Slowly fine IOR yachts – mainly the better-built – are coming out of corners of yards, as their wooden predecessors did, with good restorations followed by occasional outings on the racecourse. Of course for years Italian owners and their shipyards have been restoring, caring for and often racing hard iconic racers like Dick Carter’s Rabbit and Peterson’s Ganbare, just two among dozens. However, given the propensity of US owners to take better care of their yachts than many of us do, it feels right that the desire to bring such lovely yachts back to life has now crossed the pond
equipment tired but largely unchanged from when they left it, and a deal was struck to buy her back in December 2018. Then started a new chapter in the life of this black beauty, with years of structural work ahead to completely renovate and modernise her to a new life of family cruising… with some occasional racing. Dave Pedrick, who had just started at S&S when the boat was launched in 1970, was brought in to advise on the project. While the boat did not have any serious IOR bumps the stern was nonethe- less modified to be more fair and a carbon spade rudder 100kg lighter than the original was added for lighter steering. Offshore Spars built a new carbon rig 3m taller with chainplates moved aft for spreader sweep. Spinnakers were now flown from the bow and not poles. Meanwhile, the interior was kept simple yet suitable enough for light cruising.
Her recent triumphant return to Annapolis from three years and $4.5 million in work at New England Boatworks in Newport was a tremendous homecoming, with old crew mates gathered for a very moving celebration of her return. Some had even been recruited to sail her again on the 475-mile Annapolis-Newport Race, which with her mid-fleet result in ORC suggested flickers of past glory. And seeing the polished and gleaming Running Tide back at her old end-pontoon spot at the tiny Arnold C Gay Yacht Yard in downtown Annapolis brought back fond memories for many local racers who recall her iconic low-freeboard black hull, bright white flush deck and bright white spar, once again the tallest in the harbour. This includes me: some of my first big-boat racing experiences were as a nipper on Running Tide during one of her last big cam- paigns in the mid-1980s. Having done a few local races at the invi- tation of an older friend and mentor, Woody Brumfield, who was on the team, I had just come off racing for 11 days on an ultra-light Olson 40 in the 1983 Transpac when I got the call to fly to Newport for some New York YC racing on Tide. What a contrast in boats and culture. The free-wheeling athleticism of pushing a small ULDB to Hawaii in the west coast casual offshore scene contrasted with the formality and grandeur of NYYC racing… which in an America’s Cup summer was still embedded with 12 Metres.
It was a great relief for me to see Lowell North, a familiar face from the west coast, come aboard for a look at Tide’s new North light #1 genoa, and walk around the beautiful bright white deck with a permanent marker to identify where the fairleads should go… the boat captain was horrified and followed Lowell around with an acetone-soaked rag. I tried not to dwell on the metaphorical significance of this for too long.
Cheers to Beau Van Metre for bringing back these legends and reminding us of the inspiration a great yacht brought to our generation – and hopefully more. May others follow his lead. Dobbs Davis
SEAHORSE 37
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