DORADE — PHOTOS ROLEX / STUDIO BORLENGHI UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
T
JENS LANGE / DORADE
his year's Rolex Sydney Hobart Race had the usual fanfare we expect Dorade competed in a number of to see at such a prestigious event. Big, prestigious Atlantic races, including carbon-fiber boats blasted across the the 1931 Fastnet, which she won, and 628-mile race course, records were the Transatlantic Race that same year, smashed, and there was a little protest which she won "in decisive fashion," findrama between ishing two days the superahead of the next maxis. boat. Dorade Taking secwent on to win ond in IRC Divithe 1932 Ber sion 4 was the muda Race, the oldest boat in Fastnet again the regatta, the in 1933 and the 86-year-old DoFarallones Race rade, a Sparkin 1936, as well man & Stephens as the Transpac wooden yawl. that same year. While such a We can't think feat for such a of a modern boat boat might seem that's boasted extraordinary, such domiDorade is no nance (perhaps stranger to the 'Dorade' owners Pam Rorke and Matt Brooks. Phaedo3). podium, and owner Matt Brooks is laserDorade's record includes just two focused on his unique ocean-racing races in the 1940s and one in the '50s. program. She was raced again in 1997, but was "I'm interested in a beautiful clasjust an Another Old Boat when Brooks sic boat, and making it compete in the and Rorke bought her in 2010. modern world against modern boats," "Matt and I had not been together said Bay Area native Brooks, who covery long, and we were trying a whole owns Dorade along with his partner, Pam bunch of activities together," Rorke told Rorke. us in June, when we met her and Brooks But Dorade was on a tear long before at the St. Francis Yacht Club. "He had Brooks and Rorke took ownership; she's taken me to the [climbing] gym a few been burning up ocean racecourses times, and that was . . ." since the 1930s. Dorade was designed in "She's afraid of heights," Brooks 1929 by Olin Stephens as his personal laughed. yacht to be sailed and raced with his Rorke said she took Brooks to the family. She was design number seven. symphony, but "He fell asleep before the curtain even went up. So, we actually went out with some friends out on Below: 'Dorade' shows her skinny lines as she slices through Australian waters in December. the Bay for a little daysail." After their
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successful jaunt on the Bay, Brooks and Rorke immediately started looking for a boat. "What kind of boat?" asked Chrissy Kaplan of City Yachts, who met the couple at Gashouse Cove. On the walls, Brooks saw several pictures of Fifes in full race mode. "Something like that," he said. Was there ever any thought of a more modern vessel? "No, Brooks told us. "I'm not interested in making it easy." Rorke said that at first, their classic S&S presented a formidable learning curve. "Neither one of us had any experience on classic boats, and neither one of us had any experience with ocean racing," Rorke said. "So we had absolutely no idea what we were in for. It only took a couple of days sailing on Dorade before we realized that she was not meant for Newport Harbor. We could barely get on the mooring, even with an experienced crew. She's not a maneuverable boat; she's not meant for buoy racing. She
