Photo: Billy Black
Toward the end of June, the 52′ yawl Dorade will be joining 40 other yachts to race 2,800 nautical miles in the Transatlantic Race 2015, which starts in Newport, R.I., and finishes off the southwestern coast of England. This is not the first time Dorade has competed in this race. In the 1939 Transatlantic Race, when the boat was just a year old, Dorade was the first boat to finish and the race’s overall champion on corrected time. This year, Dorade‘s owners, Pam Levy and Matt Brooksshe, will see if the grand old yacht can win it again.
That suggestion sounds fetched, and indeed would be, if Dorade had not been winning races against much newer and more modern boats. Two years ago, Dorade won the Transpac on corrected time. This was the second time she won the race. The last time was in 1939. In the 2014 Newport Bermuda Race, she also took first in her class under IRC.
Dorade was initially a family affair. She was commissioned by Roderick Stephens, Sr. and designed by his son, Olin Stephens, II. Construction oversight was provided by his other son and Olin’s younger brother, Rod. The three men, with five additional crew, also raced Dorade in the 1939 Transatlantic Race.
From the Dorade website: She made yachting history as the first successful ocean racer to be rigged as a marconi yawl. In 1931 upon her return to New York after winning the Fastnet Race, her crew was given a ticker-tape parade on broadway from Battery Park to City Hall. In 1935 she was sold to James Flood of San Francisco, CA who sailed her in the 1936 Honolulu Race. She went on to win multiple victories on the West Coast. She was made auxiliary in 1941. Mr. James Michael, also from San Francisco owned her in 1942. After World War II she was registered under John Franklin Eddy of Seattle, WA. Her next owner Michael Douglas of Deer Harbor, WA lived onboard her for 20 years. After an active life in the West Coast, she was bought by Italian Giuseppe Gazzoni and was extensively restored at Cantierre Navale Dell’Argentario. After some 70 years she continues to win races. In recent years, she gained success in Mediterranean classic regattas.
We can only wish the grande dame fair winds and good fortune.