now we pick back up on the building left to be done. The sink will be installed, the cabinetry […]

Galley and nav station mock up
A full mock up of the galley and nav area has been completed in order to get a feel for the layout of and flow between the port and starboard components of the aft cabin. The joiner work will be completed off site and installed fully varnished. Joe is keeping a keen eye on weight savings. Additional […]

Galley area concepts
3D renderings of a proposed interior for Dorade. There is not space for an oven over the engine (where the sink is), so it would need to be moved outboard. A drop in panel would hide it when desired. The stove is a Luke. Note that there are two designs shown, cabinetry behind the stove […]

Galley in Construction
This sequence of photos shows the construction of the galley and nav station. Everything has been built off site, and Marty has begun the assembly process. These pictures take us through the veneering shop where the construction is happening. Back on the boat you can see the build out is well underway. Note the pewter […]

Get me to San Francisco
The last few weeks since the Marblehead regatta have been no different to any other. We have some interesting projects going on and have seen some good results. Marblehead was a great weekend with some great racing and good people. As always Dorade attracted a lot of attention and some lucky people got to have […]

Goodnight Irene
All is well. Dorade and all two star property un harmed. Power still out but work with hand tools is progressing with a skeleton crew. We are on the list for relaunch. Thanks for your concern and patience. I know it it is almost harder not being present to attend to your assets. No damage […]

Greg responds to S&S recommendations
Jeff, Thanks for the drawings. I like the "Stormy Weather Type" on the right much better than the 1931 on the left. (Almost a 6 meter configuration.) The following are my few initial comments: 1. It is interesting to see how close the Stormy Weather Type geometry is to what I proposed. The Spreader/Diamond heights […]

Happy Holidays from Newport
Just a quick message to all of our Dorade fans and enthusiasts, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to an exciting new year full of adventure. Although the boat yard is quiet right now Nick and I have been doing our homework projects over the holidays. For me it is […]

Heading to nanny cay
We are back in the British Virgin Islands again and currently underway from from the Bitter End heading to Nanny Cay for the BVI Spring regatta starting this weekend. The delivery up from Antigua was one of the easiest I have had in a long time for which I was great full. Currently and recently […]

Historic Yawl Dorade Wins Transpac Race
Article from Restoration Quaterly - A publication of the School of Technology and Trades, Newport & Bristol, Rhode Island. When IYRS trustee Edgar Cato purchased the legendary ocean racing yawl Dorade in 2006, sailors and history buffs alike were thrilled that such an iconic piece of American yachting history would be returning to the United […]

How old is Dorade: 1929 or 1930?
When Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy bought Dorade in 2010, they spent more than a year refitting the historic S&S 52-foot wooden yawl for ocean racing, with the goal of repeating the many races she won in the 1930s. When Dorade finished the 2225-mile Transpac Race at Honolulu’s Diamond Head on Friday, […]

How the west was won
Paige Brooks takes us inside the Dorade Overall Transpac win! Dorade, the 1930 Sparkman & Stephens cutter rigged yawl – Olin Stephen’s first boat – is world renown for her early victories in the 1931 TranSat and Fastnet, for which the team received a ticker tape parade upon her return to New York. She is […]

How the west was won
Paige Brooks takes us inside the Dorade Overall Transpac win! Dorade, the 1930 Sparkman & Stephens cutter rigged yawl – Olin Stephen’s first boat is world renown for her early victories in the 1931 TranSat and Fastnet, for which the team received a ticker tape parade upon her return to New York. She is returning […]

How to Help the Caribbean
The Caribbean holds such an important place in our team's heart and our thoughts and condolences go out to all the islands that have been devastated by Hurricane Irma and now Maria. Click here for more information on how you can help get these beautiful places back on their feet. And more importantly, keep visiting and […]

Hurricane Irene
1) At 0500edt Hurricane Irene was located near 34.1N/76.5W, which is 35 miles S of Cape Lookout, NC and 90 miles SW of Cape Hatteras 2) Irene is moving NNE at 14 mph a) little change in speed or heading during the next 12-18 hours, but Irene will start to increase in speed tonight and […]

Hurricane Irene
Just hauled Dorade at the dock at LMI as a precaution for Hurricane Irene. Hurricane Irene strengthened to a major Category 3 storm over the Bahamas with the East Coast in its sights. Irene is expected to get stronger over warm ocean waters and could become a Category 4 storm with winds of at least […]

Hurricane Irene Cancels 2011 Herreshoff Classic
Dorade was entered in this year's Herreshoff Classic Regatta scheduled for 26-28 August. Due to the possible approach of Hurricane Irene, the Regatta organizer, the Herreshoff Marine Museum / America's Cup Hall of Fame has taken the prudent step of canceling this year's Herreshoff Classic Regatta for this coming weekend. The Regatta organizer wanted to […]

Icy morning
The first frost of the year covered DORADE in an icy sheen. A cold way to begin our last week of work in New England. DORADE is scheduled to load this friday onto Dockwise Yacht Transport. The noreaster that blew through over the weekend has left in its wake a stretch of sunny days. Perfect […]

In the nippers I trust
The Corsica Classic Regatta was overall a great success for Dorade. Logistically we could make major improvements but on the water we won all but one of the races, took the overall title and were the only boat to make it to the first port of call when racing was canned due to high winds. […]

inclined
Finally finished the in - water portion of measuring this morning. Tucked way up in the marina at New England Boatworks, we found the calm waters needed for this type of work. The photos show DORADE with her twin spinnaker poles rigged to extend out from the chainplates. With a digital inclinometer rigged to his […]

Interior Lighting
The interior lighting will be updated to LED. The trick is to do it without changing the interior. There are several ways to do this. Your input is very much appreciated in this post. 1) Mount LED lights inside the old dome lights. - There are two choices here. We can install dimmable white lights […]

Interior lights
Nels and James have retro fitted the interior lighting with LED's. We worked hard to be able to reuse these beautiful cast bronze fixtures. Finding lights like this is a difficult task in 2011. We managed to find modern LED light fixtures of similar size. Nels and James disassembled the modern lamps and modified their […]

Is Spring finally here?
Despite having heaters on through the days we have been up against it trying to encourage paint and varnish to dry. With a six week spell of sub zero conditions, it takes a long time for things to kick. For safety reasons we can't have the big heater running over night which means only about […]

Islands Race 2013
We are just about to leave the dock and start the Islands race just after the warning signal at 1230. All systems are working 100% and we are well prepared. It looks like it should be wet and windy to start and after midnight when we get around the islands and start cracking off things […]

It’s cold but that is ok
Being back in the boatyard in Newport in December is a little different from the last time I was here. I must get asked several times per day about when we will be headed to Florida or the Caribbean or at least somewhere warm. When I reply that we are staying put and that its […]

IYRS 10th Annual Restoration Society Dinner
Please join us for the 10th Annual Restoration Society Dinner February 20, 2014 New York Yacht Club, NYC Sponsored by Hunt and Betsy Lawrence Joe Dockery, IYRS Chairman The Hilton Group at UBS Thursday, February 20, 2014 The Model Room, New York Yacht Club 37 West 44th Street, New York, N.Y. Cocktails and Hors d' […]

Joseph Wheeler Appleton
Joseph Wheeler Appleton was the skipper on the Philip Rhodes designed cutter Skal that placed second to Olin Stephen’s Dorade in the famous 1931 transatlantic race. During this period he began making models professionally in a small shop he created in his family home at 33 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights, about one block from […]

Journey to San Diego
What happens doesn’t matter, it’s how you deal with it! Last time I posted a blog we were just wrapping up the loose ends getting ready to leave San Francisco. Now we are at Driscoll boat yard, Shelter Island in San Diego a few hundred miles down the coast not far from the Mexico border. […]

Jumping Hurdles
As we move closer to the Trans-Atlantic race we have a lot to accomplish which inevitably brings some hurdles to overcome. As mentioned before we had some fuel tank issues. After removal of the tank finishing up on a Friday and knowing the Trans-Atlantic crew will be coming Monday for their training session, we had […]

Keel Joint
The keel joint had been packed with epoxy and was cracked it's whole length. Epoxy has been reefed out and the lead to wood joint has been properly addressed to prevent leaking and biological intrusion. Chet built a router jig to accurately recut the seam between the lead and the oak keelson. The jig had […]

Latitude 38 Article
No wonder Matt Brooks is smiling. Not only did he win his division in the riotously windy St. Maarten Heineken Regatta last month, but he did so aboard his new pride and joy, the classic S&S yawl Dorade — arguably the most influential sailing yacht ever built. Launched in 1930 at City Island, New York, […]

Legend Joins Dorade in 2013 TransPac Race
Timothy Mullins, owner of the classic yawl Legend, has told me he has pre-registered Legend to race in the 2013 TransPac Race. Presently, Legend is home is Charleston, SC, but she will be relocating to the San Francisco Bay early this Spring. Above is a photo of Legend sailing a few weeks ago in Charleston, […]

Leukemia Cup on Dorade
In the 1930’s Dorade was the fastest, most technologically advanced racing yacht. Today it’s easy to sail her and and see why we build boats differently. 80 years is a long time to make improvements and innovations. Bulb keels, self tailing winches, Tylaskas, and full headsail rigs all make sailing and racing boats easier and […]

Leukemia Cup Press
Legendary Sailing Yacht Returns to SF Bay to Raise Funds in Fight to Cure Leukemia & Lymphoma 19 October 2012 October 21 Regatta pits Dorade’s All-Female Crew led by JJ Fetter against Ted Turner on Santana Dorade(www.dorade.org): In 1936 Dorade helped put the Saint Francis Yacht Club on the map, winning the prestigious and demanding […]

Leukemia Cup Rakes It In
“Ted Turner was the main reason we came to this event,” said Discovery Bay residents Lee and Bob Allen of the 7th Annual Leukemia Cup, held October 20-21. The Allens aren’t sailors — in fact they own a powerboat — and have never followed sailing in their lives. However,the excitement surrounding the America’s Cup, and […]

Life as a Nipper
While reflecting on the time I have spent this summer, as an assistant to Ben I realized that I learned a lot of valuable lessons. Whether it was a technical skill, or just a life skill the Dorade has taught me a lot. When I first arrived in Portsmouth at Joe Loughboros yard, LMI I […]

life line mock up
Stanchions and lifelines for DORADE have been mocked up using PVC pipe and messenger line. This has helped us determine leads and heights for the wires and place the final stanchion aft. The wires will be at 24 and 15 inches above the deck. The bow pulpit mock up has been secured for transport and […]

Life Ring
Tim Conway has fashioned a very nice reproduction of the original DORADE life ring. One is in the works for the starboard side as well with perhaps a different yacht club in the crossed flags! Max from Mt. Hope Boatworks built the mahogany and bronze support to Kyle's specs. Nice upgrade althiugh in the old photos […]

Lifeline concept
Shown above is the current thinking for the "offshore" lifeline set. By offshore rules, they are double lifelines and must have a bow pulpit and pushpit. Stanchions must be 2 meters or less apart. A single lifeline set would be put in for inshore and at the dock. Note that the bow pulpit would be […]

Longest 800 Miles
Finally on Friday we made it back up from Cabo after probably the longest 800 miles I've ever done. The trip went pretty smoothly with little damage and all the crew in one piece. The sea state however was far from smooth. When we left Cabo the sea state was terrible and progress was painfully […]

Looking forward to the BVI again
Since the Caribbean 600 finished I have been working through a list of maintenance tasks and getting her back up to scratch for the next flogging around a bunch of Caribbean islands. The race was a real slog and I am not excited about a repeat performance next year. The result was ok but considering […]

Looking forward to the RORC Caribbean 600
It's been just over ten days since the race crew that came out to Antigua departed. We had a very good couple of days on the water looking at some new sails that we will use on the Caribbean 600 race at the end of February. Also we had a good systems, safety and general […]

Main mast is being overhauled
The mast appears to be in excellent shape. None the less, it is being checked for appropriate sizing for the loads placed on it at sea. Should all of the scantlings check out, it will be thoroughly surveyed by a professional and with an infra red camera. Should it pass the survey, all screw holes […]

Main mast update
UPDATE FROM GREG STEWART DORADE Team, Much has been done since the Mast Conference call last week. Jeff and Jason from S&S and I talked earlier this week to review the DORADE 1931 and 1936 Masts and concluded that the DORADE 2011 Mast should follow on from the 1936 Mast pending sailmaker feedback. Following this […]

Mainsheet: Story of the Tiller
Have you ever wondered about the significance of the tiller in the heading of the Historian Column or noticed the same tiller hanging over the door leading between the Race Deck and the Clippership Room? Wonder no more ... On July 17, 1936, the 53' yawl, "Dorade" crossed the finish line at Diamond Head, Hawaii, […]

Mast design thread update
The following contents are excerpts from the mast development process, posted at Matt's request so that the Dorade team can follow along. S/Y Dorade 02/02/2011 Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. 9:40:57 PM Naval Architects & Yacht Designers Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. 2820 Canon St., San Diego, CA 92106 USA Tel: +(619) 224

Mast Update
The main mast is in final shaping. From a box section it has gradually been rounded and tapered. Section shapes at given lengths are templated from the drawn plans. The templates are used to check progress of the shaping. The planes are sharp and the work looks really good. Grabbed some shavings off the […]

Matt Brooks named NYYC Yachtsman of the Year
At the New York Yacht Club Annual Awards Dinner, Matt Brooks was surprised to win the club's top honor, The Mosbacher Trophy, which goes to the club's Yachtsman of the Year. Matt received the award in recognition for his achievements with both Lucie and Dorade. The Mosbacher trophy is a Steuben crystal piece commissioned in […]

Matt Brooks named Sailor of the Year at the St. Francis Yacht Club
Matt Brooks was presented the Sailor of the Year Award at the St. Francis Yacht Club's annual meeting dinner last night, January 14, 2014. The description of the award states: "This trophy is awarded each year at the annual general membership meeting to that member who, through dedication and persistence, achieved excellence as an amateur […]

Matt Brooks, Dorade take Transpac Win
Many people thought Matt Brooks was crazy to take the octogenarian Dorade, one of Olin Stephens' first, and most famous, designs, across an ocean. “I was promptly told that just wasn’t possible,” he recalls. “’She’s a fine piece of furniture, you can’t take her out. You’ll ruin her.’” A full refit and then a run […]

Matts bunk
Bro has been working hard on Matt's bunk. Aft of the nav station, tucked along the starboard side of the cockpit will be the owners quarter berth. Matt has made it clear that he can fit comfortably behind the hanging knee, which supports the aft end of the cabin house. Amenities will include a privacy […]

Measuring for the CSA rating
Sunday DORADE got measured for the CSA rating in Nanny Cay, Tortola. All of the boats measurements were double checked against Greg's dimensions. We had to measure three of the older sail, the #3 jib, mizzen spinnaker and mizzen staysail. As you can see in the picture the mizzen staysail is smaller in the foot […]

Metal Testing
We have been working with Phip at Rig Pro on testing various materials and thicknesses for the new mast hardware. Sample tangs are pulled to 8000 pounds stopping every 2000 pounds to measure hole elongation. All recorded data has been forwarded to Greg for evaluation. Preliminary results look to using phosphur bronze as the material […]

Mizzen mast wedges
Jens has built some lovely wedges to support the mizzen mast at the deck partners. Two laminated blocks are carved to fit the deck cut out on their outer profile and the shape of the spar on their inner. Jens chose to craft these in teak. You can see the old spar butt laying on […]

Museum of Yachting Classic Yacht Regatta
What a great weekend of sailing! We have made some really good strides on upwind speed in 16-22 knots. I think the combination of the overlapping #2 and the Full main with no mizzen in 16 is a great set up. The #2 and the reefed main will probably be the right mode for 20, […]

Myles Stanford, A Nipper’s Blog
Spring has just arrived and it seems that summer is already rapping on Dorade's door in an urgent, yet playful and almost polite manner as my youthful anticipation as a "fresh out of the womb" Nipper is surely at full capacity. The position has befell upon me as though I had been dubbed a Knight […]

Myles’ Blog
As Dorade sits and sways gently in her quiet corner of the Hinckley Marina, she receives tiny bursts of wake from the jetty opening that tease anticipation of the imminent towering crests that shall soon to be overcome. She is patient, as are her caretakers, as we steadily move forward in an ever present venture […]

Myles’ Blog
This week has been very busy for Dorade. She has been sailing every day with her crew, while Nick tunes up, assembles and organizes gear on and off the boat. I have been cranking along in the evenings after school picking up where Nick leaves off. I am learning a lot and taking everything as […]

Namesake
From Wikipedia DORADE, a mouthwatering fish from the Mediterranean Sea, has captured the imaginations of European cooks for centuries. Little wonder. Dorade is a small fish with tender white flesh, shimmering silver skin and, when grilled or braised, a rich, succulent, meaty flavor, similar to that of pompano or red snapper. The gilt-head (sea) bream […]

Navigation and Communications
With the recent refit, all of systems on Dorade were upgraded. These upgrades include state-of-the-art navigational, weather and communications capabilities. Dorade now has on-board the navigational, weather and communications capabilities normally found in a modern ocean racing boat. Jim Thompson of Island Yacht Services has worked hard to make this happen. This is a […]

Nelson/Marek refit DORADE wins 2013 Transpac
Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. (N/M) today announced that N/M refit DORADE wins 2013 Transpac overall, PYEWACKET finishes second and other N/M optimized designs take top places. Dorade, the 1930 design that catapulted Olin Stephens career, is a yacht that N/M has been involved with since 2007. In 2010 N/M was heavily involved with her 2010 […]

New main mast and boom
During a conference call yesterday some momentous decisions were made regarding Dorade's main mast and boom. Our engineering teams did a fantastic job of reviewing the current main mast and comparing it. Excerpts from the report are at the end of this posting. After a lively and involved discussion, the decision was made to build […]

New Race Stove
Dorade has a new, custom, light-weight Isobutane/Propane Gas stove designed for off-shore racing. The existing kerosene Taylor stove and oven is designed for cruising and not appropriate for cooking for off-shore crew. This new gimbaled stove has high performance for high capacity. The stove incorporates the JetBoil® FluxRing® technology to create an easy to use, […]

New Shipping Cradle
A new re-useable shipping cradle for Dorade is being fabricated. Designed by Greg Stewart of Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc., the major components of the cradle are be fabricated using 1/2" steel stock so as to produce long term durability and a safety factor of 400%. The estimated finished weight of the finished cradle, per Greg […]

New Stove
Dorade is replacing its Taylor kerosene stove / oven with what was its original 1st choice - a custom propane Luke Heritage "Model 3" Galley Stove and Oven. The Luke Model T (two surface burners only) is Luke's newest stove. It features reliable Force Ten burners, a black anodized aluminum top with brass accents. Just […]

Newport, Rhode Island
Greg Stewart, Matt, and I arrived here in Newport just in time for a new dusting of snow in Joe Loughborough's yard, where Dorade has spent the winter. Hannah, Nick, Shae Weston and a team of painters and carpenters have been working on several projects simultaneously, most documented here in other blog entries and in […]

Nice Work!
The tender is progressing nicely. The sole is installed and protected with cardboard. The fwd and midship thwarts have been installed. The aft thwart will be installed after the thwart knees are completed. The breasthook is fit forward. The quarter knees are in the process of being fit. Once they are in, the inwales will […]

Nick’s Blog
With launch day right around the corner everyone can feel the pressure to finish the final stages of the refit. This week, working with Jens Lange, the wooden blocks are back on board. With new harken high-speed high-load sheaves, fresh varnish, and new leather, the wooden blocks have never looked so good adding to the […]

Nipper’s Blog
So its been a hectic but very productive first week in Palma. After the mad rush to get Dorade off of the ship, we have quickly started to disassemble the boat, assisted with the removal of the rigs, emptied the interior, and started on the ever growing jobs list. We're definitely going to be busy, […]

Nipper’s Blog
After winning the Corsica Classic regatta, Dorade and I have a huge morale boost. I arrived here with Dorade and the crew at our birth in Port Grimaud with high spirits and eager hands. Our birth is next to another classic, Vagabundo, with three talented shipwrights working next to us. A perfect environment. Tim and […]

Nipper’s Blog
Its been a busy few weeks since we left Palma for Corsica, via the container in St Tropez. During the racing around Corsica, I was tasked with driving the Dorade car around the island to each port of call, setting up hotels, scouting out the restaurants and making sure everything was ready for the boats […]

Nipper’s Report 1
Arriving just days after the Antiguan varnish team had, gave Ben a perfect opportunity to step away from day to day maintenance, and to focus on logistics and scheduling for the Dorade. His refocusing left me as the boats supervisor, managing the varnish work, and to make sure that everything went on smoothly. The varnishing […]

Nipper’s Report 2 – San Pedro Training Session
After three weeks of varnish and preparation ben and I where finally ready to bring Dorade up to San Pedro for the fourth training session, and last before the start of the Transpac, which is just over a month away. Most of the crew was able to make it this weekend, but unfortunately both Matt […]

Nipper’s Report 3
Coming off an excellent practice session and a well needed weekend, Ben and I were ready to put in some strong hours. We started the week by further organizing our jobs list and figuring out what is left that needs doing before the Transpac. This includes removing the mizzen boom, and sending it in for […]

Nipper’s Report 5
The Dorade and crew had another positive week, which was marked by two productive sails, and it being the last full week for the Dorade in San Diego. As I mentioned we spent some time this week on the water. This was in order to test out our new mizzen spinnakers and staysails, as well […]

Nippers Blog
After arriving here in Mallorca to welcoming hands and attitudes of the captain, Hannah, and the other nipper, Tim, I could not wait to get to work on Dorade. The excitement and inspiration of Dorade seemed to overcome any jet lag I was expecting. Finally Monday arrived and the long anticipated work had begun. Through […]

Nippers Report 6
Southern California has treated the Dorade well, but this past week was the last full week that it is scheduled to be in the area, as the Transpac starts on Monday. This has caused Ben and I too have a very busy week, but exciting one. In order to make sure that the boat, trailer […]

North Pacific Delivery
This is now our 6th day at sea for Ben, Laurel, Chewy and Myself aboard the good ship Dorade, and she has done nothing other than please us so far. Our first four days out of Honolulu where dominated steady winds of about 18 knots and a lively sea state, that dwindled as we moved […]

Not such a nice day at the office
So as soon as the team leave town after 3 days of sunshine and light airs sailing during Les Voiles all hell breaks loose. The weather gods have not been smiling on the south of France as we wait for the opportunity to depart for Genoa. Fingers crossed next week is a little more friendly […]

NYYC Magazine – Spring 2014
An article from New York Yacht Club Magazine's Spring 2014 Volume 27 Number 1 issue. The article titled "Transpac" recalls Dorade's 2013 Transpac victory seventy-seven years after she first won the race in the 1930's. The article highlights Matt Brooks' achievements as a NYYC member and recognized them by receiving the Mosbacher Trophy as New […]

Ocean Racers Past and Present
DORADE is sharing the dock at LMI with the French trimaran IDEC. This stunning machine holds the solo round the world sailing record. After dismasting off the coast of Long Island, the team has jury rigged half of the spar and plans to set sail for France on Thursday. They plan on a 10 day […]

Old and New Winners Finish Transpac Today
Honolulu, Hawaii (July 20, 2013) – Over its long history since first being sailed in 1906, the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpac race has attracted a rich diversity of boat types, and among the nine additional entries that today crossed the finish line today at Diamond Head, there were two outstanding examples of the opposite ends of […]

On the eve of the Bermuda race
This Friday, Dorade will take on another major challenge in her ocean racing campaign, joining 164 other boats in the 49th Newport to Bermuda Race, a journey of 635 miles. At 84, she will be one of the oldest boats in the race, if not the oldest, and given her TransPac win last year, the […]

One month to go
The countdown is on and the final pieces of the puzzle are lining up nicely. It's not always easy to arrive at definitive decisions when the conversation is spread across thousands of miles and multiple time zones but I think we are there. The end of this week marks the first major clean up as […]

Our Mission and Matt’s Crazy Idea
This posting is written by MattDorade 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 […]

Outline of the boat
A rough outline of DORADE'S interior has been installed upstairs. The idea being to facilitate stowage planning, and interior re construction. The bits going back on board can be laid out where they belong. We can make sure all the pieces of the puzzle are accounted for without interrupting work inside the boat. This little […]

Patterns for Genoa cars
Paramount on the list of racing improvements for DORADE is to get the genoa sheet lead as low as possible on the rail. It was decided that the best all around solution would be to fabricate some fair lead cars that could be used on their own or aft the existing cars. The carvings […]

Percy Chubb Prize Trophy
In July 1931, Olin Stephens was awarded the Percy Chubb Prize as the winning the Corinthian Navigator of Dorade in the 1930 Transatlantic Race from Newport, Rhode Island, USA to Plymouth, England in 17 days, 14 minutes and 40 seconds. Percy Chubb Prize consisted of a Plath sextant in a wood storage box with a […]

Podium Finishers Determined in 2013 TransPac
With about one fourth the fleet still making their final approaches into the finish in today’s light winds, the windows of opportunities have now been closed for anyone to challenge the top three overall finishers in the 2013 Transpac. On the strength of starting in perfect wind conditions, carrying these through the race, and with […]

Postcard
Congratulations on the Transpac. Very inspirational. I have included a picture that has always inspired me, and perhaps you already have it. Rod Stephens silhouette as Dorade is making her triumphant Northern Route to Transatlantic Victory. Good luck with Lucie II in Flensburg. signed, Toby Rodes

Prepping for the Mediterranean beauty contest
Had Dorade left Bermuda on her own bottom we would still be out in the Atlantic living the simple life of eat, sleep, sail. ETA in the med would probably be sometime next week. We sail Dorade pretty hard so instead of putting all of those extra miles on her, she came the easy route […]

Prior Refit
Dorade received a prior refit in 2007-08. The link below has the photo journal for this refit. The refit was undertaken by Edgar Cato, the then owner. Work included mizzen mast repair, removal of the interior, re-framing (35 pairs of frames), new floor timbers, 10 new planks per side and many other details. For a complete […]

Progress / “Weekly update”
***Make sure to check out page 2 of pictures*** Weekly update: Friday October 14 Pouring rain. Progress is good regardless. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated for inclining. So the measurement / rating process is on hold. Forecast is for 3 days of 20 plus knots from WSW. As far as the offshore work goes, […]

Putting it back together
On Wednesday the Varnish and paint work came to an end and the boys flew home. It has been an extremely busy couple of weeks juggling interior and exterior work around the weather but the final result is excellent and I am very happy with how Dorade looks now. The Antiguans have done a great […]

Question of the compass
It is both required and a good idea to have a fixed "ship's compass". Over the last several years, the B&G compass has met Dorade's requirements, but this has changed. With blue water and long distance sailing planned, a reliable and power independent compass is a must. The problem for us then, is where to […]

Quiet please
It's a wonderful thing to see the boat beginning to enter the reconstruction phase after several weeks of deconstruction. The first phase of completion though will be the deck re-caulking job which currently involves new cotton being hammered into the seams. Above deck this is a loud process but down below it is almost deafening, […]

Race Day
The first set of yachts disembark from Point Fermin in San Pedro at 1:00 p.m. Organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club, Transpac is an offshore race covering a distance around 2,225 nautical miles (more than 2,500 miles long) from Point Fermin all the way to Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hawaii Yacht Club, founded […]

RACING SCHEDULE
Dorade is scheduled to participate in some of the most exciting Caribbean regattas this winter. Dorade is looking forward to: Heineken Regatta in St. Maarten St. Barths Bucket Regatta (not participating) Les Voiles de Saint Barths Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta Then back onto Dockwise in St. Thomas to get the boat back to Newport for: […]

Re-building a wooden block
A comparison between Re-building a wooden block with a standard Harken Ball Bearing Sheave and as an alternative fitting a custom fabricated Harken sheave into an existing block: Over the past three years we have restored many traditional blocks at Baltic Boat Works – some have come in for a complete re-built while others just […]

Ready To Go!
It’s all wrapping up on Dorade this week. With the delivery south moved up about a week I have been running around trying to get the contractors to finish all of their various projects. The boat is finally coming back together and looking like her old self again. Just a more watertight old self! Christa […]

Ready, steady, GO…
January has bought with it a flurry of activity around Dorade. The doors went on the shed after a cold snap that saw temperatures drop to 0 and snow fall stick to the ground. We are shrouded in a plastic tent and have the most epic heater warming us up enough so anyone working on […]

Readying for Cruise to Newport
We are getting the final bits and bobs done today. I have to run around and pay off outstanding accounts and bills. I got two coats of varnish on everything on deck although it did slow us up a little bit due to an entire day of rain. I have a handheld iridium for communication […]

Reclaiming Victory
Saved from the fate of early retirement, the grand dame Dorade is once again gracing San Francisco Bay. Fun Fact: Dorade made famous its eponymous dorade boxes, designed to enable air to pass in and out of a boat's cabin while keeping the water out. There is nothing quite like cruising San Francisco on a […]

refit recap #1: cabinhouse
What a difference a year makes! A lot happened inside and out to the cabin house during the refit. The bottom photo is from this time last year. I thought this would be a good place to start our refit recap as the work of so many craftspeople is represented in this one area. […]

Refit recap #3 galley storage
A big part of the October refit work was finishing inside the various cabinets. Chad and Gabe did a fantastic job of creating elegant yet sea worthy storage for china, glassware and cooking gear. Some of the features shown in the photos include custom knife storage, stemless wine glass racks that are removable for table […]

Return to Newport
Dorade has departed Bermuda bound for Newport. We also have satellite tracking on board. Check for updates here. http://share.findmespot.com/ Position 7 Dorade is at 39.94485 -69.46246 Position 6 Latitude:38.15646 Longitude:-67.62842 GPS location Date/Time:06/26/2012 17:22:27 PDT Distance traveled 254.2 km, 158 mi Message:All ok on dorade Position 5 Latitude:36.08674 Longitude:-66.41022 GPS location Date/Time:06/25/2012 16:52:01 PDT Message:Wnd […]

Rob Napier, Model Builder
The ship model world called to Rob Napier when he was a boy. He did his first commissioned work at 16 and accepted ship modeling as a career at 27. It has occupied him full-time for the 40 years since. He focuses on building new models and on maintaining models for individuals and institutions. Rob’s […]

Rod on Sailing, Lessons from the Sea
Rod Stephens was one of American's best known and respected sailors. In 1933 he became Associate Designer, later promoted to President, of Sparkman & Stephens naval architecture and yacht design firm, a company founded in 1929 by his brother Olin Stephens and Drake Sparkman. Rod Stephens was a consummate seaman. His brother Olin designed the […]

RORC 600 Day 2
It is wednesday morning and a rather cloudy day has just dawned as we complete our second full day at sea and creep past the half way mark. We have so far sailed around Antigua, Barbuda, Nevis, St Kits, Saba, St Barths, St Martin, Tintamarre and are now approaching Monserrat. Out on our port side, […]

RORC 600 Day 3
Since I last put pen to paper yesterday as we were approaching Monserrat, we have battled our way down the tricky coast of Guadeloupe, sailed clean past our competitors aboard Selene, rounded Les Saintes and La Desirade and are now on course for Barbuda. As Ben and I began our watch yesterday afternoon with Guadeloupe […]

RORC 600 Pre-Start
The RORC 600 is no walk in the park. I know this having done it twice before. The race comprises of a 600 mile weave around rugged caribbean islands large and small, ploughing through two metre seas and dodging squalls. Of course none of us can complain about the temperature and its a heck of […]

RORC 600 Race Update 2014-02-24
On-Board Dorade - 2/24/2014 1:42:38 P.M. Pacific Standard Time Around the Barbuda mark. We suffered a bit on the beating in a seaway from the start to York Island, but as soon as we could crack sheets, we got into our reaching modes and hoisted the A3 and Mizzen Jib. We gybed around the Barbuda […]

RORC 600 Race Update 2014-02-26
Just had a struggle getting around the lee side of Guadeloupe this afternoon with a big wind shadow which is normal from my experience in the last 3 races I did but things are rolling nicely again now. This afternoon has been all hands on deck with sail changes and trying to keep the old […]

RORC 600 Race Update 2014-02-27
Out from Guadaloupe, and now smashing into 1.5 meter seas and 22 knots. We will be beating like this for 6-7 hours. It is taking an extreme toll on crew and boat. We are all tired and beat up. We have managed to reclaim 1 st in class, putting many hours on Selene, who got […]

Rough Castings
77 pounds of rough bronze casting arrived from the Mystic River Foundry yesterday. Low profile genoa cars, flush deck pad eyes, and sail track slides are ready for machining. Given the limited amount of time left before DORADE heads south, we have three different shops each tackling one set of castings. Carlos will handle the […]

Round-the-Islands race Finish
The Round-the-Islands race was a great race. The Race was a wet and windy affair, with a solid 25 to 33 Knots for most of the race. The start gave Dorade light conditions and by the time Dorade was out of the harbor, the crew ad done five sail changes. By the time Dorade crossed […]

Royal Ocean Racing Club Yearbook 2015
Dorade was mentioned in the article in the 2015 Yearbook of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The article "Titans across the Atlantic" by Lizzy Narraway mentions the Dorade's exploits in the Transatlantic races and her recent 2013 victory in the Transpac Race. Portions of the article are quoted below: "One particular class worth keeping an […]

Rudder
The rudder is nearing completion. The blade has been fastened to the bronze rudder stock. The rudder shoe and gudgeons are fitting well. The issue of wear over time has been addressed by installing replacable high density plastic bushings, where the rudder stock meets the gudgeons and shoe. These bushings also ease the pressure on […]

Running rigging
Rope on the left is double braid poly by New England Ropes and is a sample of what Doradecurrently sails with. Rope on the right is poly spec from Nova Braid and is being considered for new halyards on the new spars. A third option is available from Gleistein Ropes in Europe. We are looking […]

Running rigging update
Scoured the web for waxed whipping twine in multiple colors. The idea being to provide Rig Pro with twine to color code lines during the splicing process. Each eye splice receives a whipping where the cover is inserted back into itself. Why not beginning the color coding process here. The tail whippings will match the […]

RYS Bicentenary preparations in full swing
Here is the full blog and link to The Cowes UK News - RYS Bicentenary story. 20 May 2015 Celebrations commemorating the Royal Yacht Squadron's Bicentenary International Regatta in Cowes are drawing closer and with less than 80 days left until the start of the event, for some competing yachts, preparation is getting frantic. They […]

S/V DORADE – Condition Survey – Winter, 2015
John Winder of Winder Associates recounts his experience working on Dorade. In early January of this year, I was asked by Matt Brooks to do a thorough condition survey of DORADE. This was in preparation for another intensive year of rigorous offshore racing. The last survey had been done in 2011 in conjunction with the […]

S&S Recommends a shift back to the 1931 rig
Date: December 22, 2010 Design No. 07-C1 Dear Matt, Since the decision to build a new mast was made, I have been working with the S&S design team researching, analyzing and assessing the rig configuration options for Dorade as you requested. We have spent quite a bit of time going back through the S&S archives […]

Sailing Aboard Dorade in The Leukemia Cup
by Paige Brooks By now you all know why this particular race meant so much to me, sailing for my friends Catherine and Matt and for the family and friends of many of you. One reason I think I will have a life long love affair with sailing is there is always something new to […]

San Francisco Leukemia Cup
The San Francisco Leukemia Cup committee is pleased to announce that for the first time a Classic Yacht Class will compete in the seventh annual Leukemia Cup Regatta. Hosted by The San Francisco Yacht Club, the Leukemia Cup supports the mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to find a cure for blood cancers and […]

San Francisco’s “Dorade” Wins TransPacific Sailing Race
Historic Yacht First Won in 1936 -- Now Oldest Craft Ever to Race and Win TransPac It's official, Dorade has won the 2013 TransPac on corrected time, beating out its closest competitor, Pyewacket, by two hours, 30 minutes, and 26 seconds. "They said we'd never make it and if we did it would take four […]

Satellite Dome
DORADE will be equipped with a KVH satellite dome. This will allow us to connect to the internet and place phone calls while we are offshore. The dome will sit on the aft deck secured to a plinth. It will be removable for inshore racing. The dome will be covered with a canvas cover disguising […]

Seven Crew Members And One Old Boat – Radio Interview
Click PLAY to listen to the interview. A few years ago, Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy were looking for a classic boat they could fix up when they found the Dorade, a 52-foot wooden yacht that had set racing records in the 1930s. Brooks immediately liked what he saw, so he said […]

Shakedown Sail
Great day of sailing in Nantucket. Spent the afternoon tuning the rig and testing sails in preparation for the Opera House Cup. DORADE is looking sharp and sailing fast. Brad and Greg are very happy with how she is sailing! Photo 3 is a shot from up the rig of DORADE rafted to TICONDEROGA. By […]

She’s on the move
At 0900hrs this morning Dorade pulled out of the yard in Portsmouth on her new cradle and a second truck following with the Container, trailer and spars. The last couple of weeks have been busy preparing the boat for the journey and packing up all the gear into the trailer and container. When Dorade is […]

Shifting Gears
Coming out of the refit and re-launch, Dorade and the team has shifted gears. We have to switch from refit mode to race mode. This entails getting the containers organized, inventoried and shipped, rigging the boat and tuning the rigs, done by Rig Pro Southern Spars, and loading the gear. Myles and I are finishing […]

Short haul
This weekend DORADE got hauled out to do a routine check of her hull and the rudder. Everything looked great! While she was out, we changed to the three blade prop for easier cruising in the Caribbean. In addition, Andrew took another scan of the boat to assist in future rating and design calculations. As of […]

Sit Rep 2013-10-14
It's been a good start so far. Good wind direction and boat speed. The rig looks nicely tuned and everything is functioning normally. Bush was a little rough last night but has been driving well and is feeling better today. Everybody else is fine. The wind has been mainly in the east but it generally […]

Sit Rep 2013-10-15
We've had great reaching conditions through yesterday and last night. We chose to go a little low of course and fast whist we had the Gulf Stream on the lee bow and had a good days run despite being soaked. Now things have settled down a bit but sailing is still good even though it's […]

Sit Rep 2013-11-07
Mostly still good sailing but we've had to motor a few times to keep things moving. Very hot on board at the moment and sleeping in the day is impossible now. Fortunately the sea has flattened enough this morning to allow us to open a hatch and get some fresh air into the boat. Position […]

Sit Rep 2013-11-08
We have been motor sailing since last night. The wind has gone variable and light, fortunately we have plenty of fuel to keep things moving. I think the grib file shows some easterly's filling in for the last blast in! Still no fish and we are sick of freeze dry, so looking forward to fresh […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-09
Breeze has been a little stronger and a bit more north since last night. We dropped the MH1 last night and have been sailing under staysail, 2 reefs and mizzen. Speeds have been great and the boat not rocked up to much. Maximum gust has been 29kts so this has been the perfect sail plan. […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-10
Wind is consistently more than 5 knots than GRIBS show. We have not seen less than 20kts all night and the average is probably a little higher. Fortunately the rain seems to have stopped and the sun is shining, tunes are playing on deck although still very wet. General bellow deck temperature is much more […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-11
This morning the wind has eased a little and veered more easterly again giving us the opportunity to dry things out and do a little house keeping. Boat speeds are still in the sevens without making any changes and the sea state is allowing some catch up on sleep and a chance to cook some […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-13
We have less than 3 knots of wind and have been motoring for almost 24hrs towards New Port. Sails are down and not much going on although we did have a quick swim this morning whilst letting the engine cool to do some checks. Servicing a couple of winches this afternoon and enjoying the calm […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-15
We have just slipped into the gulf stream, The water temperature has risen sharply but everything else is much like normal apart from going a bit more sideways. Breeze is over 20 kts and from behind us so boat speeds have been up into the 11+ regularly and we are getting some good surfing in. […]

St. Francis Sailing Foundation – Night with the Stars
Lot #8 - St. Francis Sailing Foundation - Night with the Stars Dinner & Auction - Tuesday March 17th If you haven't already signed up to attend, it is not too late. Attached is a video feature of Live Auction Lot #8: Foulies & Tuxedos - Be A Part of Yachting History Join 2015 Yachtsman […]

St. Francis Yacht Club – STFYC.COM
February 2015 issue of Mainsheet. It features Matt Brooks on page 13 as the recipient for the Jerome B. White Yachtsman of the Year award. On his award acceptance speech, he is quoted as saying: "At practically every table in this room sits someone who has contributed to this campaign in some way. As we […]

St. Francis Yacht Club “Yachtsman of the Year”
Matt recently received the Jerome B. White Trophy. A trophy from the St. Francis Yacht Club awarded annually to the St. Francis Yachtsman of the Year. Awarded to William Mathews Brooks for 2014. The Jerome B. White "Yachtsman of the Year" Trophy The trophy is awarded each year by the St. Francis Yacht Club’s outgoing […]

St. Francis Yacht Club Outstanding Member Achievement Party
REMINDER AND UPDATE On Friday night the members of the St. Francis Yacht Club will honor Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy for their unprecedented achievement in the 2013 Transpacific Yacht Race. Originally, we hoped to honor also our member Lucy Jewett, whose lifetime achievements include recent induction into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. […]

Stem and stern post progress
The stem has been cut back to the plank ends. Now the work of cutting back along the ends of the planks begins. Veritical cuts are made that miss the plank ends and then a chisel cuts the rest away. The stem is in excellent shape. There is a little bit of moisture around the […]

Stem Renewal
A final decision has been made on the stem repair. Over the years various repairs have been made, perhaps the largest and most intrusive being the big patch that was added near the top. The final choice has been to replace the stem from the plank ends forward. This will essentially make the stem […]

Stern Post
As can be seen in the photos, the stern post has a number of repairs that have been made to it over the last 80 years. The blue tape represents a minimalist approach to removing the propeller aperture, which cuts into the aft piece of the stern post by nearly 2/3, seriously compromising the strength […]

StFYC Mainsheet: Sailor Spotlight on Matt Brooks
How long have you been an StFYC member and why do you join? I have been a member of St. Francis Yacht Club since 1976. I joined the StFYC for the fellowship of great sailing and boating community that StFYC provides. How did you become involved in sailing? As a young boy I learned to […]

Successful Week
Last night we pulled back into Driscoll Boat works in San Diego after a successful week of sailing. The aim the week was to look at our new A4 sail, do a full system check, and look at sail crossovers and boat prep. Lots of discussion was had about just about everything you could imagine […]

Sweeping to Victory after Pacific Trip
The caption reads: The 51-foot yawl Dorade sweeps across the Diamond Head finish line – the first boat to arrive at Honolulu in the biennial Trans-Pacific yacht race from Santa Monica, California. The Dorade is owned by James Flood of the St. Francis Yacht Club, San Fancisco, and was skippered by Myron Spaulding. She won […]

Systems
The Yanmar is being retrofit to run a 210 amp alternator. The sophisticated systems on board DORADE require quiet a bit more output than the standard alternator can provide. Jim has chosen a unit made by Balmar and Nels will retrofit the engine with additional belts and pulleys needed to run such a powerful alternator […]

Tender
This past week I stopped at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, Rhode Island to have a look at the reproduction of Dorade's original tender that is under construction there. They're doing a first rate job. Here are a couple of images showing the progress so far. Her scantlings are incredibly light. - Bruce […]

Tender Update
The students have been working diligently on all of the fine details. The mahogany rubrail and oak inwales have been installed and make the dinghy look amazing. The students have taken great pains to make everything fit just right. They are cutting the transom and stem to finish off the sheer and then will be […]

Thanksgiving
The week of Thanksgiving was a short one on Dorade. It was long enough, however, to appreciate being thankful for working on a wonderful boat. Boat work doesn’t seem to mean as much on a big piece of fantastic plastic or other boring motor yacht. After moving the boat over to St. Francis Yacht Club […]

The Alternative Route Home
Seven days ago my crew and I drove south to the luxury of the Comfort Inn in Essington PA. It is not the most inspiring place any of us have been to but we were there to wait the arrival of Dorade. After some last minute delays we finally got the green light for offloading […]

The Dorade Model
This cronicles the continuing work of Rob Napier on the creation of the Dorade model. The model will represent the yawl as she was when she won the Trans-Atlantic Race in 1931. Our previous blogs about Rob (found here) and the initial stages of his work (found here) last 2012 highlights the process of creating […]

The Dorade Model
Dorade Blog, 021: The basswood deck is being laid on the 1:32-scale model of Dorade. To maintain symmetry, each port-starboard pair of 0.047-inch-wide planks is nibbed to the king plank in turn. When four pairs have been fitted, they are installed in two batches, one to starboard and one to port. Then on to the […]

The Finish of the Fastnet Race 1931
( Excerpt from Yachting magazine, written by Weston Martyr, founder of the Fastnet Race – Oct 1931 ) Two little pyramids appeared simultaneously around Penlee Point, to be revealed by the long glass as Patience and Highland Light, running neck-and-neck on the last lap of their 600-mile course. Patience’s big spinnaker went up as they […]

The jobs list marathon
The initial boatyard phase is always a little soul destroying. You go from order to complete disorder very quickly. By disorder I do not mean that the wheels have fallen off this project, far from it but rather everything has to look worse before it can get better. As I write this sitting in the […]

The Ladies Take on Antigua Classics
There was no hanging around after the BVI Regatta. We sailed Dorade straight back to Antigua to make sure we had the time to get her looking beautiful ready for the arrival of a new team and the start of Antigua Classic Week. It is not often that race prep involves varnishing and adding weight […]

This week on Dorade
Ben is away this week and I am looking after the boat while he’s gone. The jobs list he left is a lot of littles that keep getting passed over for time constraints and other projects. A few things have needed painting or re-varnishing in places most people would never see! I cleaned and painted […]

Thrilled to see you take care of her!
I have very fond memories of Dorade as a camper at Four Winds Westward Ho. Mike Douglas (owner for several years) was very generous in her use with thousands of campers through our the years in the San Juan islands. While I cant speak to how this left her condition, I know that even to […]

Time is flying by
If January went by quickly, February has disappeared in a flash. Multiple projects are in progress and while we are very much still on track we are starting to get to the stage where wiggle room is getting tighter. So far so good though and the biggest project we have going on at the moment […]

Title: Who wore it best?
Despite the first day of racing here at the Regattes Royal in Cannes being cancelled due to strong wind conditions, the Dorade team were informed by our neighbours that we had most definitely won the hors d'oeuvres competition. What started as a tradition during the transpac, the early evening cocktail and snack soirée is still […]

Topside Paint
Ben and his team at Diversified Finishes have done a fantastic job on the topside paint. After two sweaty weeks of long-boarding in the hot shed, all fairing was complete. This past saturday Ben sprayed four coats of Awl Grip topside paint. As you can see from the photos the results are top notch.

Tracks
**** If the video does not load correctly, please refresh your page **** The genoa tracks are back down and fitted with new cars. The tracks were removed for cap rail varnish work this winter. While off, the fastener holes were glued with wood spiles and re drilled. We were tasked by the sailmaker […]

Trans Pac first 24hrs
So finally after months and possibly even years of getting her ready Dorade is back on the Trans Pac course. It felt like a big relief to get off the dock at Rainbow harbor, it doesn't matter how much preparation you put in it still feels like you have forgotten something. So after a little […]

Transatlantic Countdown Day 4: Reflection by Terry Nathan
“It’s pretty difficult to appreciate sailing and racing without understanding the past and how we got to the present. Dorade, on the water recreating her participation in these races, reminds all of us of that connection.” – Terry Nathan, President of IYRS “My first encounter with Dorade was relatively late if you will. It wasn’t […]

Transatlantic Race 2015: Dorade’s Quest to Repeat her 1931 Transatlantic Race Victory
An Extraordinary Link with Yachting History: Dorade's Quest to Repeat her 1931 Transatlantic Race Victory NEWPORT, R.I. (June 4, 2015) – In late June, one of sailing's most celebrated yachts will attempt to retrace the steps of her first, and most significant, victory. The 52-foot yawl Dorade, owned by Pam Levy and Matt Brooks (Tiburon, […]

Transpac Fleet On Their Way
Scuttlebutt Europe #2877 - 15 July Photo by Sharon Green It's been almost twenty-four hours now since the last wave of boats crossed the start line, so the entire fleet of 58 entries from eight countries are now on the race course of the 47th Transpac, with the next stop Honolulu. For some this has […]

Transpac Follow-Up
Gayle Anderson was live in Long Beach with information following the 47th Transpacific Yacht Race, or Transpac 2013, which concluded Thursday, July 25th with the Transpacific Yacht Race Ceremony at the Modern Honolulu ballroom. Prince Quentin and Prince David Kawananakoa of Hawaii presented the King Kalakaua Cup Trophy as First Corrected Overall Yacht to Dorade, […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-09
We are coming up on 24 hours of racing. We are at position: N32 22.077, W120 49.628. We have sailed 150 nautical miles and we have roughly 2070 to go. We have been averaging about 7 knots with about 12-20 knots of wind speed. Skies are overcast and we are looking forward to getting into […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-10
We are coming up on 48 hours of racing. We have sailed approximately 350 nautical miles and we have roughly 1885 to go. We have been averaging about 8 knots with about 12-17 knots of wind speed. Skies are still overcast and we can see several boats within 5-8 miles of us at night, but […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-11
We are coming up on 72 hours of racing. We have fought our way up to second place overall, and are gaining on the leader. We have sailed 500 nautical miles and we have roughly 1700 to go. We have been averaging about 8 knots with about 12-17 knots of wind speed. Skies are still […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-12
We are coming up on 96 hours of racing. We have chipped away at the leader’s lead, and currently we are only 15 minutes behind them on CORRECTED TIME (Actual time multiplied by each boat’s time handicap). We hope to overtake them today. We have sailed 740 nautical miles and we have just under 1500 […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-14
We are coming up on 6 days of racing, and the morning position report shows us still in first place in our division- The large boats that started on Saturday have moved into the lead in the overall, but this is mostly an artificial ranking at the moment, and could change in the coming days. […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-15
Several big Milestones today on Dorade. Early this AM, we broke the 1000 Nautical Mile barrier for distance to Hawaii. We are now 995 Miles from the Finish, at position 27 40.5 N 141 18.5 W. Secondly, we broke several speed records set on the trip, recording top speeds of 12.4 knots, 13.1 Knots, and […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-16
We are coming up on 7 days of racing, and this morning we are still first place in class, and have moved up to 12th overall. The slow-down for the fleet has arrived as expected, but is affecting them less than hoped for, so the future is still uncertain. We will know more by tomorrow […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-17
Stress level is factor 10 on the boat. We have just received the daily position report, and overnight, and not only have we maintained our position at the top of our division, but we have jumped from 12th overall to 4th overall and are in contention for the Overall win. This makes the tension on […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-18
If even possible, the stress has increased. This morning’s position report has launched us to 1st in class, 1st overall. It will be a herculean task to hold onto this spot, as the fleet behind is charging towards Hawaii, and the competitors around us are also sailing hard to knock us out of first in […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-19
It has been 24 hours since we have begun our charge towards Molokai. The shift has not developed as predicted, which is causing us a great deal of worry, as our chief competitor, the Sleeper, has leverage against us to the right. If we don’t get the shift, then we will lose a lot of […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-20
We are charging for the finish. The gybe last night was perfectly timed and sealed the fate of our nearest competitor. We put 4 miles on him in under 3 hours, and locked in our final advantage on the positioning. We have spent the morning sailing along the island of Molokai, and are now headed […]

TRANSPAC: Classic Dorade likely to win Overall Title
Strange weather has persisted in the last half of the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpac race, with a low pressure deepening between Hawaii and the Pacific High to the north, making for vacuum-like conditions in the “normal” northerly approach to the finish. The Sleds and TP 52’s, which were the third start a week ago Saturday (July […]

Transpacific 2013 winner shares experiences of yacht race
Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL (HawaiiNewsNow) - On the strength of starting in perfect wind conditions, Matt Brooks' 1930 Sparkman & Stephens-designed, 52-foot wooden yawl Dorade earned overall victory in the Transpac 2013 race. This 47th edition of the race, organized by the Transpacific YC, has been held biennially since 1906. At Thursday evening's award ceremony, Dorade will win the King Kalakaua […]

Turtle Bay, Mexico
We are not just in a bar drinking Tequila while held-up in Turtle Bay waiting for better weather. The delivery back-up from Cabo has been so far extremely wet and bumpy. Nevertheless, this return trip back from Cabo has been a valuable shake down for the boat and having a crew on spending multiple days […]

Update – 08/06/13
Position at 1015 UTC 08/06/13 N 33 12 W 149 22 Speed 6.5 Kts CRS 055 TWD 111 TWS 8 We are definitely in the high now. We stopped sailing and started motoring yesterday morning, the sea has started to flatten off nicely. Engine water pump sprung a leak so we changed the pump today […]

Update – Dorade and its Original Burgee
The textile restorer, Hannah Riley, has managed to source wool 'bunting' fabric from England. This is the base fabric that the replica burgee will be constructed from. Hannah has carried out all of her test dyeing and achieved a good color match. Hannah has also a couple of leads on companies that will be able […]

Update 10/31/2011
Good Morning Matt, Boat back at LMI and full wrap up of projects underway. A quick list of what is current. Measuring and building lifeline wires this AM. Deck repair ready for caulking with TDS. Spreader down lights being installed. These are nice brass fittings to capture the LED lamps. Radar bracket mount in the […]

Update 2014-06-21 10:29am
At 5am this morning Dorade took the lead in the IRC Overall standings, in first place just ahead of rives potts' Carina, winner of two Bermuda races. shes holding her own several hours later, now in third but going strong. GO GIRL GO! track the race at the Pantaenius Website. Pam

Update from Bermuda
It looks like we have a nice big high for the trip up now so that will be good for the boat and us. Jessie has the routing covered and I've been pretty impressed so far. Hopefully we will bring the Bermuda sunshine with us. We have serviced all the winches and inspected the mountings […]

Update on Galley and Nav Station
Marty, Chad and Mike have been putting in long hours building out the galley, engine box and nav area components. Most of the work has been done off the boat, however we have gotten a few glimpses of how good this will all look once it is finished. A spacious chart table, bronze clad counter […]

Update on the Systems Upgrade
By Matt Wachowicz, Navigator While Dorade has had an external refurbishment and refit geared at maintaining her Classic status, she has undergone an equally serious refit in the area of navigation, safety and electronics. With the thought of campaigning her in the most competitive manner possible, Owner, Matt Brooks, has mandated the installation of the […]

Varnish
Jane Mitchell pictured above is sanding the port cap rail in preparation for a new coat of varnish. During this week, and next week, Capt. Alex and Jane will apply two coats of varnish on everything except for the spars. The cap rail will get an additional 3rd coat before the Heineken Regatta.

Varnish and Paint
It has been another dusty week on Dorade but things are coming together nicely. We have been varnishing both on deck and the interior at the same time preparing the waterways for a coat of enamel. The deck work now has four coats on and we are going to shoot for one more once everything […]

Vintage Yacht Dorade Wins Transpac Again, 77 Years After First Transpac Victory!
Modern sailing racing yachts tend to have plumb bows and broad flat sterns. The Transpacific Yacht Race, a 2,225 nautical miles race from Los Angelos to Honolulu, Hawaii, has been dominated for several decades by these lightweight, high speed, sailing “sleds.” Remarkably, almost unbelievably, this year’s Transpac was won not by a modern speedster, but […]

Voiles de St. Barth’s Tuneup
What a great week in St. Barth's (for those who could make it)! It was a genuine pleasure to test Dorade's performance in lighter and moderate winds and to sail with Matt, Pam and much of the team once again. I realize these are not honey badger standard yet, but here's a short video we […]

Vote Dorade!
From Classic Boat 2013 Awards issue: This year, Classic Boat has launched a range of 11 awards to recognise contributions in the world of traditional boats. We are asking you, the readers, to share your top nominations in each of the categories below, including restorations, new builds, yards and person of the year. Vote here […]

Vote Matt Brooks!
From Classic Boat 2014 Awards issue: This year, Classic Boat has launched a range of awards to recognise contributions in the world of traditional boats. We are asking you, the readers, to share your top nominations in each of the categories below, including restorations, new builds, yards and person of the year. Our very own […]

Water Jet Cutting
All hardware for the masts is being cut by a computer driven high pressure water jet cutter. In photo 1 a test piece is being cut. The computer screen shows Greg's drawing in purple. The green line shows the route that the machine will take to pre-cut the holes. In picture 3 Tom quickly polishes the cut […]

West Coast
After weeks of planning and preparation Dorade arrived in San Francisco early last week. There have been a lot of people involved with the process and I would like to say thank you to all of the people who have made it possible. The journey started in Rhode Island weeks before Dorade left, with the […]

What a great TransPac!
While a new elapsed-time record wasn't set, the 47th TransPac has proven to be one of the more interesting and exciting races to Hawaii in years. Overall honors went to the classic S&S 52 Dorade, which was built in 1930 and had previously won overall TransPac honors 77 years ago in 1936. Dorade is owned […]

Winch bases
Tom has been busy readying DORADE for the arrival of her new winch package. The winch pads outside the cockpit combing have been removed. New bases to fit the larger primaries and a different set of running backstay winches have been laminated out of mahogany. The under-deck blocking has also been replaced and improved both […]

Winches
DORADE will carry a complete set of brand new Meissner winches for her racing. Gord Laco of R&W Traditional Rigging and Outfitting http://rwrope.com/traditional-rigging.html set up this order for us with this the classic division of Holmatro Marine Equipment. Widely regarded as top of the line hardware in the classic racing circuit, Meissner does not disappoint the […]

Yacht Magazine Cover Story (German)
"Down below may be compact compared with today’s beamy yachts. In the Foreword to Douglas Adkins’ superbly-researched, informative book ‘Dorade, The History of an Ocean Racing Yacht’, Llewellyn Howland III writes “Her accommodations are Spartan… She sails on her ear. She is a great roller in a seaway. Her berths are like coffins. Who in […]

Yacht Visits Bermuda Again After 82 Years
82 years after first traveling to Bermuda as part of the 1930 Newport Bermuda Yacht Race, the Dorade made the journey again this year, with the recently restored boat making the 635-mile ocean journey from Newport to Bermuda in approximately 83 hours. Read More:http://bernews.com/2012/06/yacht-visits-bermuda-again-after-82-years/
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ON THE WEST COAST

12 Metre Weathery
The Dorade Crew chartered the classic 12 Metre Weathery for the North American Nationals September 23-25, 2011. Weatherly came in 2nd in its class, three point behind American Eagle, skippered by Ted Turner. Ted Turner and I have agreed to return in the same boats for next year's 12 Metre Nationals for a grudge match. […]

1936 Transpac victor Dorade wins again in 2013
The Transpacific Yacht Race from California to Hawaii is one of the most prestigious yacht races in the world. The race is held every other year and this afternoon the legendary sailing yacht Dorade sailed into Honolulu as the overall winner. The 52-foot boat was built in 1930 making it the oldest boat to ever […]

2012 LES VOILES DE ST. BARTH REGATTA
America’s Matt Brooks and Canada’s Ashley Wolfe had a tremendous sailing experience at the 2012 Les Voiles de St. Barth Regatta and with some outstanding sailing skills as they were able to hit the ultimate victory in the Classic and IRC classes respectively. Both sailors along with their crews were consistent on the race course […]

2012 Technical Specifications
View as PDF document http://dorade.org/2012DoradeSpecifications.pdf Complied by Greg Stewart, Naval Architect, Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. e-mail: [email protected]

2014 BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival
Dorade turns in a 2nd, 1st and 3rd Place Results at the 2014 BVI Spring Regatta & Sailing Festival Dorade results: BVI Sailing Festival | Round Tortola Race Dorade 2nd in the Racing CSA Division BVI Sailing Festival | Caribbean Insurer Island Invitational 1st in the Racing Division BVI Spring Regatta 3rd in the Racing […]

2014 Corsica Classic Regatta Pics
Post Race Dorade Crew Meeting Dorade motoring to start of next race Matt preparing to test drive a new Ferrari at Bonifacio Harbor (Ferrari was a Co-Sponsor of the regatta) More Dorade racing in the 2014 Corsica Classic Regatta. Photos courtesy of Bernard Rubinstein.

2015 Transatlantic Race May Take Longer
According to The Transatlantic Race organizers, this year's race may take longer than times past. One reason that this year's Transatlantic Race may take longer than ones in the past is the presence of icebergs further south in the Atlantic. This will force the fleet to go east for longer before turning north into the […]

2nd at the Anniversary Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Regatta
Dorade came in 2nd in its class today in the 2012 Anniversary Royal Bermuda Yacht Club Regatta The Anniversary Regatta of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club - Two races in Great Sound, off Hamilton, Bermuda on the Friday after the Newport Bermuda Race. In recent years the format has been altered to include a short […]

77 Years Later, Yacht Repeats Win in Transpacific Race – NY Times
To read the article in PDF, click here. It took a thousand or so miles of sailing with the long, powerful waves of the Pacific Ocean for Hannah Jenner, a rising star in ocean racing, to get comfortable in this year’s Transpacific Yacht Race. Jenner, a 31-year-old from Britain, is used to racing ultralight 40-footers […]

83-Year-Old Yacht Wins Trans-Pacific Race
...a feat it last pulled off in 1936. (Newser) – The boat that won this year's Transpacific Yacht Race was a feared competitor on the cutting edge of sailboat design … back in 1936, when it won the race for the first time. This time, the Dorade was a much less likely winner. When he […]

A Conversation with Joe Loughborough
Pictured above, Harry and Joe. Loughborough Marine Interests LLC has had q pretty good run of it these past several years, and Joe is a deserving fellow and long-time classic-boat owner. Restoration Quarterly: Restoration Quarterly: You seem like a fellow with boats in your DNA. Where did it all start? Joe Loughborough: In England with […]

A Course of Legend…
Article from the New York Yacht Club …with an entry to match. Eighty-two years after an historic win, Olin Stephens’ classic Dorade will once again challenge the North Atlantic. Among offshore racing tracks, none traces its origin earlier than transatlantic. The first race from the United States to England took place in 1866, the result […]

A fabulous end to a successful Med season
All the way back in July, Dorade was lowered into the Mediterranean Sea from on board the ship that carried her across from Bermuda. After emerging from her new paint job in Palma none of us knew what we might come up against in the series of Med regattas we had planned. We knew the […]

A Few Words from the Crew
After wrapping up at LMI, Ben and crew moved Dorade to the docks at IYRS. After speaking with the crew, everyone is in high spirits and is happy with the state of Dorade. The crew have arrived in Newport along with Matt Brooks and Pam Levy. The positive energy coming from uniting Dorade with these […]

A Million Pieces
It has seemed like the boat has been in a million pieces over the last few weeks. With the butterfly hatch restorations ending up a bigger job than initially hoped for. Extra repairs were necessary to a couple of the lids and all the usual stuff that comes up when you do a job. Once […]

A New Lease of Life for Dorade
An article on the Sparkman & Stephens Association's website about Dorade's latest activities. It highlights her race victories from the 1930's as well as her recent Transpac win in 2013. The article also mentions the restoration work done on the yacht and Matt Brooks' plans to enter Dorade in all the races where she was […]

A productive week
Despite temperatures plunging to all new lows and snow seemingly falling every other day, the refit project is forging ahead right on track. The deck team have been working meticulously to even up all the seems and remove old cotton ready for the re caulking stage to begin next week. It's always a satisfying part […]

About the 2014 Corsica Classic Cup
The artists Dominique Campana and Carol Haas are the creators of the trophy for the 2014 edition of the prestigious regatta the Corsica Classic. Inspired by sailing, the trophy is realized in handmade colored glass and sculpted stainless steel. The couple is known for large scale glass and metal sculpture. Recently three monumental pieces by […]

Almost ‘one month to go’
We are getting close to that critical 'one month to go' point. The decks are in the final stages of sanding, the bottom is all faired and ready for painting and the topside paintwork is prepped ready for re spray in damaged areas. Last week also saw the arrival of the interior parts for the […]

Anegada Passage
Dorade's new captain, Alex Greenson joined the yacht in Tortola, BVI, on the 23rd of January. The following day Dorade departed from Nanny Cay, Tortola, at 13:00. The beginning of the sail was a beat, up the Drake Chanel. At 18:30 Dorade sailed over the top of Virgin Gorda, which provided the perfect angle for […]

Antigua Wins
DORADE wins multiple honors in Antigua, for a clean sweep of Caribbean Series DORADE continues to rack up wins in a campaign designed to prepare her for a return to ocean racing, coming in first in her class in the 2012 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta. This victory follows overall class wins at both the St. […]

Antique Boat Night
by Greg Stewart Dorade participates in Eastern Yacht Club's Antique Boat Night on August 9, 2012. This event featured the dockside viewing of five classic yachts followed by Dinner and a presentation. The event started with dockside viewing of the 1930 Dorade , the 1926 Alden Q boat Noreaster, the1903 Herreshoff gaff rigged cutter Nellie, […]

Around the Island Race
Friday was one of the best days of sailing I’ve had in a long time. The Race— Newport RI for the New York Yacht Club Round the Island Race, the prelude to the 158th Annual Regatta. 19 miles around Jamestown and Conanicut Island. 2nd in class by 14 seconds behind Rives Potts’ Carina and 14th […]

Article on Classic Yacht – March/April 2013 Issue
Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy, owners of the classic yacht Dorade, discuss 2013 plans for the historic vessel. Dorade was designed by the legendary Olin Stephens, creator of six out of seven successful America’s Cup defenders between 1958 and 1980. In 1936 Jim Flood purchased Dorade and brought her to San Francisco where her […]

At least it’s dry in here
The team working away at the re caulking job are cracking on at quite a pace. Now all the black rubber had been removed, they are busy reefing out the seams and evening them up so when it comes to re caulk, our new black lines will be super smart and exactly the same width […]

Awaiting Transport
Dorade at Bannisters Wharf in Newport, RI awaiting loading onto Dockwise Yacht Transport (DYT) www.yacht-transport.com tomorrow morning to transport to St. Thomas, USVI for the winter Caribbean season. Dorade is docked next to Nirvana. Nirvana is a 65' classic Bermudan Yawl designed by John G. Alden and built in 1950 by Henry R Hinkley & Co. […]

Back in Corsica
Dorade motored back to the harbour in Bonifacio, Corsica this afternoon after winning the final race in this year's Corsica Classic Regatta, cinching the top spot in her class and taking home the Skylark Trophy as the overall winner in the regatta. Eight days of racing took the fleet of classics around the island with […]

Back in San Diego
It’s just over a week now since we returned from Cabo and I must say it has been nice to be back in San Diego. I’m really starting to like this place with its beautiful weather and everybody is so friendly and happy. It was opening weekend for the yacht clubs this weekend and I […]

Battery platform
The lower part of the forward starboard lockers has been fitted to accommodate Dorade'sbatteries. Twin lithium ion batteries will sit on top of the platform. Ample tie down and covering will be fitted once the batteries themselves arrive. After much deliberation, Joe has found a location that is both low enough and forward enough for these […]

Beating the stormy weather
A brief weather window opened up for us on Monday allowing us a smooth passage from Port Grimaud to Genoa. Since the end of Les Voiles, the weather here has been pretty wild. Epic squalls, driving rain and pumping mistral have made it feel more like England rather than the Mediterranean. We decided to take […]

Beauties on the Bay
Skipper Bill Belmont was naturally pleased to win the Farrallon Clipper class in last month's Jessica Cup (October 13),but to him the race will be especially memorable because he got to sail his 1952 woodie Credit alongside the classic beauty Dorade, which now graces San Francisco Bay once again. Read the full Latitude 38 article […]

Belay Pins at the Mizzen
Never mind the turquoise water! This post is for Paul, the gentleman building a scale model of DORADE for the SFYC. Paul spent a good bit of time on the phone trying to convince me that these pins were here on the rail at the mizzen last fall. Well, with credit to Tom at MHBW […]

Bermuda Race – Dorade a winner!
It was the slowest Bermuda race in history, with boats becalmed multiple times. A race that normally lasts three days stretched on to four... and then five... and some boats are still out there today. You might assume that would make it a relaxed affair, but in fact it was a physical and psychological marathon […]

Bermuda Race Prize Ceremony
Matt and Pam attended the Bermuda Race prize giving ceremony at a most spectacular setting -- high on a hill overlooking the water at Bermuda's Government House -- where Dorade placed second in the Team rankings of the Onion Patch Series , together with fellow NYYC Blue team members Stark Raving Mad and Temptation. The […]

Bermuda Race, June 14
The Dorade crew gathered at the New York Yacht Club at Harbour Court for one final group meal with friends and family. Matt and Pam presented a special gift to each member of the Bermuda crew — a bone-handled knife with a customized scrimshaw design commemorating this historic race, showing the Newport lighthouse on one […]

Bermuda Race, June 15
Friends and family of the Dorade crew gathered on the dock at IYRS today as the boat was readied for its first run at the Newport-Bermuda race in almost 80 years. There was a bit of a last-minute drama, as systems specialist Jim Thompson arrived at the boat just minutes before the scheduled departure, with […]

Bottom
Despite the blazing heat in the shed the guys are hard at work resurfacing the seams on DORADE'S bottom. Every seam along the length of her bottom has been scraped to remove any loose compound. The seams were then wire wheeled to promote adhesion of epoxy primer. Tomorrow the seams will be payed with two […]

Bound for the USA
After a wait that seemed to go on forever including a change of flights to accommodate a late ship arrival, Dorade was finally hoisted aboard the ship this afternoon. It happens to be the exact same ship that sailed her over to the med for the highly successful summer season. Let's hope that her ride […]

Bow Cleat(s)???
One of the projects this winter is to install bow cleat(s). There is good backing along the king plank in the middle of the deck. If this option were chosen, only a single cleat would be installed. This is a good strong option - the windlass has already proven it's strength under tow with a […]

Bow fitting update
At long last the new bow fitting has been permanently fastened to DORADE. Picture 1, 2 and 3 show the fairing of the hull and shaping of the bow piece to match. Picture 4 shows the custom through bolts that were fabricated. In picture 5 splines are glued in to some checks in the new […]

Cabin house winch placement
Cabin top winch placement was discussed with Greg and Brad. We looked at moving the main sheet winch outboard (see previous photo) to clear a dodger when in "offshore mode". Also found the old Meissner runner winches that were replaced by LVJ self tailiers. We are considering using these slightly larger winches (port) in […]

Cabin Sole
The interior is being fitted with a new cabin sole. During her refit in Italy, DORADE'S sole was built out of a tropical hardwood. This type of wood not only seemed untraditional but is quite heavy. So with our eyes on weight savings and authenticity, we have Sam constructing a new cabin sole out of […]

Cabin top
Dorade's fine looking cabin top had some fine looking leaks, primarily over the navigator's berth. When we dug into it, the original plan of fixing the bad seam along the starboard hatch runner went out the window. When the cabin top was sealed with fiberglass and bog, it was only taken up to the seams […]

Cabin top covering?
There is a question of which material to cover the cabin top with, dynell or canvas. What do YOU think? Please comment! Below is a break down (thank you Jeff Grey) of the two. DYNEL: Dynel cloth is a synthetic fabric that has many uses in boatbuilding but has been the material of choice recently […]

Cabo, Day 2 afternoon
By mid day the wind finally started to fill in from where it should be, and we are sailing again. After a long time struggling to keep the boat moving we are currently making a good 8 knots in the right direction. It was at about mid day the wind really started to provide enough […]

Camp Four Winds Dorade Song
We read about Dorade's victory this summer, amidst all the craziness here at Camp. Everyone at Four Winds was pleased to hear that a Camp alum was doing so well. Click PLAY to listen to the Dorade song. The lyrics of the Dorade song that we sing at Camp are: Dorade, I adore thee, And […]

Can we call it winter yet?
Since I arrived in newport back in November straight from the Mediterranean, I have complained of being cold! Well not really complained, I actually like the cold except for when you are working outside and can’t feel your hands. The usual response from the yard guys is “just you wait winter isn’t even here yet”. […]

Carina and Dorade join the NYYC Model Collection
Full-rigged models of Carina and Dorade will be added to the Club's unrivaled model collection this spring. Club Nights at 44th Street (March 26) and Harbour Court (March 21) will enable members to celebrate two of the most accomplished racing yachts in offshore sailing. The models are being donated to the Club by members Jonathan […]

China Storage – updated
*** Check out page 2 for more photos*** DORADE is a beautiful blend of elegance and speed. She will be used for racing and cruising. Lots of work has been going on down below the decks to preserve her classic look while increasing functionality. For example, each leaded glass cabinet is being outfitted to accommodate […]

Classic Boat – June 2014
Classic Boat Magazine June 2014 issue's article on Dorade’s Transpac 2013 victory. The Magazine cover is aptly titled " Winning Again - 1930 yawl takes the Transpac". The main article titled "How Dorade won the Transpac" narrates how Dorade won the 2013 edition of the Transpac race. Interviews with Eric "Chewy" Chowanski and Matt Wachowicz, […]

Classic Boat October 2013 Article – How Dorade won the Transpac
Dorade’s victory in this year’s Transpac (TT’s, CB303) in 12d 5h 28m might be the greatest ever racing achievement by a classic yacht. It seems her owner, Californian sailor Matt Brooks wasn’t kidding, as they say stateside, when announced his intention to campaign his Olin Stephens yacht Dorade in the major ocean races that she […]

Classic Dorade First on Corrected Time in Transpac
HONOLULU -- Dorade, a 1929-built Sparkman & Stephens-designed 52-foot wooden yawl owned by Matt Brooks, was named first overall on corrected time in the 2013 Transpacific Yacht Race -- better known as Transpac. Transpacific Yacht Club, organizer of the 47th biennial competition, reported that Dorade finished the 2,225-mile Point Fermin-to-Diamond Head race at 3:32 a.m. […]

Classic DORADE Likely to Win Overall Transpac Title
It’s not over yet, but due to this atypical weather pattern the S&S 52-foot wood yawl Dorade will likely win the race overall in corrected time, a repeat of her victory in 1936. Impeccably renovated and maintained, her victory may be aesthetically pleasing for the classic boat crowd but will not be a fluke: with […]

Classic Yacht Article – Dorade Wins TransPac Race Again After 77 Years
Read the PDF here. Honolulu, Hawaii - The yacht Dorade, designed by Olin Stephens at age 21 in 1929, is considered the first modern ocean racing yacht. And she won the 2,225 nautical-mile Transpac race from Los Angeles to Honolulu this year, 77 years after her victory in the same race. She beat the most […]

Cockpit Storage
Bro has completed a teak platform for the under cockpit storage area. The platform serves to divide the space into two levels of storage. Items that get less frequent use can be nested into the frames and floors below the platform. Upstairs allows room for keeping things that need to be close at hand. The […]

Coin under the mast step
In ship building, Mast Stepping is a ceremonial occasion which occurs towards the end of a ship's construction. It involves placing or welding one or more coins into the mast step of a ship, and is seen as an important ceremonial occasion in a ship's construction which is thought to bless the ship and as a […]

Companionway Hatch
Dave has built a plexi-glass drop board to be used when we are offshore. The piece provides light and visibility from down below while blocking water from entering into the companionway. This board will be fitted with hardware to be compliant with offshore racing rules. It will be securely lockable, have a lanyard and be […]

Compass Adjustments
During Dorade's first week in St. Maarten two of the refit engineers, Jim Thompson and James Harrison, were on board fine tuning some of Dorade's systems. Jim Thompson pictured above, designed Dorade's electrical system. On Sunday the 29th of January Dorade left the dock at Puerto Cupecoy, to make compass adjustments. The only place in […]

Compass Calibrations
Davis G. Murray the "master of deviation" made the trip over to Coral Bay from Saint Thomas yesterday to help sort out our compasses. Using his sun reading compass we re calibrated the B and G flux gate compass to exact precision. The box compass was adjusted and Davis wrote up an appropriate deviation table. […]

Concentrating on the 600
At last the interior varnish project is over! The interior now looks the best I've seen it but for how long I don't know. It's taken four of us the best part of eighteen days to get it done, we stripped most of the galley and nav area which had taken the biggest beating. Two […]

Corinthian Sailing in St Barth
Having read some of the crew profiles, with championship wins galore, on dorade.org, I was a touch apprehensive joining Dorade mid regatta – especially as they’d already scored firsts in each race. Skipper, Jamie Hilton, soon put any concerns aside as he introduced me during the pre-race briefing in the cockpit: “Nick is aboard today […]

Corsica Classic Winner
Dorade crew receiving the Corsica Classic Cup - August 31, 2014. In the picture (right to left) Kevin Miller, Eric ("Chewy") Chowanski, Greg Stewart, Hannah Jenner, Nick Bellico, John Hayes, and Dominique Campana (artist who created the Trophy). Other crew members not in photo: Tim Pope, Pierre-André Jeanne, Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy. Photo […]

Cory Silken joins the team!
We are honored to have Cory Silken join us as staff photographer for each regatta. An avid outdoor explorer, Cory Silken's photographic and outdoor interests lie in yachting. He has crewed aboard the classic America’s Cup 12 Metre Class fleet in Newport, Rhode Island and currently enjoys racing Firefly, a classic wooden Herreshoff S Class boat, […]

Cove stripe
The bow and stern details of a yachts cove strip are a very important and unique feature. Much research has been done to find clear enough photographs to accurately reproduce these figures. Dorade's arrow head and feather have been changed many times over the years. With the help of Doug, who is publishing a new […]

Cruise
Matt, Pam, Jack and Bill have been cruising around the Virgin Islands on DORADE for the last couple weeks. They have enjoyed some of the more remote anchorages available to boats of DORADE's size, and have also shared the company of mega yachts lke MIRABELLA and RANGER. Strong trade winds have kept them sailing at […]

Cruising Club of America has a new member
Cruising Club of America Newsletter’s (CCA GAM) Spring 2014 issue article write-up of Matt Brooks as a new member. It tells of Matt Brooks' passion for racing and cruising classic wooden boats. The article mentions the two boats that Matt owns and races competitively, namely: the Dorade and Lucie. It also mentions Matt's accolades as […]

Daughters of Dorade
The caption reads: The famous Olin Stephens-designed yawls of the 30s and 40s all trace their ancestry to "Dorade", launched in 1930. Pictured here at this year's Voiles de Saint-Tropez are no fewer than five of her descendants. From left: Skylark (1937), Cometa (1946), Argyll (1946), Stormy Weather (1933), and Manitou (1932). Photo from Classic […]

Delivery from Cabo to San Diego
After such a slow race to Cabo it was almost time to start thinking about turning around as soon as we got there. In fact as we finished the race a couple of boats were already heading back to beat the weather they knew was coming in. Fortunately for me Dorade is far to slow […]

Delivery to Coral Harbor, Saint John
After two productive days at Yacht Haven in St. Thomas, we delivered DORADE around to St. John. We have a mooring in Coral Harbor to use as home base until Matt and Pam arrive next month. The island hop went well in some very typical Caribbean conditions. Just outside the harbor in St. Thomas, we […]

Delivery Update 2014-08-12
August 12, 2014. We have pulled into Barcelona for a 24 hour stop over as there are still very strong mistral winds forecast for today/tonight. We have plenty of jobs to get on with so it won't harm the schedule. Just so you can keep the CIM guys updated Greg we should arrive in Port […]

Detailing the rig analysis
Email to Mike Toppa (North Sails) from Nelson/Marek concerning sail configurations and analysis for each of the proposed masts Mike, Good to talk on Friday about all of the recent information RE the Dorade rig configuration. You are correct that we would like you to model sails for each of the following Rig configurations under […]

Details of Moving Across the Country
The many, many tasks to ready Dorade for its move across the county are almost countless. Today the carpenter, Dan, is working on splash boards to protect the hull during its transit. These boards will be mounted on the shipping cradle. They should be painted this afternoon. Syd, the welder, continues to work like crazy […]

Details, details
Shown above is the locust pin rail around the mast partners. The port and forward pieces appear to be original, or at least quite old. We are lining the holes with copper, flanged top and bottom. This will make a better fit for the belaying pins and will save the pin rail from unnecessary wear […]

Dinghy
The outside of the sheerstrake, transom (in and out), inwales, trunk, daggar board, rudder, tiller, thwarts, thwart risers, knees, oarlock blocks for the rowing stations will all be bright. The inside of the sheerstrake will be painted white. The picture from the aft end of the dinghy that shows several frames installed.

Dinghy Mast
The mast is made of sitka spruce and was made using the bird’s mouth hollow construction method. It is light and easy to build (Tom is holding the mast with 2 fingers in the second photo). We purchased the wood at Downes and Reader in Stoughton, MA. The mast is 10’6” from the drawing from […]

Dockwise Yacht Transport
DORADE loaded onto SUPER SERVANT 4 this morning. A full ship for this passage to St. Thomas. It was the perfect morning for it, and all boats were loaded quickly and safely. The ship plans to depart Tuesday with unloading scheduled for the 13th. The loading was delayed a day due to high winds. Photo […]

Dorade – 83 years of wet, salty smiling faces
A few weeks ago I was given an opportunity to join Dorade on her migration south to the Caribbean for the 2013 winter season. I was floored when I arrived at her berth, noticing the lines that have been emulated by designers ever since, the beginning of "classic". I could imagine Olin Stephens first drawing, […]

Dorade – Transpac “Return to Ocean Racing” – Mainsheet Article
It was July 11th 1936 at noon when Dorade .rst crossed the start line of the Transpac Race. Setting sail from Santa Monica, owner James Flood and his crew were about tomake history sailing the then 2210 nautical mile course in an incredible 13 days 7 hours 20minutes and 4 seconds. Not only did they […]

Dorade (Dorado – a kind of Dolphin….)
Dorade was the boat that brought Olin Stephens to the attention of the nautical world. The young designer skippered his design to a spectacular victory in the 1931 Transatlantic Race with his father and brother in the crew. It earned them a ticker tape celebration in New York City on their return. Many articles have […]

Dorade 1931 Transatlantic Binnacle and Compass
Dorade Binnacle Dorade has replaced it long lost 1931 Transatlantic Binnacle and Compass. Considerable time was spend researching the various binnacle and compass alternatives before identified the best way to handle this project. And there was much time discussing it in detail, making sure the “T’s” were crossed and the “I’s” dotted, to get a […]

Dorade Arrives in San Francisco!
Sunday night / Monday morning, Dorade arrived by truck at the KKMI boatyard in Sausalito. Dorade arrived in good order. She did not shift at all during the 3,000+ mile journey in her new shipping cradle designed by Greg Stewart of Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. and fabricated by Syd Janes. Dorade rode smoothly across the […]

Dorade Back East
Dorade has made it back to the East coast in one piece after an epic year on the West side. After returning from Hawaii and enjoying the Americas cup she was broken down and loaded back into her cradle for trucking back to Rhode Island. Everything went smoothly in Sausalito and the guys at KKMI […]

Dorade Container Leaves for the Cowes!
This morning we finalized the packing of the Container, locked the doors and got the seal on the entrance door. We then loaded the Container onto the truck and handled the paperwork. All went smoothly. The Container is on its way to NY, NY and then to Cowes in the UK. Click below to play […]

Dorade crew sails like it’s 1936
Built for the same purpose but separated by decades of racing technology, two of the boats claiming prized positions in this year's Transpacific Yacht Race provided a striking contrast as they sat in neighboring docks. Lending Club, a powerful trimaran engineered to speed across the ocean, made a strong run at the course record and […]

Dorade Designated Sparkman Stephens Flagship
Sparkman & Stephens’ President Bruce Johnson announces the appointment of the 1929 yawl Dorade, designed by Olin Stephens, as the official S&S flagship. S&S has completed over 2,750 designs, winning countless races and acclaim worldwide. Dorade is considered to be the most famous of them, and is widely acclaimed as "the mother of modern ocean […]

Dorade Dinghy – Finishing Touches
The IYRS students will be priming and painting this week to get the dinghy ready for her launching on June 2, 2012. The dinghy would be white with a varnished mahogany sheerstrake. A question arose if it be preferred to have antifouling paint on the bottom of the dinghy The typical traditional bottom paint colors […]
Dorade gets extreme makeover
(April 1, 2014) - Matt Brooks, owner of the classic Olin Stephens designed yawl Dorade revealed today that she has undergone some radical modifications for the up-coming Newport Bermuda Race which starts this June 20th. “This wonderful old girl has won just about every great race there is from the Fastnet to the Transpac. We […]

Dorade has returned to Ocean Racing
It is a vanishingly small group of people alive today who've had the honor to race Dorade in a major ocean race. On a personal level I'd like to thank them because every one of them are the caliber of person to whom I entrust my life. While we might often have people we really […]

Dorade in Saint Thomas
Good bye Rhode Island! Hello Caribbean! DORADE made the transit on Dockwise safely with no damage, other than a lot of salt and soot. The off loading went as well as could be expected. It was a challenge explaining to the Russian line handlers that DORADE backs in circles, and that they would need to keep […]

Dorade is Back in the Water!
Dorade is back in the water! (Ahead of schedule) The results of the winter efforts in optimizing Dorade for its repeat this year of its 1931 Transatlantic and Fastnet Races is almost complete. These two Races will complete Dorade's "Return to Blue Water Series", which will have repeated all of Dorade's early historical races. This […]

Dorade Log 5: Entering the Gulf Stream
A report from John Burnham, not quite halfway to Bermuda on a 1930s Sparkman and Stephens design. Twenty four hours after the start, Dorade entered the Gulf Stream, after reaching and running in a northeasterly breeeze of 14-27 knots since the start. With it’s 6-foot tiller, the boat is sometimes pretty hard to muscle down […]

Dorade Log 6: Finished! Just After Midnight
The S&S 52-foot yawl Dorade completed her first race to Bermuda since 1934, finishing in just over 3 days, 11 hours. A few days ago, I wrote Dorade Log 5 late in the afternoon of our second day of racing the 635-mile course from Newport to Bermuda. The communications link subsequently went down, so reports […]

Dorade Log 7: Newport to Bermuda Ocean Race Video Takes You Onboard
John Burnham introduces his video narrative of the 2012 Bermuda Race and reflects on his Dorade experience. Last June, I helped Dorade sail from Newport to Bermuda for the first time in 82 years. Crossing the finish line represented the end of the first stage of what owner Matt Brooks calls “Matt’s Crazy Idea” — […]

Dorade Log No. 2: Like Dating Marilyn Monroe
Along with several other crew in training for the Bermuda Race, Boats.com's editor learns some unexpected lessons while sailing for the first time on the iconic Sparkman & Stephens yawl. Read more: http://features.boats.com/boat-content/2012/03/dorade-log-no-2-like-dating-marilyn-monroe/#ixzz1orCEfWxE

Dorade Model
Latest photos of Dorade model by Paul Reck. The model will be presented at the St. Francis Yacht Club at a lunch on Thursday, the 26th of January. All of the Club's Flag Officers and Staff Commodores will be aboard for the lunch meeting and presentation. "Here are last shots before she goes on her […]

Dorade Model in the Works
A new full-hull, rigged model of Dorade is in the offing. The model will represent the yawl as she was when she won the Trans-Atlantic Race in 1931. The scale will be 1:32, or 3/8"=1', and this will produce a finished model 19-1/2" long. The first step toward creating a new ship model involves gathering […]

Dorade Model to be part of NYYC Marine Art & History Month
Dorade to join the New York Yacht Club's celebration of Marine Art and History Month. On Saturday, March 21 and Thursday, March 26 (44th Street). Carina and Dorade Club Nights. Please join Harry Morgan and the Model Committee as they unveil new full-rigged models of a pair of storied Transatlantic Race champions, Dorade, the 1931 […]

Dorade Progress to Newport (May 17)
Position Report: May 17 Position: She is at the IYRS Dock in Newport, RI Comments: Looks to be in good condition. Terry Nathan President, IYRS May 16 Distance Run from last Reported Position: 201.1 Km or 124.96 statue miles or 108.58 nautical miles. Date: 5/16/2012 Time: 1030UTC Weather: Wind 185 at 22 Knots, gusting 29 […]

Dorade races in the BVI Spring Regatta
After a month away from Dorade, the team are back in the sunshine and competing in the BVI Spring Regatta. Dorade's program is predominantly based around offshore and ocean races but for the next two regattas we get to return to the dock after the days racing. We are now two races into the the […]

Dorade Readies for MOY Regatta
The main rig is going back into Dorade this morning (the mizzen was not un-stepped for Irene). Dorade is ready to launch thereafter. All is looking good for the MOY Regatta event this weekend. Dorade will likely leave the LMI yard dock for IYRS dock with Kyle, Mariah and Matt first thing tomorrow, barring any […]

Dorade Reuniting with its Original Burgee
The original blue burgee that flew on the Dorade during the 1931 Trans-Atlantic Race is currently undergoing conservation treatment at Riley Textile Conservation’s lab (RTC) in Oakland, California. Hannah Riley, RTC Principal Conservator, remarked that, “Taking into account the effects of salt air, time, and moths, the 80+ year-old woolen artifact shows amazing integrity.” RTC […]

Dorade sails to S.F. after winning Transpacific race
Read the San Francisco Chronicle article here. The America's Cup races might have the fastest boats in the world, but those high-tech wonders can't hold a candle to the yacht Dorade, which at 83 years old has just won the 2,225-mile Transpacific Yacht Race from Long Beach to Honolulu. It was the second time the […]

Dorade Tender Launched!
June 2, 2012 was Graduation Day at the International Yacht Restoration School (IYRS) at the Newport, RI campus. As part of the graduation activities, it was also Launch Day for the Dorade Tender of the IYRS dock. The Dorade Tender looked great out on the water on Launch Day as Tom Cahir and Kelly Crawford, […]

Dorade TransPac Celebration – Transcript of Toast
Here’s how Olin Stephens described his decision to build Dorade back in 1929: “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 […]

Dorade Unleashed on Transpac Run
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 […]

Dorade Update – Twelve Days to Launch
In general: great progress and team work, good coordination and communication between all parties involved. Lots of hard work going on these day on DORADE… Brightwork Deck How to best measure the progress? DORADE decks are now officially a “No Shoe Zone”, all blue protective foil is gone and shiny brightwork is emerging. Everything went […]

Dorade Update: 120 miles to go
Following Dorade on her way to Bermuda? Here is her latest position. According to the Yellow Brick Race Tracker, Dorade was making 8.4 knots toward Bermuda at 8 am Monday morning. She is the easterly most boat of her class. Read more: http://www.boats.com/blog/2012/06/dorade-update-120-miles-to-go/#ixzz1yAHdpuLc

DORADE VICTORIOUS: First Overall in the 2013 Transpac
Not everyone else has finished yet, but it is certain that Dorade has won the whole shebang on corrected time, 77 years after she last did it in 1936. Which ain’t too shabby for a boat built in 1930. She bested her 1936 elapsed time by over a day and covered the 2,225-mile course from […]

Dorade weathers Hurricane Irene
Dorade has successfully weathered Hurricane Irene with crew, team members, and all equipment safe and sound. During the storm, Newport lost power along with 60 percent of Rhode Island residents and businesses. As we await a return of normal power, the Dorade team is busy with hand tools working on finishing details, while we wait […]

Dorade wins at the 5th Edition of the Corsica Classic Regatta
Dorade won all but one of the six races in the 5th Edition of the Corsica Classic Regatta, held from August 23 - 31, 2014. In the Regatta, Dorade raced with a fleet of classic boats, including one of the "Daughters of Dorade", the S&S yawl Argyll. Dorade won the Regatta overall and was presented […]

Dorade wins Class in Caribbean 600 Race
Dorade won her class IRC Three in the 2014 Caribbean 600 Race, finishing Thursday, February 28th at 08:35 AST. Dorade secured in addition to her 1st in IRC 3, IRC Overall -35th place and CSA Overall - 25th place. The race has been a learning experience, and we will have lots of feedback and lessons […]

Dorade wins her class in the Newport to Bermuda Race
I had never experienced preparing a boat for a race and then waving goodbye as it sailed over the horizon until the start of the 2014 Newport Bermuda Race. Having taken over as boat captain just about a month before the race start I had a jobs list of over 150 items to work through […]

Dorade Wins Leukemia Cup
Dorade returned to racing on San Francisco Bay this weekend with a big splash, winning the new classic division in the Leukemia Cup Regatta sailing against many fine boats including Paul and Chris Kaplan's magnificent Santana, driven by Ted Turner and Gary Jobson, who were gracious enough to pose on Dorade before the start of […]

Dorade wins Transpac
The classic S&S yawl Dorade won the 1936 TransPac. Now, 77 years later, she has not only claimed victory for a second time but has blown her own record out of the water. The TransPac, is a 2225-mile, biennial, offshore yacht race from Los Angeles to Honolulu. Organised by the Transpacific Yacht Club, the first […]

Dorade Wins TransPac Once Again
The 1936 ocean racer proves her mettle with her second win, 77 years later The Bay Area's Dorade, a narrow-beamed wooden boat built in 1930, repeated history this week, winning the TransPacific Race from Long Beach to Hawaii this week for the second time in the past century.Winning on corrected time of 132 hours, 20 […]

Dorade, “Born to Race”
Join us at the Spaulding Center on Thursday, May 10th 7:00 PM Matt Brooks with Greg Stewart, Naval Architect Matt and Greg will talk and show a power point presentation on Dorade’s history since 1929 to today. Spaulding Members: $20 Non-members: $25 RSVP required, limited seating. Contact: [email protected] Office: (415) 332-3179 http://www.spauldingcenter.org/events/Dorade.html

Dorade, Sinn Fein, Bella Mente, and Spirit of Bermuda Among Bermuda Race Entries
Newport RI, March 17, 2014 - With two weeks to go before Applications for Entry close on April 1st for the 49th Newport Bermuda Race, 158 boats have filed Applications for Entry. Many boats long identified with the race are coming back, and there is an enthusiastic response from first-time skippers, who make up 20 […]

Dorade: “A kind of awakening” for yachting design
The 83 year old Dorade is enjoying a renaissance. Her new owners, Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy (or, as they describe themselves, the “current caretakers”) have invested in numerous renovations and upgrades to fulfill their dream of entering her in all the races she won in her early life. While her recent […]

Dorade: “A kind of awakening” for yachting design
The 83 year old Dorade is enjoying a renaissance. Her new owners, Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy (or, as they describe themselves, the “current caretakers”) have invested in numerous renovations and upgrades to fulfill their dream of entering her in all the races she won in her early life. While her recent […]

Dorade: A Benchmark at St. Francis
MAINSHEET 22 November 2011 By R.C. Keefe, Curator & Historian Jim Flood brought “Dorade” to the St. Francis Yacht Club in late 1935. At the time she was the most famous racing yacht in the world. The 53’ yawl was designed by Olin Stephens for his father’s account, and built by the Minneford Yacht Yard, […]

Dorade’s 1933 Transatlantic Passage
Original article published on Yachting Magazine September 1933 Issue - PDF scan found here. Well, here we are in the North Sea, since yesterday noon (June 12th), when finding favorable tide conditions we shot through Pentland Firth, by Scapa Flow, into this rather chilly, cheerless and choppy sea. We have had, on the whole, a […]

Dorade’s Busy Schedule – Article on Latitude38
Click here to read the article in PDF. After Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy's 83-year-old S&S 52 Dorade stunned the yachting world by taking overall honors in this year's very competitive TransPac — 77 years after she won it overall the first time — the slim classic yacht didn't rest on her laurels. In […]

Dorade’s Stern Post – a true slice of American history
Sometime in the mid 1800's an oak tree was felled in northern Ohio. Lacking chain saws or other powered saws, the lumber jacks squared up the tree to 16" X 30' - by hand with axe and adze. They then floated and shipped the wood to a shipyard in Charlestown, Boston. Intentionally buried in the […]

Dorade’s Owners Discuss 2013 Sailing Schedule
Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy, owners of the classic yacht Dorade, discuss 2013 plans for the historic vessel. Dorade was designed by the legendary Olin Stephens, creator of six out of seven successful America’s Cup defenders between 1958 and 1980. In 1936 Jim Flood purchased Dorade and brought her to San Francisco where her […]

Driscoll Boat Works Article
The famous S & S-designed yacht Dorade has spent time at Driscoll's preparing for the March 22nd Newport to Cabo Race, and then for the July Transpac Race. The 52 foot yawl Dorade was built in 1929-1930 by the Minneford Yacht Yard in City Island, New York. She has had an amazing racing career, including […]

Eight Bells for Jack Brooks
Along with the St Francis burgee, we fly our house flag showing two stars. Those two stars are in honor of Matt's father, Jack Brooks, who served in the merchant marines and then in the navy during WWII as a ship’s engineer. Fifty years later, he was honored for his service to the nation with […]

Electronics. Electronics. Electronics.
We have a small problem - it is proving to be exceptionally difficult to find a Raymarine radar antenna for the C120 chart plotter that is in Dorade. The question is whether to update the entire chart plotter system or not. Pros for keeping the C120 It works It's already installed If we could find […]

Engine is in
Just after lunch today the engine made its final trip from the shop floor up into the boat. I am happy to report that the engine is resting on its mounts, ready for the prop and shaft to be fitted to the aqua drive. All wiring and equipment fittings have been assembled on the engine. […]

Engine update
The engine on it's "faux" beds. This is very close to the final location. Blue tape indicates the first go around for systems layout. We are awaiting the AquaDrive and a stuffing box for the final fit. Then bronze engine beds will be created to bear the load. Since the thrust from the propellor will […]

European CIM "Vintage Yacht" Class Conformity
The contents of this posting are written by Matt It is a central objective the current work that any of the solutions and scopes of work considered for Dorade do not change the essence and classic nature of Dorade. S&S's suggestion via Jeff that we look at returning the original (1930's) fractional rig vs the […]

Exit Boxes
As mentioned in an earlier post, we have managed to internalize a couple of the mast control lines. Greg has done a great job with the engineering here. The other Greg, one of our carpenters on the mast team is fitting these tricky bits beautifully to the spar. The thumbnail photo is of the upper […]

Extremely High Tide
December has been a busy month with the past two weeks particularly full! Last time I blogged I mentioned the pending protest against Dorade after the second race of the Seaweed soup Winter Series. We were protested by Spirit of Elvis for our leeward mark rounding, claiming we did not give them room at the […]

Favorite Dorade Story
From Dick Enersen [email protected] Swiftsure Race, early 60s. The course leaves Brochy Ledge off Victoria and goes out the Straits of Juan de Fuca. This requires avoiding Race Rocks, which lie off Vancouver Island and do not have a required side. As the boat approaches the rocks, hard on the wind, G. Franklin Eddy (the […]

Finding good wood – stem and stern post update
Finding clear unchecked oak has proven to be difficult. Mount Hope Boatworks is on the second piece of oak for the stem and the third for the stern post. There was a mix up with the stern post, it was recreated in the form of the original, which turned out to be misaligned with the […]

Five Days to Launch!
Time is flying on our way to launch DORADE, here comes probably the last update before the launch later this coming week. Brightwork Deck Good thing we pushed hard to make the deadline 04/12 - it allowed us this week to pick a few areas and go for one more coat: cockpit, some areas of […]

Fo’c’sle
Gabe has been charged with making the forepeak an efficient space for sail handling and stowage. His first job has been to build a raised platform to reduce the depth of the aft section of the forepeak. Previously the drop in was nearly six feet. Now the average person will be able to hand sails […]

From Cannes to St. Tropez
It seems to be a theme of our Mediterranean racing circuit that day one of each event is cancelled due to high winds. Corsica, Cannes and now St Tropez have all suffered the same fate. We all want to be out on the race course, it's what we love to do but despite the breeze […]

From Painting to San Pedro – One Month in Palma
Exactly one month ago a still beautiful but slightly tired looking Dorade was craned back into the water in Palma after her 10 day crossing from Bermuda on the deck of a ship. Despite it being a quiet time of year over here in Palma, with the majority of workers taking their holidays, we managed […]

From racing to refit…
After a short season of racing we have now decommissioned the boat to go back into refit mode. Much was learned during our brief but busy sailing circuit. Improvement was very noticeable from beginning to end. Now we pick back up on the building left to be done. The sink will be installed, the cabinetry […]

Galley and nav station mock up
A full mock up of the galley and nav area has been completed in order to get a feel for the layout of and flow between the port and starboard components of the aft cabin. The joiner work will be completed off site and installed fully varnished. Joe is keeping a keen eye on weight savings. Additional […]

Galley area concepts
3D renderings of a proposed interior for Dorade. There is not space for an oven over the engine (where the sink is), so it would need to be moved outboard. A drop in panel would hide it when desired. The stove is a Luke. Note that there are two designs shown, cabinetry behind the stove […]

Galley in Construction
This sequence of photos shows the construction of the galley and nav station. Everything has been built off site, and Marty has begun the assembly process. These pictures take us through the veneering shop where the construction is happening. Back on the boat you can see the build out is well underway. Note the pewter […]

Get me to San Francisco
The last few weeks since the Marblehead regatta have been no different to any other. We have some interesting projects going on and have seen some good results. Marblehead was a great weekend with some great racing and good people. As always Dorade attracted a lot of attention and some lucky people got to have […]

Goodnight Irene
All is well. Dorade and all two star property un harmed. Power still out but work with hand tools is progressing with a skeleton crew. We are on the list for relaunch. Thanks for your concern and patience. I know it it is almost harder not being present to attend to your assets. No damage […]

Greg responds to S&S recommendations
Jeff, Thanks for the drawings. I like the "Stormy Weather Type" on the right much better than the 1931 on the left. (Almost a 6 meter configuration.) The following are my few initial comments: 1. It is interesting to see how close the Stormy Weather Type geometry is to what I proposed. The Spreader/Diamond heights […]

Happy Holidays from Newport
Just a quick message to all of our Dorade fans and enthusiasts, we hope you had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to an exciting new year full of adventure. Although the boat yard is quiet right now Nick and I have been doing our homework projects over the holidays. For me it is […]

Heading to nanny cay
We are back in the British Virgin Islands again and currently underway from from the Bitter End heading to Nanny Cay for the BVI Spring regatta starting this weekend. The delivery up from Antigua was one of the easiest I have had in a long time for which I was great full. Currently and recently […]

Historic Yawl Dorade Wins Transpac Race
Article from Restoration Quaterly - A publication of the School of Technology and Trades, Newport & Bristol, Rhode Island. When IYRS trustee Edgar Cato purchased the legendary ocean racing yawl Dorade in 2006, sailors and history buffs alike were thrilled that such an iconic piece of American yachting history would be returning to the United […]

How old is Dorade: 1929 or 1930?
When Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy bought Dorade in 2010, they spent more than a year refitting the historic S&S 52-foot wooden yawl for ocean racing, with the goal of repeating the many races she won in the 1930s. When Dorade finished the 2225-mile Transpac Race at Honolulu’s Diamond Head on Friday, […]

How the west was won
Paige Brooks takes us inside the Dorade Overall Transpac win! Dorade, the 1930 Sparkman & Stephens cutter rigged yawl – Olin Stephen’s first boat – is world renown for her early victories in the 1931 TranSat and Fastnet, for which the team received a ticker tape parade upon her return to New York. She is […]

How the west was won
Paige Brooks takes us inside the Dorade Overall Transpac win! Dorade, the 1930 Sparkman & Stephens cutter rigged yawl – Olin Stephen’s first boat is world renown for her early victories in the 1931 TranSat and Fastnet, for which the team received a ticker tape parade upon her return to New York. She is returning […]

How to Help the Caribbean
The Caribbean holds such an important place in our team's heart and our thoughts and condolences go out to all the islands that have been devastated by Hurricane Irma and now Maria. Click here for more information on how you can help get these beautiful places back on their feet. And more importantly, keep visiting and […]

Hurricane Irene
1) At 0500edt Hurricane Irene was located near 34.1N/76.5W, which is 35 miles S of Cape Lookout, NC and 90 miles SW of Cape Hatteras 2) Irene is moving NNE at 14 mph a) little change in speed or heading during the next 12-18 hours, but Irene will start to increase in speed tonight and […]

Hurricane Irene
Just hauled Dorade at the dock at LMI as a precaution for Hurricane Irene. Hurricane Irene strengthened to a major Category 3 storm over the Bahamas with the East Coast in its sights. Irene is expected to get stronger over warm ocean waters and could become a Category 4 storm with winds of at least […]

Hurricane Irene Cancels 2011 Herreshoff Classic
Dorade was entered in this year's Herreshoff Classic Regatta scheduled for 26-28 August. Due to the possible approach of Hurricane Irene, the Regatta organizer, the Herreshoff Marine Museum / America's Cup Hall of Fame has taken the prudent step of canceling this year's Herreshoff Classic Regatta for this coming weekend. The Regatta organizer wanted to […]

Icy morning
The first frost of the year covered DORADE in an icy sheen. A cold way to begin our last week of work in New England. DORADE is scheduled to load this friday onto Dockwise Yacht Transport. The noreaster that blew through over the weekend has left in its wake a stretch of sunny days. Perfect […]

In the nippers I trust
The Corsica Classic Regatta was overall a great success for Dorade. Logistically we could make major improvements but on the water we won all but one of the races, took the overall title and were the only boat to make it to the first port of call when racing was canned due to high winds. […]

inclined
Finally finished the in - water portion of measuring this morning. Tucked way up in the marina at New England Boatworks, we found the calm waters needed for this type of work. The photos show DORADE with her twin spinnaker poles rigged to extend out from the chainplates. With a digital inclinometer rigged to his […]

Interior Lighting
The interior lighting will be updated to LED. The trick is to do it without changing the interior. There are several ways to do this. Your input is very much appreciated in this post. 1) Mount LED lights inside the old dome lights. - There are two choices here. We can install dimmable white lights […]

Interior lights
Nels and James have retro fitted the interior lighting with LED's. We worked hard to be able to reuse these beautiful cast bronze fixtures. Finding lights like this is a difficult task in 2011. We managed to find modern LED light fixtures of similar size. Nels and James disassembled the modern lamps and modified their […]

Is Spring finally here?
Despite having heaters on through the days we have been up against it trying to encourage paint and varnish to dry. With a six week spell of sub zero conditions, it takes a long time for things to kick. For safety reasons we can't have the big heater running over night which means only about […]

Islands Race 2013
We are just about to leave the dock and start the Islands race just after the warning signal at 1230. All systems are working 100% and we are well prepared. It looks like it should be wet and windy to start and after midnight when we get around the islands and start cracking off things […]

It’s cold but that is ok
Being back in the boatyard in Newport in December is a little different from the last time I was here. I must get asked several times per day about when we will be headed to Florida or the Caribbean or at least somewhere warm. When I reply that we are staying put and that its […]

IYRS 10th Annual Restoration Society Dinner
Please join us for the 10th Annual Restoration Society Dinner February 20, 2014 New York Yacht Club, NYC Sponsored by Hunt and Betsy Lawrence Joe Dockery, IYRS Chairman The Hilton Group at UBS Thursday, February 20, 2014 The Model Room, New York Yacht Club 37 West 44th Street, New York, N.Y. Cocktails and Hors d' […]

Joseph Wheeler Appleton
Joseph Wheeler Appleton was the skipper on the Philip Rhodes designed cutter Skal that placed second to Olin Stephen’s Dorade in the famous 1931 transatlantic race. During this period he began making models professionally in a small shop he created in his family home at 33 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights, about one block from […]

Journey to San Diego
What happens doesn’t matter, it’s how you deal with it! Last time I posted a blog we were just wrapping up the loose ends getting ready to leave San Francisco. Now we are at Driscoll boat yard, Shelter Island in San Diego a few hundred miles down the coast not far from the Mexico border. […]

Jumping Hurdles
As we move closer to the Trans-Atlantic race we have a lot to accomplish which inevitably brings some hurdles to overcome. As mentioned before we had some fuel tank issues. After removal of the tank finishing up on a Friday and knowing the Trans-Atlantic crew will be coming Monday for their training session, we had […]

Keel Joint
The keel joint had been packed with epoxy and was cracked it's whole length. Epoxy has been reefed out and the lead to wood joint has been properly addressed to prevent leaking and biological intrusion. Chet built a router jig to accurately recut the seam between the lead and the oak keelson. The jig had […]

Latitude 38 Article
No wonder Matt Brooks is smiling. Not only did he win his division in the riotously windy St. Maarten Heineken Regatta last month, but he did so aboard his new pride and joy, the classic S&S yawl Dorade — arguably the most influential sailing yacht ever built. Launched in 1930 at City Island, New York, […]

Legend Joins Dorade in 2013 TransPac Race
Timothy Mullins, owner of the classic yawl Legend, has told me he has pre-registered Legend to race in the 2013 TransPac Race. Presently, Legend is home is Charleston, SC, but she will be relocating to the San Francisco Bay early this Spring. Above is a photo of Legend sailing a few weeks ago in Charleston, […]

Leukemia Cup on Dorade
In the 1930’s Dorade was the fastest, most technologically advanced racing yacht. Today it’s easy to sail her and and see why we build boats differently. 80 years is a long time to make improvements and innovations. Bulb keels, self tailing winches, Tylaskas, and full headsail rigs all make sailing and racing boats easier and […]

Leukemia Cup Press
Legendary Sailing Yacht Returns to SF Bay to Raise Funds in Fight to Cure Leukemia & Lymphoma 19 October 2012 October 21 Regatta pits Dorade’s All-Female Crew led by JJ Fetter against Ted Turner on Santana Dorade(www.dorade.org): In 1936 Dorade helped put the Saint Francis Yacht Club on the map, winning the prestigious and demanding […]

Leukemia Cup Rakes It In
“Ted Turner was the main reason we came to this event,” said Discovery Bay residents Lee and Bob Allen of the 7th Annual Leukemia Cup, held October 20-21. The Allens aren’t sailors — in fact they own a powerboat — and have never followed sailing in their lives. However,the excitement surrounding the America’s Cup, and […]

Life as a Nipper
While reflecting on the time I have spent this summer, as an assistant to Ben I realized that I learned a lot of valuable lessons. Whether it was a technical skill, or just a life skill the Dorade has taught me a lot. When I first arrived in Portsmouth at Joe Loughboros yard, LMI I […]

life line mock up
Stanchions and lifelines for DORADE have been mocked up using PVC pipe and messenger line. This has helped us determine leads and heights for the wires and place the final stanchion aft. The wires will be at 24 and 15 inches above the deck. The bow pulpit mock up has been secured for transport and […]

Life Ring
Tim Conway has fashioned a very nice reproduction of the original DORADE life ring. One is in the works for the starboard side as well with perhaps a different yacht club in the crossed flags! Max from Mt. Hope Boatworks built the mahogany and bronze support to Kyle's specs. Nice upgrade althiugh in the old photos […]

Lifeline concept
Shown above is the current thinking for the "offshore" lifeline set. By offshore rules, they are double lifelines and must have a bow pulpit and pushpit. Stanchions must be 2 meters or less apart. A single lifeline set would be put in for inshore and at the dock. Note that the bow pulpit would be […]

Longest 800 Miles
Finally on Friday we made it back up from Cabo after probably the longest 800 miles I've ever done. The trip went pretty smoothly with little damage and all the crew in one piece. The sea state however was far from smooth. When we left Cabo the sea state was terrible and progress was painfully […]

Looking forward to the BVI again
Since the Caribbean 600 finished I have been working through a list of maintenance tasks and getting her back up to scratch for the next flogging around a bunch of Caribbean islands. The race was a real slog and I am not excited about a repeat performance next year. The result was ok but considering […]

Looking forward to the RORC Caribbean 600
It's been just over ten days since the race crew that came out to Antigua departed. We had a very good couple of days on the water looking at some new sails that we will use on the Caribbean 600 race at the end of February. Also we had a good systems, safety and general […]

Main mast is being overhauled
The mast appears to be in excellent shape. None the less, it is being checked for appropriate sizing for the loads placed on it at sea. Should all of the scantlings check out, it will be thoroughly surveyed by a professional and with an infra red camera. Should it pass the survey, all screw holes […]

Main mast update
UPDATE FROM GREG STEWART DORADE Team, Much has been done since the Mast Conference call last week. Jeff and Jason from S&S and I talked earlier this week to review the DORADE 1931 and 1936 Masts and concluded that the DORADE 2011 Mast should follow on from the 1936 Mast pending sailmaker feedback. Following this […]

Mainsheet: Story of the Tiller
Have you ever wondered about the significance of the tiller in the heading of the Historian Column or noticed the same tiller hanging over the door leading between the Race Deck and the Clippership Room? Wonder no more ... On July 17, 1936, the 53' yawl, "Dorade" crossed the finish line at Diamond Head, Hawaii, […]

Mast design thread update
The following contents are excerpts from the mast development process, posted at Matt's request so that the Dorade team can follow along. S/Y Dorade 02/02/2011 Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. 9:40:57 PM Naval Architects & Yacht Designers Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. 2820 Canon St., San Diego, CA 92106 USA Tel: +(619) 224

Mast Update
The main mast is in final shaping. From a box section it has gradually been rounded and tapered. Section shapes at given lengths are templated from the drawn plans. The templates are used to check progress of the shaping. The planes are sharp and the work looks really good. Grabbed some shavings off the […]

Matt Brooks named NYYC Yachtsman of the Year
At the New York Yacht Club Annual Awards Dinner, Matt Brooks was surprised to win the club's top honor, The Mosbacher Trophy, which goes to the club's Yachtsman of the Year. Matt received the award in recognition for his achievements with both Lucie and Dorade. The Mosbacher trophy is a Steuben crystal piece commissioned in […]

Matt Brooks named Sailor of the Year at the St. Francis Yacht Club
Matt Brooks was presented the Sailor of the Year Award at the St. Francis Yacht Club's annual meeting dinner last night, January 14, 2014. The description of the award states: "This trophy is awarded each year at the annual general membership meeting to that member who, through dedication and persistence, achieved excellence as an amateur […]

Matt Brooks, Dorade take Transpac Win
Many people thought Matt Brooks was crazy to take the octogenarian Dorade, one of Olin Stephens' first, and most famous, designs, across an ocean. “I was promptly told that just wasn’t possible,” he recalls. “’She’s a fine piece of furniture, you can’t take her out. You’ll ruin her.’” A full refit and then a run […]

Matts bunk
Bro has been working hard on Matt's bunk. Aft of the nav station, tucked along the starboard side of the cockpit will be the owners quarter berth. Matt has made it clear that he can fit comfortably behind the hanging knee, which supports the aft end of the cabin house. Amenities will include a privacy […]

Measuring for the CSA rating
Sunday DORADE got measured for the CSA rating in Nanny Cay, Tortola. All of the boats measurements were double checked against Greg's dimensions. We had to measure three of the older sail, the #3 jib, mizzen spinnaker and mizzen staysail. As you can see in the picture the mizzen staysail is smaller in the foot […]

Metal Testing
We have been working with Phip at Rig Pro on testing various materials and thicknesses for the new mast hardware. Sample tangs are pulled to 8000 pounds stopping every 2000 pounds to measure hole elongation. All recorded data has been forwarded to Greg for evaluation. Preliminary results look to using phosphur bronze as the material […]

Mizzen mast wedges
Jens has built some lovely wedges to support the mizzen mast at the deck partners. Two laminated blocks are carved to fit the deck cut out on their outer profile and the shape of the spar on their inner. Jens chose to craft these in teak. You can see the old spar butt laying on […]

Museum of Yachting Classic Yacht Regatta
What a great weekend of sailing! We have made some really good strides on upwind speed in 16-22 knots. I think the combination of the overlapping #2 and the Full main with no mizzen in 16 is a great set up. The #2 and the reefed main will probably be the right mode for 20, […]

Myles Stanford, A Nipper’s Blog
Spring has just arrived and it seems that summer is already rapping on Dorade's door in an urgent, yet playful and almost polite manner as my youthful anticipation as a "fresh out of the womb" Nipper is surely at full capacity. The position has befell upon me as though I had been dubbed a Knight […]

Myles’ Blog
As Dorade sits and sways gently in her quiet corner of the Hinckley Marina, she receives tiny bursts of wake from the jetty opening that tease anticipation of the imminent towering crests that shall soon to be overcome. She is patient, as are her caretakers, as we steadily move forward in an ever present venture […]

Myles’ Blog
This week has been very busy for Dorade. She has been sailing every day with her crew, while Nick tunes up, assembles and organizes gear on and off the boat. I have been cranking along in the evenings after school picking up where Nick leaves off. I am learning a lot and taking everything as […]

Namesake
From Wikipedia DORADE, a mouthwatering fish from the Mediterranean Sea, has captured the imaginations of European cooks for centuries. Little wonder. Dorade is a small fish with tender white flesh, shimmering silver skin and, when grilled or braised, a rich, succulent, meaty flavor, similar to that of pompano or red snapper. The gilt-head (sea) bream […]

Navigation and Communications
With the recent refit, all of systems on Dorade were upgraded. These upgrades include state-of-the-art navigational, weather and communications capabilities. Dorade now has on-board the navigational, weather and communications capabilities normally found in a modern ocean racing boat. Jim Thompson of Island Yacht Services has worked hard to make this happen. This is a […]

Nelson/Marek refit DORADE wins 2013 Transpac
Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc. (N/M) today announced that N/M refit DORADE wins 2013 Transpac overall, PYEWACKET finishes second and other N/M optimized designs take top places. Dorade, the 1930 design that catapulted Olin Stephens career, is a yacht that N/M has been involved with since 2007. In 2010 N/M was heavily involved with her 2010 […]

New main mast and boom
During a conference call yesterday some momentous decisions were made regarding Dorade's main mast and boom. Our engineering teams did a fantastic job of reviewing the current main mast and comparing it. Excerpts from the report are at the end of this posting. After a lively and involved discussion, the decision was made to build […]

New Race Stove
Dorade has a new, custom, light-weight Isobutane/Propane Gas stove designed for off-shore racing. The existing kerosene Taylor stove and oven is designed for cruising and not appropriate for cooking for off-shore crew. This new gimbaled stove has high performance for high capacity. The stove incorporates the JetBoil® FluxRing® technology to create an easy to use, […]

New Shipping Cradle
A new re-useable shipping cradle for Dorade is being fabricated. Designed by Greg Stewart of Nelson/Marek Yacht Design, Inc., the major components of the cradle are be fabricated using 1/2" steel stock so as to produce long term durability and a safety factor of 400%. The estimated finished weight of the finished cradle, per Greg […]

New Stove
Dorade is replacing its Taylor kerosene stove / oven with what was its original 1st choice - a custom propane Luke Heritage "Model 3" Galley Stove and Oven. The Luke Model T (two surface burners only) is Luke's newest stove. It features reliable Force Ten burners, a black anodized aluminum top with brass accents. Just […]

Newport, Rhode Island
Greg Stewart, Matt, and I arrived here in Newport just in time for a new dusting of snow in Joe Loughborough's yard, where Dorade has spent the winter. Hannah, Nick, Shae Weston and a team of painters and carpenters have been working on several projects simultaneously, most documented here in other blog entries and in […]

Nice Work!
The tender is progressing nicely. The sole is installed and protected with cardboard. The fwd and midship thwarts have been installed. The aft thwart will be installed after the thwart knees are completed. The breasthook is fit forward. The quarter knees are in the process of being fit. Once they are in, the inwales will […]

Nick’s Blog
With launch day right around the corner everyone can feel the pressure to finish the final stages of the refit. This week, working with Jens Lange, the wooden blocks are back on board. With new harken high-speed high-load sheaves, fresh varnish, and new leather, the wooden blocks have never looked so good adding to the […]

Nipper’s Blog
So its been a hectic but very productive first week in Palma. After the mad rush to get Dorade off of the ship, we have quickly started to disassemble the boat, assisted with the removal of the rigs, emptied the interior, and started on the ever growing jobs list. We're definitely going to be busy, […]

Nipper’s Blog
After winning the Corsica Classic regatta, Dorade and I have a huge morale boost. I arrived here with Dorade and the crew at our birth in Port Grimaud with high spirits and eager hands. Our birth is next to another classic, Vagabundo, with three talented shipwrights working next to us. A perfect environment. Tim and […]

Nipper’s Blog
Its been a busy few weeks since we left Palma for Corsica, via the container in St Tropez. During the racing around Corsica, I was tasked with driving the Dorade car around the island to each port of call, setting up hotels, scouting out the restaurants and making sure everything was ready for the boats […]

Nipper’s Report 1
Arriving just days after the Antiguan varnish team had, gave Ben a perfect opportunity to step away from day to day maintenance, and to focus on logistics and scheduling for the Dorade. His refocusing left me as the boats supervisor, managing the varnish work, and to make sure that everything went on smoothly. The varnishing […]

Nipper’s Report 2 – San Pedro Training Session
After three weeks of varnish and preparation ben and I where finally ready to bring Dorade up to San Pedro for the fourth training session, and last before the start of the Transpac, which is just over a month away. Most of the crew was able to make it this weekend, but unfortunately both Matt […]

Nipper’s Report 3
Coming off an excellent practice session and a well needed weekend, Ben and I were ready to put in some strong hours. We started the week by further organizing our jobs list and figuring out what is left that needs doing before the Transpac. This includes removing the mizzen boom, and sending it in for […]

Nipper’s Report 5
The Dorade and crew had another positive week, which was marked by two productive sails, and it being the last full week for the Dorade in San Diego. As I mentioned we spent some time this week on the water. This was in order to test out our new mizzen spinnakers and staysails, as well […]

Nippers Blog
After arriving here in Mallorca to welcoming hands and attitudes of the captain, Hannah, and the other nipper, Tim, I could not wait to get to work on Dorade. The excitement and inspiration of Dorade seemed to overcome any jet lag I was expecting. Finally Monday arrived and the long anticipated work had begun. Through […]

Nippers Report 6
Southern California has treated the Dorade well, but this past week was the last full week that it is scheduled to be in the area, as the Transpac starts on Monday. This has caused Ben and I too have a very busy week, but exciting one. In order to make sure that the boat, trailer […]

North Pacific Delivery
This is now our 6th day at sea for Ben, Laurel, Chewy and Myself aboard the good ship Dorade, and she has done nothing other than please us so far. Our first four days out of Honolulu where dominated steady winds of about 18 knots and a lively sea state, that dwindled as we moved […]

Not such a nice day at the office
So as soon as the team leave town after 3 days of sunshine and light airs sailing during Les Voiles all hell breaks loose. The weather gods have not been smiling on the south of France as we wait for the opportunity to depart for Genoa. Fingers crossed next week is a little more friendly […]

NYYC Magazine – Spring 2014
An article from New York Yacht Club Magazine's Spring 2014 Volume 27 Number 1 issue. The article titled "Transpac" recalls Dorade's 2013 Transpac victory seventy-seven years after she first won the race in the 1930's. The article highlights Matt Brooks' achievements as a NYYC member and recognized them by receiving the Mosbacher Trophy as New […]

Ocean Racers Past and Present
DORADE is sharing the dock at LMI with the French trimaran IDEC. This stunning machine holds the solo round the world sailing record. After dismasting off the coast of Long Island, the team has jury rigged half of the spar and plans to set sail for France on Thursday. They plan on a 10 day […]

Old and New Winners Finish Transpac Today
Honolulu, Hawaii (July 20, 2013) – Over its long history since first being sailed in 1906, the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpac race has attracted a rich diversity of boat types, and among the nine additional entries that today crossed the finish line today at Diamond Head, there were two outstanding examples of the opposite ends of […]

On the eve of the Bermuda race
This Friday, Dorade will take on another major challenge in her ocean racing campaign, joining 164 other boats in the 49th Newport to Bermuda Race, a journey of 635 miles. At 84, she will be one of the oldest boats in the race, if not the oldest, and given her TransPac win last year, the […]

One month to go
The countdown is on and the final pieces of the puzzle are lining up nicely. It's not always easy to arrive at definitive decisions when the conversation is spread across thousands of miles and multiple time zones but I think we are there. The end of this week marks the first major clean up as […]

Our Mission and Matt’s Crazy Idea
This posting is written by MattDorade 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 […]

Outline of the boat
A rough outline of DORADE'S interior has been installed upstairs. The idea being to facilitate stowage planning, and interior re construction. The bits going back on board can be laid out where they belong. We can make sure all the pieces of the puzzle are accounted for without interrupting work inside the boat. This little […]

Patterns for Genoa cars
Paramount on the list of racing improvements for DORADE is to get the genoa sheet lead as low as possible on the rail. It was decided that the best all around solution would be to fabricate some fair lead cars that could be used on their own or aft the existing cars. The carvings […]

Percy Chubb Prize Trophy
In July 1931, Olin Stephens was awarded the Percy Chubb Prize as the winning the Corinthian Navigator of Dorade in the 1930 Transatlantic Race from Newport, Rhode Island, USA to Plymouth, England in 17 days, 14 minutes and 40 seconds. Percy Chubb Prize consisted of a Plath sextant in a wood storage box with a […]

Podium Finishers Determined in 2013 TransPac
With about one fourth the fleet still making their final approaches into the finish in today’s light winds, the windows of opportunities have now been closed for anyone to challenge the top three overall finishers in the 2013 Transpac. On the strength of starting in perfect wind conditions, carrying these through the race, and with […]

Postcard
Congratulations on the Transpac. Very inspirational. I have included a picture that has always inspired me, and perhaps you already have it. Rod Stephens silhouette as Dorade is making her triumphant Northern Route to Transatlantic Victory. Good luck with Lucie II in Flensburg. signed, Toby Rodes

Prepping for the Mediterranean beauty contest
Had Dorade left Bermuda on her own bottom we would still be out in the Atlantic living the simple life of eat, sleep, sail. ETA in the med would probably be sometime next week. We sail Dorade pretty hard so instead of putting all of those extra miles on her, she came the easy route […]

Prior Refit
Dorade received a prior refit in 2007-08. The link below has the photo journal for this refit. The refit was undertaken by Edgar Cato, the then owner. Work included mizzen mast repair, removal of the interior, re-framing (35 pairs of frames), new floor timbers, 10 new planks per side and many other details. For a complete […]

Progress / “Weekly update”
***Make sure to check out page 2 of pictures*** Weekly update: Friday October 14 Pouring rain. Progress is good regardless. Unfortunately, the weather has not cooperated for inclining. So the measurement / rating process is on hold. Forecast is for 3 days of 20 plus knots from WSW. As far as the offshore work goes, […]

Putting it back together
On Wednesday the Varnish and paint work came to an end and the boys flew home. It has been an extremely busy couple of weeks juggling interior and exterior work around the weather but the final result is excellent and I am very happy with how Dorade looks now. The Antiguans have done a great […]

Question of the compass
It is both required and a good idea to have a fixed "ship's compass". Over the last several years, the B&G compass has met Dorade's requirements, but this has changed. With blue water and long distance sailing planned, a reliable and power independent compass is a must. The problem for us then, is where to […]

Quiet please
It's a wonderful thing to see the boat beginning to enter the reconstruction phase after several weeks of deconstruction. The first phase of completion though will be the deck re-caulking job which currently involves new cotton being hammered into the seams. Above deck this is a loud process but down below it is almost deafening, […]

Race Day
The first set of yachts disembark from Point Fermin in San Pedro at 1:00 p.m. Organized by the Transpacific Yacht Club, Transpac is an offshore race covering a distance around 2,225 nautical miles (more than 2,500 miles long) from Point Fermin all the way to Diamond Head Lighthouse in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hawaii Yacht Club, founded […]

RACING SCHEDULE
Dorade is scheduled to participate in some of the most exciting Caribbean regattas this winter. Dorade is looking forward to: Heineken Regatta in St. Maarten St. Barths Bucket Regatta (not participating) Les Voiles de Saint Barths Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta Then back onto Dockwise in St. Thomas to get the boat back to Newport for: […]

Re-building a wooden block
A comparison between Re-building a wooden block with a standard Harken Ball Bearing Sheave and as an alternative fitting a custom fabricated Harken sheave into an existing block: Over the past three years we have restored many traditional blocks at Baltic Boat Works – some have come in for a complete re-built while others just […]

Ready To Go!
It’s all wrapping up on Dorade this week. With the delivery south moved up about a week I have been running around trying to get the contractors to finish all of their various projects. The boat is finally coming back together and looking like her old self again. Just a more watertight old self! Christa […]

Ready, steady, GO…
January has bought with it a flurry of activity around Dorade. The doors went on the shed after a cold snap that saw temperatures drop to 0 and snow fall stick to the ground. We are shrouded in a plastic tent and have the most epic heater warming us up enough so anyone working on […]

Readying for Cruise to Newport
We are getting the final bits and bobs done today. I have to run around and pay off outstanding accounts and bills. I got two coats of varnish on everything on deck although it did slow us up a little bit due to an entire day of rain. I have a handheld iridium for communication […]

Reclaiming Victory
Saved from the fate of early retirement, the grand dame Dorade is once again gracing San Francisco Bay. Fun Fact: Dorade made famous its eponymous dorade boxes, designed to enable air to pass in and out of a boat's cabin while keeping the water out. There is nothing quite like cruising San Francisco on a […]

refit recap #1: cabinhouse
What a difference a year makes! A lot happened inside and out to the cabin house during the refit. The bottom photo is from this time last year. I thought this would be a good place to start our refit recap as the work of so many craftspeople is represented in this one area. […]

Refit recap #3 galley storage
A big part of the October refit work was finishing inside the various cabinets. Chad and Gabe did a fantastic job of creating elegant yet sea worthy storage for china, glassware and cooking gear. Some of the features shown in the photos include custom knife storage, stemless wine glass racks that are removable for table […]

Return to Newport
Dorade has departed Bermuda bound for Newport. We also have satellite tracking on board. Check for updates here. http://share.findmespot.com/ Position 7 Dorade is at 39.94485 -69.46246 Position 6 Latitude:38.15646 Longitude:-67.62842 GPS location Date/Time:06/26/2012 17:22:27 PDT Distance traveled 254.2 km, 158 mi Message:All ok on dorade Position 5 Latitude:36.08674 Longitude:-66.41022 GPS location Date/Time:06/25/2012 16:52:01 PDT Message:Wnd […]

Rob Napier, Model Builder
The ship model world called to Rob Napier when he was a boy. He did his first commissioned work at 16 and accepted ship modeling as a career at 27. It has occupied him full-time for the 40 years since. He focuses on building new models and on maintaining models for individuals and institutions. Rob’s […]

Rod on Sailing, Lessons from the Sea
Rod Stephens was one of American's best known and respected sailors. In 1933 he became Associate Designer, later promoted to President, of Sparkman & Stephens naval architecture and yacht design firm, a company founded in 1929 by his brother Olin Stephens and Drake Sparkman. Rod Stephens was a consummate seaman. His brother Olin designed the […]

RORC 600 Day 2
It is wednesday morning and a rather cloudy day has just dawned as we complete our second full day at sea and creep past the half way mark. We have so far sailed around Antigua, Barbuda, Nevis, St Kits, Saba, St Barths, St Martin, Tintamarre and are now approaching Monserrat. Out on our port side, […]

RORC 600 Day 3
Since I last put pen to paper yesterday as we were approaching Monserrat, we have battled our way down the tricky coast of Guadeloupe, sailed clean past our competitors aboard Selene, rounded Les Saintes and La Desirade and are now on course for Barbuda. As Ben and I began our watch yesterday afternoon with Guadeloupe […]

RORC 600 Pre-Start
The RORC 600 is no walk in the park. I know this having done it twice before. The race comprises of a 600 mile weave around rugged caribbean islands large and small, ploughing through two metre seas and dodging squalls. Of course none of us can complain about the temperature and its a heck of […]

RORC 600 Race Update 2014-02-24
On-Board Dorade - 2/24/2014 1:42:38 P.M. Pacific Standard Time Around the Barbuda mark. We suffered a bit on the beating in a seaway from the start to York Island, but as soon as we could crack sheets, we got into our reaching modes and hoisted the A3 and Mizzen Jib. We gybed around the Barbuda […]

RORC 600 Race Update 2014-02-26
Just had a struggle getting around the lee side of Guadeloupe this afternoon with a big wind shadow which is normal from my experience in the last 3 races I did but things are rolling nicely again now. This afternoon has been all hands on deck with sail changes and trying to keep the old […]

RORC 600 Race Update 2014-02-27
Out from Guadaloupe, and now smashing into 1.5 meter seas and 22 knots. We will be beating like this for 6-7 hours. It is taking an extreme toll on crew and boat. We are all tired and beat up. We have managed to reclaim 1 st in class, putting many hours on Selene, who got […]

Rough Castings
77 pounds of rough bronze casting arrived from the Mystic River Foundry yesterday. Low profile genoa cars, flush deck pad eyes, and sail track slides are ready for machining. Given the limited amount of time left before DORADE heads south, we have three different shops each tackling one set of castings. Carlos will handle the […]

Round-the-Islands race Finish
The Round-the-Islands race was a great race. The Race was a wet and windy affair, with a solid 25 to 33 Knots for most of the race. The start gave Dorade light conditions and by the time Dorade was out of the harbor, the crew ad done five sail changes. By the time Dorade crossed […]

Royal Ocean Racing Club Yearbook 2015
Dorade was mentioned in the article in the 2015 Yearbook of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. The article "Titans across the Atlantic" by Lizzy Narraway mentions the Dorade's exploits in the Transatlantic races and her recent 2013 victory in the Transpac Race. Portions of the article are quoted below: "One particular class worth keeping an […]

Rudder
The rudder is nearing completion. The blade has been fastened to the bronze rudder stock. The rudder shoe and gudgeons are fitting well. The issue of wear over time has been addressed by installing replacable high density plastic bushings, where the rudder stock meets the gudgeons and shoe. These bushings also ease the pressure on […]

Running rigging
Rope on the left is double braid poly by New England Ropes and is a sample of what Doradecurrently sails with. Rope on the right is poly spec from Nova Braid and is being considered for new halyards on the new spars. A third option is available from Gleistein Ropes in Europe. We are looking […]

Running rigging update
Scoured the web for waxed whipping twine in multiple colors. The idea being to provide Rig Pro with twine to color code lines during the splicing process. Each eye splice receives a whipping where the cover is inserted back into itself. Why not beginning the color coding process here. The tail whippings will match the […]

RYS Bicentenary preparations in full swing
Here is the full blog and link to The Cowes UK News - RYS Bicentenary story. 20 May 2015 Celebrations commemorating the Royal Yacht Squadron's Bicentenary International Regatta in Cowes are drawing closer and with less than 80 days left until the start of the event, for some competing yachts, preparation is getting frantic. They […]

S/V DORADE – Condition Survey – Winter, 2015
John Winder of Winder Associates recounts his experience working on Dorade. In early January of this year, I was asked by Matt Brooks to do a thorough condition survey of DORADE. This was in preparation for another intensive year of rigorous offshore racing. The last survey had been done in 2011 in conjunction with the […]

S&S Recommends a shift back to the 1931 rig
Date: December 22, 2010 Design No. 07-C1 Dear Matt, Since the decision to build a new mast was made, I have been working with the S&S design team researching, analyzing and assessing the rig configuration options for Dorade as you requested. We have spent quite a bit of time going back through the S&S archives […]

Sailing Aboard Dorade in The Leukemia Cup
by Paige Brooks By now you all know why this particular race meant so much to me, sailing for my friends Catherine and Matt and for the family and friends of many of you. One reason I think I will have a life long love affair with sailing is there is always something new to […]

San Francisco Leukemia Cup
The San Francisco Leukemia Cup committee is pleased to announce that for the first time a Classic Yacht Class will compete in the seventh annual Leukemia Cup Regatta. Hosted by The San Francisco Yacht Club, the Leukemia Cup supports the mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society to find a cure for blood cancers and […]

San Francisco’s “Dorade” Wins TransPacific Sailing Race
Historic Yacht First Won in 1936 -- Now Oldest Craft Ever to Race and Win TransPac It's official, Dorade has won the 2013 TransPac on corrected time, beating out its closest competitor, Pyewacket, by two hours, 30 minutes, and 26 seconds. "They said we'd never make it and if we did it would take four […]

Satellite Dome
DORADE will be equipped with a KVH satellite dome. This will allow us to connect to the internet and place phone calls while we are offshore. The dome will sit on the aft deck secured to a plinth. It will be removable for inshore racing. The dome will be covered with a canvas cover disguising […]

Seven Crew Members And One Old Boat – Radio Interview
Click PLAY to listen to the interview. A few years ago, Matt Brooks and his wife Pam Rorke Levy were looking for a classic boat they could fix up when they found the Dorade, a 52-foot wooden yacht that had set racing records in the 1930s. Brooks immediately liked what he saw, so he said […]

Shakedown Sail
Great day of sailing in Nantucket. Spent the afternoon tuning the rig and testing sails in preparation for the Opera House Cup. DORADE is looking sharp and sailing fast. Brad and Greg are very happy with how she is sailing! Photo 3 is a shot from up the rig of DORADE rafted to TICONDEROGA. By […]

She’s on the move
At 0900hrs this morning Dorade pulled out of the yard in Portsmouth on her new cradle and a second truck following with the Container, trailer and spars. The last couple of weeks have been busy preparing the boat for the journey and packing up all the gear into the trailer and container. When Dorade is […]

Shifting Gears
Coming out of the refit and re-launch, Dorade and the team has shifted gears. We have to switch from refit mode to race mode. This entails getting the containers organized, inventoried and shipped, rigging the boat and tuning the rigs, done by Rig Pro Southern Spars, and loading the gear. Myles and I are finishing […]

Short haul
This weekend DORADE got hauled out to do a routine check of her hull and the rudder. Everything looked great! While she was out, we changed to the three blade prop for easier cruising in the Caribbean. In addition, Andrew took another scan of the boat to assist in future rating and design calculations. As of […]

Sit Rep 2013-10-14
It's been a good start so far. Good wind direction and boat speed. The rig looks nicely tuned and everything is functioning normally. Bush was a little rough last night but has been driving well and is feeling better today. Everybody else is fine. The wind has been mainly in the east but it generally […]

Sit Rep 2013-10-15
We've had great reaching conditions through yesterday and last night. We chose to go a little low of course and fast whist we had the Gulf Stream on the lee bow and had a good days run despite being soaked. Now things have settled down a bit but sailing is still good even though it's […]

Sit Rep 2013-11-07
Mostly still good sailing but we've had to motor a few times to keep things moving. Very hot on board at the moment and sleeping in the day is impossible now. Fortunately the sea has flattened enough this morning to allow us to open a hatch and get some fresh air into the boat. Position […]

Sit Rep 2013-11-08
We have been motor sailing since last night. The wind has gone variable and light, fortunately we have plenty of fuel to keep things moving. I think the grib file shows some easterly's filling in for the last blast in! Still no fish and we are sick of freeze dry, so looking forward to fresh […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-09
Breeze has been a little stronger and a bit more north since last night. We dropped the MH1 last night and have been sailing under staysail, 2 reefs and mizzen. Speeds have been great and the boat not rocked up to much. Maximum gust has been 29kts so this has been the perfect sail plan. […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-10
Wind is consistently more than 5 knots than GRIBS show. We have not seen less than 20kts all night and the average is probably a little higher. Fortunately the rain seems to have stopped and the sun is shining, tunes are playing on deck although still very wet. General bellow deck temperature is much more […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-11
This morning the wind has eased a little and veered more easterly again giving us the opportunity to dry things out and do a little house keeping. Boat speeds are still in the sevens without making any changes and the sea state is allowing some catch up on sleep and a chance to cook some […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-13
We have less than 3 knots of wind and have been motoring for almost 24hrs towards New Port. Sails are down and not much going on although we did have a quick swim this morning whilst letting the engine cool to do some checks. Servicing a couple of winches this afternoon and enjoying the calm […]

Sit Rep 2014-05-15
We have just slipped into the gulf stream, The water temperature has risen sharply but everything else is much like normal apart from going a bit more sideways. Breeze is over 20 kts and from behind us so boat speeds have been up into the 11+ regularly and we are getting some good surfing in. […]

St. Francis Sailing Foundation – Night with the Stars
Lot #8 - St. Francis Sailing Foundation - Night with the Stars Dinner & Auction - Tuesday March 17th If you haven't already signed up to attend, it is not too late. Attached is a video feature of Live Auction Lot #8: Foulies & Tuxedos - Be A Part of Yachting History Join 2015 Yachtsman […]

St. Francis Yacht Club – STFYC.COM
February 2015 issue of Mainsheet. It features Matt Brooks on page 13 as the recipient for the Jerome B. White Yachtsman of the Year award. On his award acceptance speech, he is quoted as saying: "At practically every table in this room sits someone who has contributed to this campaign in some way. As we […]

St. Francis Yacht Club “Yachtsman of the Year”
Matt recently received the Jerome B. White Trophy. A trophy from the St. Francis Yacht Club awarded annually to the St. Francis Yachtsman of the Year. Awarded to William Mathews Brooks for 2014. The Jerome B. White "Yachtsman of the Year" Trophy The trophy is awarded each year by the St. Francis Yacht Club’s outgoing […]

St. Francis Yacht Club Outstanding Member Achievement Party
REMINDER AND UPDATE On Friday night the members of the St. Francis Yacht Club will honor Matt Brooks and Pam Rorke Levy for their unprecedented achievement in the 2013 Transpacific Yacht Race. Originally, we hoped to honor also our member Lucy Jewett, whose lifetime achievements include recent induction into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. […]

Stem and stern post progress
The stem has been cut back to the plank ends. Now the work of cutting back along the ends of the planks begins. Veritical cuts are made that miss the plank ends and then a chisel cuts the rest away. The stem is in excellent shape. There is a little bit of moisture around the […]

Stem Renewal
A final decision has been made on the stem repair. Over the years various repairs have been made, perhaps the largest and most intrusive being the big patch that was added near the top. The final choice has been to replace the stem from the plank ends forward. This will essentially make the stem […]

Stern Post
As can be seen in the photos, the stern post has a number of repairs that have been made to it over the last 80 years. The blue tape represents a minimalist approach to removing the propeller aperture, which cuts into the aft piece of the stern post by nearly 2/3, seriously compromising the strength […]

StFYC Mainsheet: Sailor Spotlight on Matt Brooks
How long have you been an StFYC member and why do you join? I have been a member of St. Francis Yacht Club since 1976. I joined the StFYC for the fellowship of great sailing and boating community that StFYC provides. How did you become involved in sailing? As a young boy I learned to […]

Successful Week
Last night we pulled back into Driscoll Boat works in San Diego after a successful week of sailing. The aim the week was to look at our new A4 sail, do a full system check, and look at sail crossovers and boat prep. Lots of discussion was had about just about everything you could imagine […]

Sweeping to Victory after Pacific Trip
The caption reads: The 51-foot yawl Dorade sweeps across the Diamond Head finish line – the first boat to arrive at Honolulu in the biennial Trans-Pacific yacht race from Santa Monica, California. The Dorade is owned by James Flood of the St. Francis Yacht Club, San Fancisco, and was skippered by Myron Spaulding. She won […]

Systems
The Yanmar is being retrofit to run a 210 amp alternator. The sophisticated systems on board DORADE require quiet a bit more output than the standard alternator can provide. Jim has chosen a unit made by Balmar and Nels will retrofit the engine with additional belts and pulleys needed to run such a powerful alternator […]

Tender
This past week I stopped at the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport, Rhode Island to have a look at the reproduction of Dorade's original tender that is under construction there. They're doing a first rate job. Here are a couple of images showing the progress so far. Her scantlings are incredibly light. - Bruce […]

Tender Update
The students have been working diligently on all of the fine details. The mahogany rubrail and oak inwales have been installed and make the dinghy look amazing. The students have taken great pains to make everything fit just right. They are cutting the transom and stem to finish off the sheer and then will be […]

Thanksgiving
The week of Thanksgiving was a short one on Dorade. It was long enough, however, to appreciate being thankful for working on a wonderful boat. Boat work doesn’t seem to mean as much on a big piece of fantastic plastic or other boring motor yacht. After moving the boat over to St. Francis Yacht Club […]

The Alternative Route Home
Seven days ago my crew and I drove south to the luxury of the Comfort Inn in Essington PA. It is not the most inspiring place any of us have been to but we were there to wait the arrival of Dorade. After some last minute delays we finally got the green light for offloading […]

The Dorade Model
This cronicles the continuing work of Rob Napier on the creation of the Dorade model. The model will represent the yawl as she was when she won the Trans-Atlantic Race in 1931. Our previous blogs about Rob (found here) and the initial stages of his work (found here) last 2012 highlights the process of creating […]

The Dorade Model
Dorade Blog, 021: The basswood deck is being laid on the 1:32-scale model of Dorade. To maintain symmetry, each port-starboard pair of 0.047-inch-wide planks is nibbed to the king plank in turn. When four pairs have been fitted, they are installed in two batches, one to starboard and one to port. Then on to the […]

The Finish of the Fastnet Race 1931
( Excerpt from Yachting magazine, written by Weston Martyr, founder of the Fastnet Race – Oct 1931 ) Two little pyramids appeared simultaneously around Penlee Point, to be revealed by the long glass as Patience and Highland Light, running neck-and-neck on the last lap of their 600-mile course. Patience’s big spinnaker went up as they […]

The jobs list marathon
The initial boatyard phase is always a little soul destroying. You go from order to complete disorder very quickly. By disorder I do not mean that the wheels have fallen off this project, far from it but rather everything has to look worse before it can get better. As I write this sitting in the […]

The Ladies Take on Antigua Classics
There was no hanging around after the BVI Regatta. We sailed Dorade straight back to Antigua to make sure we had the time to get her looking beautiful ready for the arrival of a new team and the start of Antigua Classic Week. It is not often that race prep involves varnishing and adding weight […]

This week on Dorade
Ben is away this week and I am looking after the boat while he’s gone. The jobs list he left is a lot of littles that keep getting passed over for time constraints and other projects. A few things have needed painting or re-varnishing in places most people would never see! I cleaned and painted […]

Thrilled to see you take care of her!
I have very fond memories of Dorade as a camper at Four Winds Westward Ho. Mike Douglas (owner for several years) was very generous in her use with thousands of campers through our the years in the San Juan islands. While I cant speak to how this left her condition, I know that even to […]

Time is flying by
If January went by quickly, February has disappeared in a flash. Multiple projects are in progress and while we are very much still on track we are starting to get to the stage where wiggle room is getting tighter. So far so good though and the biggest project we have going on at the moment […]

Title: Who wore it best?
Despite the first day of racing here at the Regattes Royal in Cannes being cancelled due to strong wind conditions, the Dorade team were informed by our neighbours that we had most definitely won the hors d'oeuvres competition. What started as a tradition during the transpac, the early evening cocktail and snack soirée is still […]

Topside Paint
Ben and his team at Diversified Finishes have done a fantastic job on the topside paint. After two sweaty weeks of long-boarding in the hot shed, all fairing was complete. This past saturday Ben sprayed four coats of Awl Grip topside paint. As you can see from the photos the results are top notch.

Tracks
**** If the video does not load correctly, please refresh your page **** The genoa tracks are back down and fitted with new cars. The tracks were removed for cap rail varnish work this winter. While off, the fastener holes were glued with wood spiles and re drilled. We were tasked by the sailmaker […]

Trans Pac first 24hrs
So finally after months and possibly even years of getting her ready Dorade is back on the Trans Pac course. It felt like a big relief to get off the dock at Rainbow harbor, it doesn't matter how much preparation you put in it still feels like you have forgotten something. So after a little […]

Transatlantic Countdown Day 4: Reflection by Terry Nathan
“It’s pretty difficult to appreciate sailing and racing without understanding the past and how we got to the present. Dorade, on the water recreating her participation in these races, reminds all of us of that connection.” – Terry Nathan, President of IYRS “My first encounter with Dorade was relatively late if you will. It wasn’t […]

Transatlantic Race 2015: Dorade’s Quest to Repeat her 1931 Transatlantic Race Victory
An Extraordinary Link with Yachting History: Dorade's Quest to Repeat her 1931 Transatlantic Race Victory NEWPORT, R.I. (June 4, 2015) – In late June, one of sailing's most celebrated yachts will attempt to retrace the steps of her first, and most significant, victory. The 52-foot yawl Dorade, owned by Pam Levy and Matt Brooks (Tiburon, […]

Transpac Fleet On Their Way
Scuttlebutt Europe #2877 - 15 July Photo by Sharon Green It's been almost twenty-four hours now since the last wave of boats crossed the start line, so the entire fleet of 58 entries from eight countries are now on the race course of the 47th Transpac, with the next stop Honolulu. For some this has […]

Transpac Follow-Up
Gayle Anderson was live in Long Beach with information following the 47th Transpacific Yacht Race, or Transpac 2013, which concluded Thursday, July 25th with the Transpacific Yacht Race Ceremony at the Modern Honolulu ballroom. Prince Quentin and Prince David Kawananakoa of Hawaii presented the King Kalakaua Cup Trophy as First Corrected Overall Yacht to Dorade, […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-09
We are coming up on 24 hours of racing. We are at position: N32 22.077, W120 49.628. We have sailed 150 nautical miles and we have roughly 2070 to go. We have been averaging about 7 knots with about 12-20 knots of wind speed. Skies are overcast and we are looking forward to getting into […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-10
We are coming up on 48 hours of racing. We have sailed approximately 350 nautical miles and we have roughly 1885 to go. We have been averaging about 8 knots with about 12-17 knots of wind speed. Skies are still overcast and we can see several boats within 5-8 miles of us at night, but […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-11
We are coming up on 72 hours of racing. We have fought our way up to second place overall, and are gaining on the leader. We have sailed 500 nautical miles and we have roughly 1700 to go. We have been averaging about 8 knots with about 12-17 knots of wind speed. Skies are still […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-12
We are coming up on 96 hours of racing. We have chipped away at the leader’s lead, and currently we are only 15 minutes behind them on CORRECTED TIME (Actual time multiplied by each boat’s time handicap). We hope to overtake them today. We have sailed 740 nautical miles and we have just under 1500 […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-14
We are coming up on 6 days of racing, and the morning position report shows us still in first place in our division- The large boats that started on Saturday have moved into the lead in the overall, but this is mostly an artificial ranking at the moment, and could change in the coming days. […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-15
Several big Milestones today on Dorade. Early this AM, we broke the 1000 Nautical Mile barrier for distance to Hawaii. We are now 995 Miles from the Finish, at position 27 40.5 N 141 18.5 W. Secondly, we broke several speed records set on the trip, recording top speeds of 12.4 knots, 13.1 Knots, and […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-16
We are coming up on 7 days of racing, and this morning we are still first place in class, and have moved up to 12th overall. The slow-down for the fleet has arrived as expected, but is affecting them less than hoped for, so the future is still uncertain. We will know more by tomorrow […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-17
Stress level is factor 10 on the boat. We have just received the daily position report, and overnight, and not only have we maintained our position at the top of our division, but we have jumped from 12th overall to 4th overall and are in contention for the Overall win. This makes the tension on […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-18
If even possible, the stress has increased. This morning’s position report has launched us to 1st in class, 1st overall. It will be a herculean task to hold onto this spot, as the fleet behind is charging towards Hawaii, and the competitors around us are also sailing hard to knock us out of first in […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-19
It has been 24 hours since we have begun our charge towards Molokai. The shift has not developed as predicted, which is causing us a great deal of worry, as our chief competitor, the Sleeper, has leverage against us to the right. If we don’t get the shift, then we will lose a lot of […]

Transpac Race Update 2013-07-20
We are charging for the finish. The gybe last night was perfectly timed and sealed the fate of our nearest competitor. We put 4 miles on him in under 3 hours, and locked in our final advantage on the positioning. We have spent the morning sailing along the island of Molokai, and are now headed […]

TRANSPAC: Classic Dorade likely to win Overall Title
Strange weather has persisted in the last half of the 2225-mile LA-Honolulu Transpac race, with a low pressure deepening between Hawaii and the Pacific High to the north, making for vacuum-like conditions in the “normal” northerly approach to the finish. The Sleds and TP 52’s, which were the third start a week ago Saturday (July […]

Transpacific 2013 winner shares experiences of yacht race
Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL (HawaiiNewsNow) - On the strength of starting in perfect wind conditions, Matt Brooks' 1930 Sparkman & Stephens-designed, 52-foot wooden yawl Dorade earned overall victory in the Transpac 2013 race. This 47th edition of the race, organized by the Transpacific YC, has been held biennially since 1906. At Thursday evening's award ceremony, Dorade will win the King Kalakaua […]

Turtle Bay, Mexico
We are not just in a bar drinking Tequila while held-up in Turtle Bay waiting for better weather. The delivery back-up from Cabo has been so far extremely wet and bumpy. Nevertheless, this return trip back from Cabo has been a valuable shake down for the boat and having a crew on spending multiple days […]

Update – 08/06/13
Position at 1015 UTC 08/06/13 N 33 12 W 149 22 Speed 6.5 Kts CRS 055 TWD 111 TWS 8 We are definitely in the high now. We stopped sailing and started motoring yesterday morning, the sea has started to flatten off nicely. Engine water pump sprung a leak so we changed the pump today […]

Update – Dorade and its Original Burgee
The textile restorer, Hannah Riley, has managed to source wool 'bunting' fabric from England. This is the base fabric that the replica burgee will be constructed from. Hannah has carried out all of her test dyeing and achieved a good color match. Hannah has also a couple of leads on companies that will be able […]

Update 10/31/2011
Good Morning Matt, Boat back at LMI and full wrap up of projects underway. A quick list of what is current. Measuring and building lifeline wires this AM. Deck repair ready for caulking with TDS. Spreader down lights being installed. These are nice brass fittings to capture the LED lamps. Radar bracket mount in the […]

Update 2014-06-21 10:29am
At 5am this morning Dorade took the lead in the IRC Overall standings, in first place just ahead of rives potts' Carina, winner of two Bermuda races. shes holding her own several hours later, now in third but going strong. GO GIRL GO! track the race at the Pantaenius Website. Pam

Update from Bermuda
It looks like we have a nice big high for the trip up now so that will be good for the boat and us. Jessie has the routing covered and I've been pretty impressed so far. Hopefully we will bring the Bermuda sunshine with us. We have serviced all the winches and inspected the mountings […]

Update on Galley and Nav Station
Marty, Chad and Mike have been putting in long hours building out the galley, engine box and nav area components. Most of the work has been done off the boat, however we have gotten a few glimpses of how good this will all look once it is finished. A spacious chart table, bronze clad counter […]

Update on the Systems Upgrade
By Matt Wachowicz, Navigator While Dorade has had an external refurbishment and refit geared at maintaining her Classic status, she has undergone an equally serious refit in the area of navigation, safety and electronics. With the thought of campaigning her in the most competitive manner possible, Owner, Matt Brooks, has mandated the installation of the […]

Varnish
Jane Mitchell pictured above is sanding the port cap rail in preparation for a new coat of varnish. During this week, and next week, Capt. Alex and Jane will apply two coats of varnish on everything except for the spars. The cap rail will get an additional 3rd coat before the Heineken Regatta.

Varnish and Paint
It has been another dusty week on Dorade but things are coming together nicely. We have been varnishing both on deck and the interior at the same time preparing the waterways for a coat of enamel. The deck work now has four coats on and we are going to shoot for one more once everything […]

Vintage Yacht Dorade Wins Transpac Again, 77 Years After First Transpac Victory!
Modern sailing racing yachts tend to have plumb bows and broad flat sterns. The Transpacific Yacht Race, a 2,225 nautical miles race from Los Angelos to Honolulu, Hawaii, has been dominated for several decades by these lightweight, high speed, sailing “sleds.” Remarkably, almost unbelievably, this year’s Transpac was won not by a modern speedster, but […]

Voiles de St. Barth’s Tuneup
What a great week in St. Barth's (for those who could make it)! It was a genuine pleasure to test Dorade's performance in lighter and moderate winds and to sail with Matt, Pam and much of the team once again. I realize these are not honey badger standard yet, but here's a short video we […]

Vote Dorade!
From Classic Boat 2013 Awards issue: This year, Classic Boat has launched a range of 11 awards to recognise contributions in the world of traditional boats. We are asking you, the readers, to share your top nominations in each of the categories below, including restorations, new builds, yards and person of the year. Vote here […]

Vote Matt Brooks!
From Classic Boat 2014 Awards issue: This year, Classic Boat has launched a range of awards to recognise contributions in the world of traditional boats. We are asking you, the readers, to share your top nominations in each of the categories below, including restorations, new builds, yards and person of the year. Our very own […]

Water Jet Cutting
All hardware for the masts is being cut by a computer driven high pressure water jet cutter. In photo 1 a test piece is being cut. The computer screen shows Greg's drawing in purple. The green line shows the route that the machine will take to pre-cut the holes. In picture 3 Tom quickly polishes the cut […]

West Coast
After weeks of planning and preparation Dorade arrived in San Francisco early last week. There have been a lot of people involved with the process and I would like to say thank you to all of the people who have made it possible. The journey started in Rhode Island weeks before Dorade left, with the […]

What a great TransPac!
While a new elapsed-time record wasn't set, the 47th TransPac has proven to be one of the more interesting and exciting races to Hawaii in years. Overall honors went to the classic S&S 52 Dorade, which was built in 1930 and had previously won overall TransPac honors 77 years ago in 1936. Dorade is owned […]

Winch bases
Tom has been busy readying DORADE for the arrival of her new winch package. The winch pads outside the cockpit combing have been removed. New bases to fit the larger primaries and a different set of running backstay winches have been laminated out of mahogany. The under-deck blocking has also been replaced and improved both […]

Winches
DORADE will carry a complete set of brand new Meissner winches for her racing. Gord Laco of R&W Traditional Rigging and Outfitting http://rwrope.com/traditional-rigging.html set up this order for us with this the classic division of Holmatro Marine Equipment. Widely regarded as top of the line hardware in the classic racing circuit, Meissner does not disappoint the […]

Yacht Magazine Cover Story (German)
"Down below may be compact compared with today’s beamy yachts. In the Foreword to Douglas Adkins’ superbly-researched, informative book ‘Dorade, The History of an Ocean Racing Yacht’, Llewellyn Howland III writes “Her accommodations are Spartan… She sails on her ear. She is a great roller in a seaway. Her berths are like coffins. Who in […]

Yacht Visits Bermuda Again After 82 Years
82 years after first traveling to Bermuda as part of the 1930 Newport Bermuda Yacht Race, the Dorade made the journey again this year, with the recently restored boat making the 635-mile ocean journey from Newport to Bermuda in approximately 83 hours. Read More:http://bernews.com/2012/06/yacht-visits-bermuda-again-after-82-years/
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RESTORATION: ITALY TO USA

Big Year for Dorade
The year is already getting away from me and it seems like I was only on holiday a few days ago. 2013 is a very big year for Dorade with our racing schedule, constant improvements, delivery back from Hawaii in August, Americas cup in September, Breaking her down to transport back to Rhode island before […]

Boatwork Update: Jens Lange
Every year around this time all the shipyards in New England open their overhead doors to enjoy the first reasonably warm days of spring. Dorade is making good progress and is on her way to an early launch day (the target date this year is April 15). A lot of coordination is now required to […]

Boatwork Update: Terry Halpin
It was a good month with much accomplished on Dorade; the confidence level of the team remains high and we expect everything will be done for the intended “splash date” of mid-April. According to Baltic Boatworks, the varnish and repair work on the spars are complete and the equipment has been put into storage in […]

Bow Cleat(s)???
One of the projects this winter is to install bow cleat(s). There is good backing along the king plank in the middle of the deck. If this option were chosen, only a single cleat would be installed. This is a good strong option - the windlass has already proven it's strength under tow with a […]

Cabin top
Dorade's fine looking cabin top had some fine looking leaks, primarily over the navigator's berth. When we dug into it, the original plan of fixing the bad seam along the starboard hatch runner went out the window. When the cabin top was sealed with fiberglass and bog, it was only taken up to the seams […]

Cabin top covering?
There is a question of which material to cover the cabin top with, dynell or canvas. What do YOU think? Please comment! Below is a break down (thank you Jeff Grey) of the two. DYNEL: Dynel cloth is a synthetic fabric that has many uses in boatbuilding but has been the material of choice recently […]

Countdown to Launch Day!
Later this week, Dorade will be launched! Last week, the team brought the spars back to Hinckley in Portsmouth and Razz and Nick started dressing her over the weekend. Dorade arrived back home last year from a long and tough 2015 season and after a thorough review was conducted in December, the team decided that […]

Detailing the rig analysis
Email to Mike Toppa (North Sails) from Nelson/Marek concerning sail configurations and analysis for each of the proposed masts Mike, Good to talk on Friday about all of the recent information RE the Dorade rig configuration. You are correct that we would like you to model sails for each of the following Rig configurations under […]

Details, details
Shown above is the locust pin rail around the mast partners. The port and forward pieces appear to be original, or at least quite old. We are lining the holes with copper, flanged top and bottom. This will make a better fit for the belaying pins and will save the pin rail from unnecessary wear […]

Dorade in California
After six and a half days on the road, Dorade arrived in Ventura, California earlier this month. The 52-foot yawl, which spent the winter months in Rhode Island undergoing updates, is preparing for its 2017 "Dorade Down Under" campaign. Over the weekend, the yacht was launched and its mast stepped. The team will do some […]

Dorade Launched for 2016 Season!
This morning at 8:30 a.m., Dorade was launched at Hinckley Yard in Portsmouth, R.I. The 52-foot Sparkman & Stephens yawl has been undergoing maintenance and updates since it arrived back in Rhode Island this fall after a rigorous international sailing campaign last year. The team will be back at it again this season and taking on the competition […]

Dorade Shipyard Update
It may not be sailing season for Dorade yet, but the team is still hard at work getting the 52-foot yawl in tip-top condition for what is sure to be a competitive year. Jens Lange, who specializes in the restoration and maintenance of classic wooden yachts, weighs in on the updates Dorade is currently undergoing: […]

Dorade’s Stern Post – a true slice of American history
Sometime in the mid 1800's an oak tree was felled in northern Ohio. Lacking chain saws or other powered saws, the lumber jacks squared up the tree to 16" X 30' - by hand with axe and adze. They then floated and shipped the wood to a shipyard in Charlestown, Boston. Intentionally buried in the […]

Dorade’s Original Compass
Last fall, Dorade nipper Nick Bellico got the call: drive to Vermont this weekend and meet with Olin Stephens' son Sam, grandson Olin IV, and daughter-in-law Carol, and pick up several items that were used aboard Dorade back in the 1930s, including the sewing machine that crossed the Atlantic in 1931, a compass, and a […]

Electronics. Electronics. Electronics.
We have a small problem - it is proving to be exceptionally difficult to find a Raymarine radar antenna for the C120 chart plotter that is in Dorade. The question is whether to update the entire chart plotter system or not. Pros for keeping the C120 It works It's already installed If we could find […]

European CIM "Vintage Yacht" Class Conformity
The contents of this posting are written by Matt It is a central objective the current work that any of the solutions and scopes of work considered for Dorade do not change the essence and classic nature of Dorade. S&S's suggestion via Jeff that we look at returning the original (1930's) fractional rig vs the […]

Finding good wood – stem and stern post update
Finding clear unchecked oak has proven to be difficult. Mount Hope Boatworks is on the second piece of oak for the stem and the third for the stern post. There was a mix up with the stern post, it was recreated in the form of the original, which turned out to be misaligned with the […]

Greg responds to S&S recommendations
Jeff, Thanks for the drawings. I like the "Stormy Weather Type" on the right much better than the 1931 on the left. (Almost a 6 meter configuration.) The following are my few initial comments: 1. It is interesting to see how close the Stormy Weather Type geometry is to what I proposed. The Spreader/Diamond heights […]

Interior Lighting
The interior lighting will be updated to LED. The trick is to do it without changing the interior. There are several ways to do this. Your input is very much appreciated in this post. 1) Mount LED lights inside the old dome lights. - There are two choices here. We can install dimmable white lights […]

June 28 Update
After wrapping up the NYYC Annual Regatta with third place in the Classics Class (for the Around the Island Race) earlier this month, Dorade was moved to IYRS in Newport, R.I. where the team is working on the 52-foot yawl’s interior varnish along with a few other minor projects. Stay tuned for weekly updates on […]

Lifeline concept
Shown above is the current thinking for the "offshore" lifeline set. By offshore rules, they are double lifelines and must have a bow pulpit and pushpit. Stanchions must be 2 meters or less apart. A single lifeline set would be put in for inshore and at the dock. Note that the bow pulpit would be […]

Main mast is being overhauled
The mast appears to be in excellent shape. None the less, it is being checked for appropriate sizing for the loads placed on it at sea. Should all of the scantlings check out, it will be thoroughly surveyed by a professional and with an infra red camera. Should it pass the survey, all screw holes […]

Main mast update
UPDATE FROM GREG STEWART DORADE Team, Much has been done since the Mast Conference call last week. Jeff and Jason from S&S and I talked earlier this week to review the DORADE 1931 and 1936 Masts and concluded that the DORADE 2011 Mast should follow on from the 1936 Mast pending sailmaker feedback. Following this […]

New main mast and boom
During a conference call yesterday some momentous decisions were made regarding Dorade's main mast and boom. Our engineering teams did a fantastic job of reviewing the current main mast and comparing it. Excerpts from the report are at the end of this posting. After a lively and involved discussion, the decision was made to build […]

New Year, New Campaign
It has been “all hands on deck” for the Dorade team, which has been working through the New Year to get the 52-foot yawl in tip-top condition. The yacht is currently being worked on in Rhode Island but will be making the move to California this spring to compete in a series of events before […]

Preparing for the Winter Season
Dorade is preparing for the winter at Loughborough Marine Interests in Portsmouth, R.I. The 52-foot yawl had its masts taken out and will get a few coats of varnish before being stored. There are a few more paint jobs on the work list once the boat gets inside tomorrow. Stay tuned for more updates from […]

Preparing for Tomorrow’s Launch
The team is putting all the finishing touches on Dorade to get her in fighting shape for her 2016 season! The boats's deck furniture is back and installed and the belaying rail around the mast has new spindles. The forward hatch has been repaired and the burgee locker is back in place.. There was a lot of […]

Refit Book
Attached is an article by Nick Jeffery in the REFIT 2013 annual, published by Boat International Media. The VPP error in the book - introduced by sub-editors (not the author who is a naval architect!) - has been corrected in this pdf. Christophe Jouany should also have a photo credit. http://dorade.org/Dorade_REFIT.pdf

S&S Recommends a shift back to the 1931 rig
Date: December 22, 2010 Design No. 07-C1 Dear Matt, Since the decision to build a new mast was made, I have been working with the S&S design team researching, analyzing and assessing the rig configuration options for Dorade as you requested. We have spent quite a bit of time going back through the S&S archives […]

Shipyard Update: December 19
The holidays aren’t slowing the Dorade team down, and the crew at Loughborough Marine Interests in Portsmouth, R.I. is still working on the 52-foot yawl to prepare it for the 2017 season. All the yacht’s turnbuckles are getting serviced and the starboard how’s pipe has been faired and podded into the boat with epoxy. All […]

Stem and stern post progress
The stem has been cut back to the plank ends. Now the work of cutting back along the ends of the planks begins. Veritical cuts are made that miss the plank ends and then a chisel cuts the rest away. The stem is in excellent shape. There is a little bit of moisture around the […]

Stem Renewal
A final decision has been made on the stem repair. Over the years various repairs have been made, perhaps the largest and most intrusive being the big patch that was added near the top. The final choice has been to replace the stem from the plank ends forward. This will essentially make the stem […]

Stern Post
As can be seen in the photos, the stern post has a number of repairs that have been made to it over the last 80 years. The blue tape represents a minimalist approach to removing the propeller aperture, which cuts into the aft piece of the stern post by nearly 2/3, seriously compromising the strength […]

Transatlantic Countdown Day 5: Visit Dorade at IYRS
Dorade is available for viewing at the IYRS in Newport, R.I. through until Sunday, June 28 when it starts the 2015 Transatlantic Race. The 52-foot yawl arrived this afternoon from Portsmouth, R.I. Stay tuned for an interview with President of IYRS, Terry Nathan, coming to the site shortly!