“It’s pretty difficult to appreciate sailing and racing without understanding the past and how we got to the present. Dorade, on the water recreating her participation in these races, reminds all of us of that connection.” – Terry Nathan, President of IYRS.
“My first encounter with Dorade was relatively late if you will. It wasn’t until I was already here at IYRS. I had the good fortune of knowing Edgar Cato who owned Dorade while he was on the Board of Trustees at IYRS, so Dorade spent a lot of time at the IYRS dock and that’s how I got to know her. Despite my late meeting of the boat, I had the extraordinary fortune of not only sailing on her and racing a couple of times, but also sailing with Mr. Cato on an occasion where Olin Stephens was also onboard. So, that was a pretty extraordinary experience. After Mr. Cato passed away, Matt Brooks from San Francisco came around looking for a boat. One of the boats he was looking at was Dorade. He bought the boat and later became an enthusiastic supporter of IYRS because of our connection between restoring classic boats like Dorade and the boat itself. Matt and I became friends and he also has since come onto the board for the school. Since the first time I met Mr. Cato and saw the boat, the boat has had a connection to the school as well as to the lives of the last two stewards and owners of the boat.
“In my view, Dorade is one of the most important boats of the 20th century. The fact that she’s still not only in great shape on the water but also in the midst of recreating her original races and voyages, I mean it’s an amazing thing. She changed ocean racing when she was built and now she is again reminding everyone, that it is important to understand the connective tissue between what’s going on now in ocean racing and where it developed from. I just think that is really important.
“It’s pretty difficult to appreciate sailing and racing without understanding the past and how we got to the present. Dorade, on the water recreating her participation in these races, reminds all of us of that connection.
“I just think it is amazing that there are people like Matt. They are really the equivalent of modern day explorers and pioneers. We need people like that. We need people that can inspire all of us. The combination of that and the boat doing a race like the Transatlantic, how can you not notice and appreciate the challenge of it?”
Dorade is available to view at the IYRS in Newport, R.I. this week until Sunday, June 28 when it starts the 2015 Transatlantic Race. From now till the race start on Sunday you’re welcome to come by the IYRS dock in Newport for a peek at Dorade as her crew readies her for the 2,800-mile voyage.