DORADE
“We were never trying to create a museum piece”
Right: The latest interior conceals offshore gear and electronics behind matching cabinetry
“We were never trying to create a museum piece,” says Matt. “I never had the pleasure of meeting Olin, but I know he has encouraged modernising. We want to keep that essence, modernising her in a way that’s invisible.” Everything from the structure of the boat and spars, to the placement of the stove and the electrical system, was given thorough analysis. “Dorade originally only had an 8-volt battery for the compass light. I don’t think Olin would advocate just that now.” The mast and sail plan was the largest undertaking in
Dorade’s refit, and the adjustments to arguably one of the most significant racing yachts of all time were not taken lightly. Bruce Johnson provided extensive notes and plans from the design to glean insight into what Stephens might have considered for an upgrade. “The rig in the boat now is a pretty subtle development of what was there,” says Greg Stewart, a leading consultant for classic racing yacht restoration in the US. “The spreaders are distributed with a more modern spacing and are shorter.” Dorade’s 1929 rig had a round-section mast with three headstays, the two forward stays ending at a moderate bowsprit. Before her 1931 transatlantic victory, the rig was shortened and the bowsprit removed. A new, lighter, rig was designed for the boat when she was sold to a West Coast owner in 1936. An oval-section mast was brought back to the original height of the spar. “This was a downwind rig,” says Stewart, “made for California, to hold spinnakers and light-air genoas.”
12 CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2012
The new, heavier mast section is now strong enough for a full masthead rig. In 2010 and before, the inner forestay was removed for tacks with anything but the high-clewed Yankee flying. Now, up until the top-end wind range of the largest genoa, there is no need for the inner forestay and its associated runners. A hallmark image of Dorade has been the precise intersection of three headstays at and near the stem. The two upper stays met at the stem and the staysail stay terminated barely a foot or two aft along the deck. But, the 2010 profile showed only one forestay at the stem. And, though Matt and his team shared a concern that the Comité International de la Méditerranée rule would penalise the boat for diverging from original, the decision was made to move the staysail stay aft by three feet. This allowed more room to make headsail changes, since hanks were still being used with the forward sails. The mast attachment for the stay was also slid proportionately down the mast to keep it parallel to the forestay. While still having mostly external halyards on both the main and mizzen masts, Dorade’s deck layout and gear look virtually as original. All winches were replaced with bronze Meissner winches, even the small ones on the masts. The primary winches and the mainsheet winch on the cabin top were upsized, and the runner winches were left non-self-tailing so as not to be penalised by the CIM. Both Matt and Pam have been heavily involved in the refit. Pam’s background as an award-winning documentarian has led to brilliant coverage of their love
Above and right: Dorade races hard in the 32nd
Classic
Yacht Regatta at Newport in September 2011
CORY SILKEN
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