|
|
"Dorade” winning the 1931 Transatlantic race. | “Dorade” is shown surfing in the North Atlantic on her way to victory in the 1931 Transatlantic race. Some of her crew are pulling in the spinnaker sheet to try to prevent “Dorade” rolling to windward. This was always a problem with sheeting the spinnaker to windward of the forestay, as was the case on “Dorade”. She is carrying a spinnaker, with a very narrow head, a large genoa, sheeted to the end of the mainboom and a small mizzen staysail. Only 4 of her crew of 7 are shown on deck, the other 3 are down below, ‘off watch’. The crew consisted of owner, Rod Stephens Snr, sons Olin ( designer)and Rod ( navigator) and friends Owen Merrill, John Fox, Hartwell Moore and Edward Koster.
The race started off Brenton Reef lightship on July 4th 1931. 10 yachts started and “Dorade” was the third smallest yacht in the fleet.
When “Dorade” crossed the finish line at Plymouth England on July 21st, she was not only the first yacht to finish, but she was the first by 2 days boat for boat and on corrected time by almost 4 days. She was also the only yacht to sail the northern great circle course.
“Dorade” was the catalyst that launched Olin Stephens’ career as a world famous yacht designer | | Dimensions | 24" x 30" | | Media | Oil on canvas |
|
