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, to win the 2,210 mile Trans-Pacific Yacht
Race from Santa Monica to Honolulu. “Dorade” was owned and
entered by St. Francis Yacht Club member, James Flood. Not only
did “Dorade” finish first in a fleet of 22 entries, most bigger than her,
but also won in class “B” and on an overall basis; a clean sweep.
Jim Flood purchased “Dorade” in 1935 in New York from her
designer, Olin Stephens. At the time shewas the most famous racing
yacht in the world. When new in 1931, Olin Stephens with “Dorade”
won the 3,000 mile Trans-Atlantic race from Newport, Rhode Island
to Plymouth, England. That was. also a clean sweep; “Dorade” was
first to finish, and won on corrected time. A few weeks later “Doarade”
won the Fastnet Race in English waters. She returned horne on the
deck of a freighter, but in 1933 Olin’s brother, Rod Stephens sailed
her back across the Atlantic to repeat her 1931 victory in the Fastnet
race. Rod Stephens then simply sailed her back horne across the
Atlantic to New York.
Jim Flood race “Dorade” very successfully for several years on San
Francisco Bay and in Southern California. In 1940, he sold her to 21
year-old James Michael, later to become the Commodore of the
Club (1956 & 1957), who had been aboard “Dorade” as a 17 year old
crew member in the 1936 Honolulu Race. Michael had planned to
enter in the 1941 race to the Islands, but the coming World War II
prevented that from happening. While in the Nave and at sea during
the war, Michael, by mail, sold “Dorade”.
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the “Dorade” 1936
Honolulu Race clean sweep, a group of members commissioned the
building of a replica of the original “Dorade” tiller. In the late 1980’s
while owned in the Pacific Northwest, her tiller was removed and
replaced with wheel steering. A search for that tiller yielded nothing,
so the original drawings of the very uniquely designed tiller were
secured from Sparkman & Stephens design office, and the replica 6′
full sized mahogany tiller now is mounted on the wall about the
doorway between the Clippership Room and the Race Deck; a fitting
tribute to “Dorade” and one of the all-time bench marks of the sport
of yacht racing, and an important part of the history of the St. Francis
Yacht Club.