The Serendipity 43 Fleet

War Eagle headed toward Nova Scotia

2011-06-30T23:14:00.001-04:00

Just had an update from Pierre, owner of War Eagle -- a Spot Tracker link -- it looks like he's on his way to Nova Scotia from Newfoundland -- good luck!

View War Eagle's progress

Mo-info

2010-06-16T23:06:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone,

Here is some handy information if you'd like to follow along with MoJoe during the race. MoJoe is a 1981 Serendipity 43 competing in the SDL division. We have a seven-man crew and will be departing from Newport on Friday, June 18th. We are planning to arrive in Bermuda sometime between Wednesday, June 23rd and Thursday, June 24th, having traveled 635 nautical miles (~730 "land" miles). I fly home from Bermuda via JetBlue on Saturday, June 26th.

2010 Newport-Bermuda Race Main Site

http://www.bermudarace.com

Boat Tracker
http://www.bermudarace.com/OntheRacecourse/RaceTracking/tabid/199/Default.aspx

General Race Course Information

http://www.bermudarace.com/TheRace/TheCourse/tabid/144/Default.aspx

Gulf Stream Analysis/Forecasts

http://www.bermudarace.com/LogisticsResources/GulfStreamTutorials/tabid/204/Default.aspx

In addition to this blog, we will be posting footage taken during the race upon our arrival in Hamilton on our YouTube site:

http://www.youtube.com/mojoesail

After Bermuda, MoJoe will be continuing across the Atlantic to the Mediterranean where she'll be put up for sale. Who knows what the next ride will be for our hardy crew!

MoJoe Ready for 2010 Newport-Bermuda Race

2010-06-16T23:01:00.001-04:00

MoJoe is docked in Newport and awaiting the starting gun for the 2010 Newport-Bermuda Race. I've managed to work this year's race into my schedule and will be taking part. We won't be able to post while enroute, however I'll be submitting some articles and pictures once we arrive in Hamilton.

Matt

Tsunami Proves Mild.

2010-03-05T01:32:00.003-05:00

Glad everybody in Hawaii survived. Whew!

Here's an image from Block Island Race Week in 1983, of John Thomson's yacht, "Celebration." My photo was taken from John's helicopter. Nice day, great ride. : )

War Eagle @ Mooring

2010-02-27T14:28:00.004-05:00

Here's a shot of War Eagle at mooring in Brigus, Newfoundland. Pierre has spent the winter performing several updates in order to prepare her for Route Halifax-St. Pierre 2010

"Active" Vessels

2010-02-26T09:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a list of boats in their current (confirmed) incarnations. A boat qualifies as "confirmed" if pictures, a message, or a writeup exists from within the past year or so. Obviously names can change at any time, especially with so many of these boats currently for sale. Hull numbers, where known, are indicated in ()'s.

1. Wings (1)
2. Conquest (6) [ex. Whiplash]
3. Mojoe (9) [ex. Jam, Jammin']
4. Lone Star (10)
5. Fruition (16)

6. Fame (25)
7. Samiko (26)
8. Counterpoint
9. Red Baron [ex. Titan 3]
10. Peregrine
11. Scarlett O'Hara
12. Roller Coaster
13. Houn Dawg
14. Running With Scissors [ex. Pied Piper, Traveller, Terminator]
15. Corsair
16. Quadriga [ex. Chaparral]
17. Blitz [ex. Vagary]
18. Panta Rhei [ex. Schuttevaer]
19. Ra Carat Crude [ex. Louisiana Crude, Michigan Crude]
20. Dancing Bear
21. Frumious Bandersnatch
22. War Eagle
23. Acadia (ex. True North, Acadia)

Unconfirmed, but possibly current...

24. Air Waves
25. Midnight Sun
26. Salt Shaker

A Fun Season for War Eagle

2009-09-21T21:44:00.005-04:00

Some great pics submitted by War Eagle's Pierre de Ruelle, who recently spent the summer putting War Eagle through her paces on the Newfoundland race circuit.

Pierre: "Well the summer is going to the end in Newfoundland, it's blowing harder and harder, and WAR EAGLE has completed 25 % of the updating. Somebody in the blog write: WAR EAGLE is not prepared for offshore racing like OSTAR, he was completely right. Almost everything have to be changed!!!! But she still a strong, fast, responsive, loyal girl, the love of my life!!!! I plan the mid of september to get back to Montreal, work hard, and coming back the next spring as soon as possible to lead the boat updating."

Good luck with the rennovations, Pierre -- please keep us posted on your improvements!

MoJoe Destroys Competition in 2009 Beringer Bowl Ocean Race

2009-07-23T09:18:00.005-04:00

Coming in first out of eleven boats, the MoJoe team was extremely happy to notch an offshore win for the 2009 sailing season -- here's a writeup from one of the crew:

Through the groggy haze of a early Saturday morning it began to occur to us that the boat might of done well. In no small part to the three horsemen - Brad, Joe G and Tom who had no real sleep and endured what must have been two inches of rain or more between about 2 AM and 4 AM.

At the start, it was a spinnaker start - fun and winds were generally on the lighter side. Later in the evening the wind speed eroded to 2 - 2 1/2 knots and we were working to keep the boat speed over 1 1/4 knots.

Wind shifts dominated - we auto-tacked what seemed like a dozen times in a row. By auto-tacked - the wind (what little there was) shifted across the bow, Genoa got backed, so we walked the Genoa around and carried on.

This period of the race was capped by what was one of the craziest spinnaker tacks: Remember the star Wars movie when Jar Jar Binks was introduced. He turns right by doing a left 270 degree turn. Well we did the same with the spinnaker. In light and shifting winds, we planned to jibe the spinnaker by flying on both sheets, and move the pole over. Classic maneuver.

However, once the wheel was over, we lost the little headway for rudder control we had and the boat kept turning into the wind. Next stop - head to wind with the spinnaker up. duhhh...thankfully we were in less than 2 knots of wind. To compound the problem we had left the blue halyard at the pulpit instead of bringing back to the mast base.

So...drop the spinnaker on the fore-deck, untangle, and re-hoist as the boat continued to slowly swing around and it fills as we end up on the proper heading. All in all it must have looked quite comical. We had a number of boats in the area that were witness to this maneuver, they all must of thought what the heck are these guys doing and man, no competition.

In the next few hours, the wind slowly built from 2.2 kts ( 1.25 kts boat speed ) up more and more. Luckily (or by design) the wind filled in from the left (more to sea) and we were the most outside boat based on continuously chasing the wind. By the time we got to the turning mark we were above the light one's upper limit in speed
but the captain had us carry it for the last few hundred yards to the tack, then we peeled in the heavy one. Wind was up to 16 kts shortly thereafter.

Bermuda Rum and dark'n'stormies followed at 6 AM followed by a couple of hours of nap by most. By 9AM the crew was up again and looking for breakfast having completed the virtual, abet brief, night.

A bit later, one of the other B class boats came in. No smiles - at all. I jokingly asked if they had seen any rain - again just grim looks. Lighten up, it's a sail boat race.

Nice work, guys! Good luck in the summer buoy-series!

Panta Rhei In Action

2009-07-12T10:03:00.004-04:00

Some great shots of Panta Rhei provided by owner Ben de Ruyter -- thanks, Ben!

A Solid Finish for MoJoe

2009-07-11T12:15:00.002-04:00

360 miles, 90 hours, and a solid dose of nonexistant air pressure later, four members of the PHRF4 class sailed into Halifax Harbor in unison, with Lindy (PHRF 87) leading the pack and MoJoe (PHRF 78) close behind. Driving to the line, Lindy took honors with MoJoe crossing second less than five minutes later.

Overall, the race went well for MoJoe, who suffered only a disabled head in terms of equipment failures. According to crewmember Chris Grieves, the weather was perfect, with no rain or fog to deal with, and a bright moon to sail by every night.

After time corrections, MoJoe ended up in 5th place -- square in the middle of the pack. While a slightly disappointing finish after leading the pack for much of the race, the crew is happy with the placement, which is a major improvement over the last-place finish in the 2008 Newport-Bermuda Race. The team put a lot of hard work into the boat during the offseason to bring her back to racing form, and it has clearly made a difference.

Congratulations, MoJoe, on a great race effort!

Final PHRF4 Placings for 2009 Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race:

Rank Yacht Type Nation Owner PHRF Rating Time (Corrected)

1 Airborne IV BEN 50 CAN Greenwood 99 91:21:47
2 Lindy PET 38 USA Dickerson 87 92:42:28
3 Swift NY 44 USA Hudson 90 93:19:53
4 Jaded J105 USA Rugg 81 93:47:11
5 Mojoe SER 43 USA Naroski 78 94:08:52
6 Duck! BEN 367 CAN Maloney 78 94:29:50
7 Jacqueline IV HSW 42 USA Forman 99 95:31:44
8 Night Train C&C 40 CAN Moore 87 95:34:50
9 Laughing Lady SWN 44-2 USA Lippman 78 96:52:16
10 Helm's Deep BEN 367 CAN Sutton 78 98:43:20
RET Eagle J-40 USA Oviatt 78
RET Rainmaker SWN 40 USA Renz 81
RAC Veladare C&C 42 USA Myles 87

MoJoe Nears Finish

2009-07-08T23:15:00.003-04:00

With Lindy (PET38, PHRF 87) in hot pursuit, MoJoe (PHRF 78) is closing in on the finish line. With a difference of 9 seconds per mile, MoJoe needs to finish ahead of Lindy by no less than 54 minutes to maintain first place -- at last check, Lindy was about 30 minutes behind, so hopefully Team Naroski has been able to put some distance in between the two boats.

Note: Lindy is represented by the grey-green line on the map.

MoJoe Currently Leading PHRF4

2009-07-08T11:54:00.003-04:00

MoJoe is currently leading the PHRF-4 class of the Marblehead-to-Halifax Offshore Race by approximately 10 miles. Go MoJoe, GO!!!

Race updates can be viewed via the MHOR Race Tracker.

Renovating Red Baron

2009-07-07T09:00:00.004-04:00

Pamala Baldwin recently sent in some pictures detailing the racing (re)modifications currently taking place on Red Baron. Below are some shots of the v-berth area, which has been completely stripped down to a sail locker much like on MoJoe:

Before

During

After

Whiplash

2009-07-06T21:29:00.004-04:00

Some recent information submitted by Allen Peat, the original owner of Conquest, previously known as Whiplash. Thanks for writing in, Allen!

Conquest/Whiplash, was hull #6, her IOR racing no was 26776, 26 indicating her race area, I choose the 77 after Doug Peterson's design no, 77 and then hull no 6. Hull was laid up in New Orleans, by Tom Dreyfus and Palmer Johnson finished the boat in Sturgeon Bay Wis. I ordered the boat from PJ. They built several other Peterson boats in aluminum and we had many exciting races against Sleeping Bear owned by Midge VerPlank of SpringLake Mich.

MoJoe Competes in 2009 MHOR

2009-07-05T17:00:00.003-04:00

Some shots of the MoJoe crew getting ready for the 2009 Marblehead to Halifax Ocean Race:

You can follow along with MoJoe during the race by using the Race Tracker at www.marbleheadtohalifax.com

Acadia (True North!) update

2009-05-21T23:47:00.004-04:00

Peter Clements wrote in recently to claim one of the few remaining "Active Vessel" slots for Acadia! Peter picked up Acadia in Annapolis in 2000, her name then was...True North! So, we have connected those two boats and some more of the S43 history-mystery has been uncovered.

Peter's original comment can be seen on the Acadia page -- thanks for writing in, Peter!

"i am the current owner of ACADIA which i bought in 2000. The name prior was TRUE NORTH but I brought her back to her original name ACADIA. Boat currently sits in Greenwich CT on the East Coast. She is currently flag blue with white bottom & boot top. The tiller has been changed to a wheel. Down below she has accomodations; large berth in stern & v berth in bow. Main saloon has upper & lower berths both port & starboard. Galley port side next to mast & nav desk starboard next to mast.
Although I do not want to sell her there is a chance she might be a sales candidate."

Scarlett to the rescue

2009-05-19T02:51:00.004-04:00

Renee and John have some new passengers.

From Sailing Anarchy and, from Latitude 38:

The J/44 Elusive had possible rudder issues and sank on the way to Fiji. Scarlett was the first boat on scene and picked up Elusive's crew of 3, Steve and Wendy Bott and their son Allen. Sounds like everyone is ok, thank goodness. Here's to a safe and uneventful remainder of their journey to Fiji.

--Matt

April 29, 2009-Update from Scarlett

2009-04-29T12:10:00.005-04:00

Scarlett O'Hara

Hi all,
Just a quick note to let you all know we are READY to leave New Zealand and plan to do so in the morning! It has been great to see this country and meet a lot of wonderful people, but the warm weather and Fiji are calling us.

The transit should be 7 to 10 days, depending on wind. We will send updates as we can, weather pending, as it is difficult for me to work on the computer if the boat is rocking around. Luckily NZ had transderm seasick patches readily available, so I have stocked up.

Best to all.
Hugs,
Renee & John

Conquest I Update

2009-03-23T09:31:00.007-04:00

A recent write-in by Ray Betts, one of the owners of Conquest:

Hi Matt

An update for you on Conquest 1.

She is owned by Garrick William, Ken Morrice and myself and is out of Crescent Beach marina in British Columbia.

Garrick saw her in Frisco or LA about 15 years ago, he was surprised to see her again a couple of years later in Vancouver BC, up for sale, (could this be a case of serendipity?) but in a very sorry state. He and a couple of other guys bought her and moved her down to Blaine WA, and then to BC a few years later.

I knew about the Conquest used as a sail training vessel for the US Navy in Annapolis, but have been unable to link the two. Nor have I had any luck in finding out the hull number.

Maybe you can help here? Out of the 26 built, how many and which are MIA? maybe I can narrow it down.

Great Blog
Regards

(Ray's original comment is attached to the main page for Conquest)

List of active vessels

Serendipity Sailing

2009-02-28T08:52:00.004-05:00

Wings

We've since replaced this #3 jib with a new one, but otherwise this is how Wings looks these days when in racing mode. This shot is from a great day sailing, a bit short handed, in Johore Straits in a local race in Singapore. We are cracked off in this shot as we overstood our approach to the leeward turning mark but still leading. Next we had a 5 mile beat to Malaysia's outer mark straight to weather in this shot. We played the shifts and had a great day, and we won.

Wings T-Shirt Graphic

2009-02-28T08:41:00.006-05:00

If you're going to go racing you need some cool kit. We made black T-Shirts with this graphic design and they are a hit.

wingssail image-fredrick roswold
Wings' T-Shirts

2009-02-25T22:55:00.004-05:00

Hi folks, since the off season has got me in a funk I started cleaning my basement. It's still too cold here to start working on the boats. Anyway, I found an old hard drive from my primary PC from 10 - 12 years ago. On the drive I found a few photos of Fame I never new I had along with one shot of Scarlet O'Hara from an old calender from 1996 or 1997 (it's the very last one). Well, with out further ado, get ready to dust off those pixels.

--Matt

Meu Lar III

2009-02-05T16:54:00.003-05:00

The hull for Meu Lar III was built by New Orleans Marine from the same mold as Acadia and Lousiana Crude. It appears to be located in Chile -- currently waiting on correspondence to confirm this.

Wings on film

2009-01-05T00:54:00.003-05:00

Evening folks, fellow Sailing Anarchist SlowCruiser found a VHS video called "Hall of Fame Regatta" by Warren Miller. He was nice enough to digitize it and toss it up on YouTube. Always a sucker for the good ol' days I had to watch it. To my surprise, 20 seconds into part 3 I see a familiar sight, Fred Roswold's Serendipity 43 'Wings'. Check it out here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlhogn-Y6T8&fmt=18

The entire series can be found here: www.youtube.com/profile?user=seayaadventures&view=videos

I e-mailed Fred with a link to the video, I wonder if he's ever seen it.

--Matt

Lone Star Photo

2008-12-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

A shot of Lone Star scooped off of owner Gary's Picasa site.

Still On The Hard: New Shots of Quadriga

2008-12-15T09:00:00.000-05:00

Some recent-ish photos of Quadriga from the Northland Yachts Gallery:

Lone Star Polar Diagram

2008-12-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

A copy of the polar diagram for Lone Star, submitted by owner Gary for all to see -- thanks Gary!

Acadia Advertisement on eBay

2008-11-11T09:24:00.007-05:00

An original copy of a Serendipity Yachts advertisement for Acadia from Yachting magazine is up for grabs on eBay

In addition, there is also a Yachting article on the 1980 SORC available from the same seller:

Happy Bidding!

Blitz Update

2008-11-07T09:00:00.003-05:00

An update posted to the SailingAnarchy.com Serendipity 43 thread: Blitz has taken overall season top honors in the Detroit Regional Yacht-Racing Association (DRYA) IRC-B series! The results are available on the DRYA website

Congratulations to the Blitz team on a job well done!

War Eagle To Compete In OSTAR 2013

2008-11-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

Pierre de Ruelle recently shared his plan to race War Eagle in the 2013 OSTAR (Original Single Handed Trans-Atlantic Race, England to USA) single-handed race. Here are some highlights of the refit/overhaul:

=================================
2008/2009:
*3 new dacron sails (North) - full batten mainsail, #3 headsail, code Zero
*New carbon rudder
*New vectran halyards
*Basic electronic tacticks ( speed, depth, wind)
*Micron 17 antifouling
*Retractable carbon bow sprit for code Zero with continuous roller furler
*Pathfinder (4cyl) engine rebuild
*Interior redesign (more confortable, lighter)

2009/2010:
*3 new dacron sails (North) - #1 headsail, #2 headsail, genoa staysail
*New Harken roller furler (2-groove)
*New windvane
*Replace wheel with tiller

2011/2012
*New carbon mast, spreaders, and boom
*New genoa staysail (North)
*Cutter rig setup with a genoa staysail with a roller furler

2012/2013
*3 new spectra radial sails (North): full batten mainsail, #1 headsail, #2 headsail
*Delivery to England

May 2013: OSTAR
=================================

Good luck with the project, Pierre -- please keep us updated as things progress!

War Eagle Photos

2008-11-05T16:32:00.003-05:00

War Eagle Update

2008-11-04T16:38:00.003-05:00

Pierre Deruelle of Montreal, Quebec contacted us today with a great update -- he recently purchased War Eagle! Stay tuned for additional updates as we learn more.

22 of 26 hulls have been accounted for as of this writing -- check out the Active Vessels page to see the full list

Details of Wings

2008-10-26T01:02:00.004-04:00

Here is a full description of WINGS, Serendipity 43, Custom IOR Race boat and our home for 22 years. A great boat to sail, race, cruise on, and live aboard.

wingssail-Fredrick Roswold
In Thailand, 2008

wingssail-Fredrick Roswold
In Papua New Guinea, 2003

wingssail-Fredrick Roswold
In Mexico, 1997

Click here for some interior shots.

image from King's Cup committee
Kings Cup Regatta, Thailand, 2007

Some times we take off the cruising equipment and bend on the racing sails and go racing. In the shot above we are sailing in the King's Cup in Phuket Thailand in December 2007. We won our class with four straight first place finishes, sailing in IRC.

Wings is a boat originally built for racing, but we have found it to be an excellent cruising boat; it is easy to handle for two people, sails well with small sails, and has good motion in the seas. For living aboard it also suits us well: we have plenty of storage and lots of room. For example, on passages we can keep our dingy and motor below, stowed, all of our sails (14 in all), also stowed, the airconditioner, 140 gals of water, 60 gals of fuel, all of our liveaboard stuff (basically everything we own) and provisions for a 30 day passage, all stowed below, and nothing is on the sole or in the way. The deck is kept absolutely clear, nothing is on deck when we go in the ocean except the dingy fuel (gasoline).

We have a great shower, computer system, galley, and comfortable bunks for sea and in port. We have often been working ashore in office jobs while living aboard and we have plenty of hanging locker space for suits, dresses, etc. So, we think this boat is the perfect boat for us.

Sailing it is also just right for us.

Even though we don't have roller furling sails (can you imagine that in this day and age?) we usually only use a small 85% dacron jib while cruising and this is so easy to put up or down that we don't miss the furling capability. If the wind gets too strong we reef the main, down to the third reef, and then we just drop the jib. Wings sails well with only a scrap of a main, in any direction. It also heaves-to rather well, with a reefed main and the jib, or with just the main; we done it several times.

wingssail-Fredrick Roswold
Flying

Our average day's passage in good winds is 175nm. We have exceeded 200nm twice, it wasn't fun, (this is an IOR boat, remember, high speeds are not it's forte).
In this shot we are sailing in the SE Trades from Bora Bora to Samoa, on the windvane, with a full main and a poled out #4 jib, roaring along. There was 23 knots of wind and we were hitting the low 9's on every wave.

The boat has a tiller for steering and we have an Autohelm tiller pilot (ST4000GP) but at sea we use the monitor windvane 99% of the time.

We usually sail double handed without additional crew.

If we have any complaints about the boat it is that we don't have a great cockpit for entertaining; it is a racing cockpit, and rather small at that, but in heavy weather we are sometimes happy for having a small cockpit.

Once I was talking to Doug Peterson about the boat and I told him I thought it made a great cruising boat and was surprised by this. He said, "Really".

Well Doug, it does!

FACTS:
Model: Serendipity 43
Type: Masthead sloop
Builder: New Orleans Marine
Year built: 1979
Designer: Doug Peterson
Length 42.7 ft
Beam 12.7 ft
Draft 8ft
LWL: 36.4
Weight (empty) 16,000 ibs
Weight (in cruising mode) 20,000 lbs
Construction GRP (Cflex hull, balsa cored deck)
Mast: aluminum
Standing rigging: rod
Engine: Yanmar 3JH 34hp
Keel: external lead fin
Rudder: spade

Equipment (rating):
Monitor Windvane (excellent)
Autohelm ST4000gp (good)
PUR 35 Watermaker (excellent but small capacity)
Engine: Yanmar 3JH (1993,excellent)
Charging: Balmar 130 amp dual output alt, engine driven, with smart regulation (excellent)
Solar: 2 x 85 watt panels on side railings (excellent but small capacity)
AC charger/inverter: Heart Freedom 1000 (excellent)
Batteries: 4 x 105 Trojan 6v, 1 X 105 12v (excellent)
Propellor: Martec folding (very good)
Tankage: Water, 4 tanks, 140 gal total-Fuel, 2 tanks, 60 gal total-Holding 22 gal
Anchor windlass: Lewmar Concept 1 (excellent)
Anchors: Bruce 20kg, Bruce 30kg, Fortress 22lb (we've never used the 30kg, the others are excellent)
Chain: 300ft 5/15 high tensile (excellent, 12 years old, regalvanized once in NZ)
Rode: 300ft nylon triple strand (rarely used)
Sailing Electronics: B&G Hercules 390 (excellent functionality, the best, but old, expensive to maintain)
Navigation electronics: Lowrance GPS Plotter, CMAP on PC for charts. (Good)
Computers: Dell Latitude and Inspiron notebooks (3), Lan, Wi-fi, Cannon ip90 printer (all excellent, Dell worldwide on-site service cannot be beat)
Communications: ICOM M700 with SCS PTCIIe Pactor (excellent)
Near shore communications: CDMA EVDO cellular broadband (good)
Heat: Highseas Diesel heater (good)
Air-con: basic window unit sitting on deck in port, stowed underway (good)
Stove: Force 10 three burner (fair)
Refrigeration: 12v ice box conversion, generic unit using Danfoss 35 compressor (excellent)
Hot water: Challenger propane instant califont from NZ (excellent)
Dingy: Avon 3.4 rover with inflateable floor (very good)
Outboard: Mercury 15 2-cycle (excellent, 1 pull)

Sails (14)
Dacron cruising main (Lidgard, good)
Laminate cruising genoa (Lidgard, fair)
Dacron #4 jib (Sails Tech, very good)
Dacron Storm jib (never used)
Kevlar racing sails: Main, & #1(both SeAir, 2006-very good), #3(SeAir, new 2008), #3 (Fraiser, poor)
Kites: 1/2 oz (Lidgard) good), .7 oz-symmetrical(new, SeAir 2008) .7 oz-assymetrical (new SeAir 2008), 1.5 assym (Good), plus 2 3/4 oz all-purpose cruising kites.

If you have any questions you can email us, svwings at aol.com.

More photos of sailing on Wings and places we've visited:

Fred & Judy, SV Wings, Phuket, Thailand

New Red Baron Website

2008-10-18T08:06:00.003-04:00

The Red Baron team has been working on a new website, which should be ready soon. In the meantime, you can view the splash page at:

www.red-baron-racing.com

MoJoe Eeks Out Series Win

2008-09-30T12:44:00.004-04:00

Well, overall it has been a great season for MoJoe and her crew. 2008 saw her re-emerge as an offshore warrior (Newport-Bermuda Race and Beringer Bowl Offshore Race) as well as a fierce competitor in the local series.

Each week she featured a tiny tweak here and a slight shave there, slowly bringing her back to racing form. She still has a long way to go, but the crew's labor was rewarded at the end of the summer with an unexpected series win by hanging onto first place with a slim margin of only 30 points. By unexpected, we mean that MoJoe was looking squarely at second place until a most-unbelievable situation came about:

"In order to win the series, we needed one of three possible outcomes to happen: We come in first, we come in second, or Heat Wave (J109) does not come in first. About halfway down the return leg of the course, it was pretty clear we weren't coming in first or second -- the other B-fleet boats were well ahead of us. In addition, Heat Wave was looking pretty good for the win -- Saga (J133) was first, but probably would correct lower, and Priceless (Carrera 29) was off our beam. It's possible that at 24s/m slower, Priceless (PHRF 96) may have been able to correct over Heat Wave (PHRF 72), but it would have been close.

So, there we were, munching second-place sour grapes when all of a sudden blue (harbormaster) strobes start flashing over in the harbor and the Race Committee comes over the radio, saying that the race had been cancelled! A huge coal barge was leaving Salem Harbor, and all boats -- including us racers -- needed to clear the channel. No race meant no win (and therefore, no points) for Heat Wave, and thus we were able to hang on to our top spot in the standings."

From the SI Vault: Scarlett O'Hara

2008-09-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Scarlett O'Hara mentioned in the March 7, 1983 issue of Sports Illustrated

YACHTING—MONROE WINGATE and CHRIS CORLETT of San Francisco sailed their 42-foot Peterson-designed Scarlett O'Hara to overall fleet victory in the six-race, 88-boat Southern Ocean Racing Conference, coming from behind to beat Locura in the last race in Nassau.

Lattitude 38 Article: Carl Schumacher

2008-09-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

An article about Carl Schumacher mentions Scarlett O'Hara in the 1984 issue of Lattitude 38:

Chris Corlett, the primary helmsman on Carl's 38-ft IOR racer Wall Street Duck for the past two very successful seasons, concurs with this notion. Chris also drove the 1983 SORC winner Scarlett O'Hara, designed by San Diego's Doug Peterson. He says the difference between the two boats is significant. "Scarlett is big in the ends and requires lots of power to push it around the course," he says. "The Duck has an easier feel on the helm and is easier to sail. Carl's boats definitely have their own style."

Outstanding Scarlett O'Hara Photo

2008-09-27T09:45:00.003-04:00

A simply amazing shot of Scarlett O'Hara on course for the win during the 1983 SORC. The photo was taken by Larry Moran, of Chicago:

A note from Larry about the picture:

"Hi, Matt --

Sure. Feel welcome to use the photo as you mentioned.

The owner was Monroe Wingate of the San Francisco [correction: St. Francis] Yacht Club. Trimming the mainsail was David Hulse.

Photo was taken shortly after the start of the Miami-Nassau race.

Regards,

Larry Moran, Chicago"

Some information on David Hulse and his company, Novis Composites

Lattitude 38 Interview with Dee Smith

2008-09-27T09:00:00.001-04:00

A quick mention of Scarlett O'Hara found in the 1998 Lattitude 38 article titled An Interview With Dee Smith:

==============================
L38: What are some of the highlights of your sailing career?

DS: There have been so many! I'd say that 1983 was a pretty good year. We won the SORC and were top inshore boat at the Admiral's Cup with Scarlett O'Hara, and came back and won the Big Boat Series with Bravura.

Scarlett O'Hara (Sail #18950)

2008-09-26T14:19:00.005-04:00

Scarlett O'Hara (sail #18950) is owned by John and Renee Prentice, 18950 and sails out of San Diego YC. The side-picture is from the 1983 SORC.

"Scarlett first raced in the 1982 SORC with Tom Blackaller at the helm. Tom was involved in the project starting in the design/construction phase, but he only stayed one year and did not win the SORC on this boat. Scarlett O'Hara was the SORC overall winner in 1983 with Chris Corlett as skipper." - David Wingate, son of Monroe Wingate, original owner of Scarlett O'Hara (thanks, David!)

(Per David, Dee Smith was tactician on Scarlett O'Hara for the 1983 SORC. Corlett, Hulse, Smith...a formidable team, to say the least!)

"There's Google for you. you're right about Dee Smith and guys winning the SORC on Scarlett. You can even buy the video on E-bay SORC83. "

S43 Line Drawings

2008-09-15T22:00:00.000-04:00

Came across some line drawings on a recent Web-mining expedition. Might be great printed on a t-shirt!

MoJoe PHRF-NE Championship shots

2008-09-15T09:00:00.000-04:00

Some pics of MoJoe from the recent PHRF-NE Championship regatta off of Marblehead:

View the photos

MoJoe Pics

2008-09-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

Some action shots of MoJoe from their 1st place finish at this past Thursday's Jubilee YC Fall series race:

View the photos

More on Acadia

2008-09-13T09:08:00.003-04:00

r.grove248 submitted some great history for Acadia -- thanks!

Purchased in Lymington, Hampshire, England by J.C.Lewis in the winter of 1980 and renamed Ultimatum, Acadia the prototype of the Serendipity 43 flush decked well balanced and a joy to race.

IOR Two Ton Cup Sardinia 1981

Sardinia Cup 1982 for Hong Kong.

Sardinia Cup 1984 for England.

and three Admirals Cup trails, England.

Plus plenty of Solent and RORC victories.

Strangely the rudder also broke off as at least one of the others have done.

Six pipe cots galley and open heads, fuel and water bladders under lower beam cots.

Super yacht, sold in 1984 went to Great Lakes.

Lone Star: White Knuckles

2008-08-30T22:44:00.002-04:00

Bonjour & Hola Rafflers

For a number of years Steffie and I have been entertaining our friends with what we call our adventures. Principally about living in southern France. I had written several when I was recovering from a hip replacement in 2004. White Knuckles is one of those. Steffie has edited for me as I have no knowledge of how to spell or what constitutes sentence structure. I though you who have chosen to join our raffle would enjoy an insight as to what sailing Lone Star could be. To date we have only 23 tickets spoken for however we did generate a $65,000.00 cash offer. we thanked the person kindly and turned it down. You would as well. G Pierrerue France.

White Knuckles. Those words bring images to mind. Your first roller coaster ride; driving your car just a bit too fast on a wet road and feeling the rear end start to get loose. Excitement! Fear! Exhilaration! This is a story about all of those feelings and two best friends who if they packed it up would go out together.

For those of you who were not in Northern California for the winter of 1997, it was BRUTAL!! The 'small craft warning" flag went up in late November and didn't come down until March. A sail boat on a pleasure cruise to Half Moon Bay was caught in the seas off South San Francisco, washed up on the beach and the some if not all of the crew were lost. The stories were endless.

We had ended our two year re-fit of Lone Star in October, hauled out in early November and expected to leave for Mexico the last week of November or first week of December. WWRROOONNNGGG. We pulled into Berkeley Marina for a day or two. Dinner at Spenger's with our family to say good by and.... guess what?? We were stuck. The wind was not so bad but the hazardous seas were treacherous. Then would you believe on March 12th, a Thursday, the Fish and Game wardens working the patrol boat out of Berkeley came back in the evening and reported the sea had gone down and it was gorgeous out there. For about a milli-second we thought about leaving on Friday the 13th. NOOOO WAAAYYY.

We left early on Saturday, March 14th, and had a thrilling ride out the gate down to Half Moon Bay. Our crew jumped off there and left us waiting for better weather as it had turned SH&*&%%&^. OK you fill in the blanks. The seas abated and we had an easy motor sail down to Monterey and then to Morro Bay. The alternator on our Pathfinder, that should have been replaced, packed up just out side Morro so we went in to repair or replace it. The wind and seas picked up and we were stuck again. Three or four days later the Port Captain said we had a "window in the weather". They kindly offered to escort us out. We weren't certain whether to make sure we didn't get into trouble or to pick up the pieces if we did. A smart guy would have said wwhooo, wait a minute. It seems every time I stick my fingers in a weather window nature slams the window OOOUUUCH. We cleared the break water at 12:30. The first five miles were on a beam reach; an exhilarating sail. Then things got interesting. We turned DDW (dead down wind) at Point Bouchon; the wind and the seas picked up and away we went. We rolled up the jib and pulled a reef in the mainsail.

A million words have been used trying to describe conditions like these. I heard Steve Taft speak about trying to keep a heading in heavy weather. I can't remember his exact words. Something like keep the heading some where between east and south and try to drive around the breaking mountains. That's not it exactly it but pretty close. Over the years we have tried to take pictures of these conditions and even the best pictures can't convey the immense power of an angry sea. There are always high points, thrills and peaks of fear. You hang on, do the best you can, and the time flies by. Then something really memorable happens. You go on doing the best you can until the next memorable moment.

There were three high points on this trip. The first came early on. We had just reefed the main and the boat had settled down pretty well. Our old Brooks & Gatehouse instruments were working intermittently so Steffie brought up a Garmin hand held GPS. It was programmed to show our course and speed. I could see the read out from the helm. We had just climbed up a particularly large swell and were riding there for what seemed like ten minutes. White water from our wake crested above the deck level and the transom swim step threw a rooster tail ten feet on the air. I glanced at the GPS and could not believe SEVENTEEEEEN KNOTS speed over the ground. HOLY SUGAR!! If we had been flying we would have been on VFR (Visual Flight Rules). I was steering keeping the land on my left side and the open sea on my right side and if we were going that fast I didn't want to know. Steffie put the GPS away. We knew we were going fast the wake never broke forward of the cockpit. You could feel the boat accelerate on the front of each over-taking sea. As the sun sank behind us it threw long shadows of the waves as they rose behind us. Steffie had been below up dating our position on the chart. As she came up the companionway she looked over my shoulder and her eyes got about dinner plate size. She shut the companionway hatch and hopped into the cockpit and hooked on with her tether. I didn't have to ask her what was coming. The shadow of the approaching sea was covering the aft section of the boat and starting to go up the mast. Up and up some more until it was above the lower spreaders some thirty feet above the deck. I squared Lone Star to the swell's front as much as I could and up the elevator we went. Virtually every boat I have sailed on will talk to you as she sails along. Lone Star sort of hums. The faster she goes, the louder the hum. I think she got to E above high C that time. We went up then slid back on the top of that wave and sat there and just roooarrrred. It was THE sailing experience for both of us. Scared, exuberant and laughing, we rode her off the back of that wave and countless others until the ride was over.

As we passed Vandenberg Air Force base and closed on Point Arguello the sun sank into the Pacific. The stakes in this ride were going to rise exponentially. Our radio crackled and a voice said "This is the Control Center calling the southbound sailboat rounding Point Arguello." Steffie answered in her little girl voice "Who Me?" That brought the crew up short. The officer keying the mike was laughing so hard he could barely respond. Steffie gave him our course but when she told him we were doing 12 knots SOG I don't know if he actually believed her. As soon as the laughter subsided, they told us there was going to be an operation soon. We shouldn't worry. We were not is any danger. Nothing to worry about if we keep on our present course and speed we would be out of the evacuated area. Oh of course, we immediately began to worry!

Oh, my kingdom for a video camera! Ten or fifteen minutes later the whole land mass on our port side lit up with billowing clouds of fire. The rocket lifted off almost directly on our beam. Rose more or less straight overhead. Then the first stage blew off and we were looking right up that rocket's tail pipe when the three main engines ignited. Three pinpricks at first then three howling roaring rockets. Then phhsssttt! That dude was gone and over our horizon. Leaving us gasping for breathe.

We later found out that the waters off Vandenberg were restricted; the Port Captains in the area were required to tell all non-commercial traffic to go five miles offshore along that stretch of the coast line. We cleared Point Conception and turned left into the sheltered waters of the Santa Barbara channel. Steffie noted the time while I jibed the boat in the now non-existent wind and flat seas. We jibed at 6:30 pm. A sixty mile trip in six hours! Not bad for a pair of sailors pushing sixty years old! Not bad for a eighteen year old boat. It was a whale of a ride. We are glad we did it but next time it's someone else's turn on Lone Star.

Steffie has suggested I add this clarification. If I/we had any idea how nasty that ride was going to be we would have stayed at anchor. We have ridden out any number of hurricanes and chaboscos in our cruising life. Not once did I/we knowingly elected to go out in threatening weather. If you sail long enough and go far enough you will get caught out if you survive you really know what the phrase (really feeling alive) describes.

S&G Still Languishing in Southern France

Lone Star Raffle Update

2008-08-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

Bonjour Rafflers,

To date we have 23 commitments for Lone Star raffle tickets. Not an auspicious beginning BUUTTTT hope springs eternal. We will continue with this marketing concept until it is successful, we are sure it is no going to work, or we get an acceptable offer and our Baby goes on to her new life under new command.

Regardless of how things go we will be ready for any or all of you to come and inspect Lone Star on or about November 1. Let us know if you are coming we can arrange to pick you up at both the Guaymas or Hermasillo airports (not if you all come on the same day. Our jeep seats 5 in a crunch). We can also put you in contact with a Mexican family who have a small house just off the beach that is available at a reasonable rent.

That's about it from Southern France where Fall has Fell and would you believe it is getting cool/cold. I/E Cold nights, Cool days. Steffie & Gary Languishing in Pierrerue

Panta Rhei: ORC Certificate

2008-08-14T09:00:00.000-04:00

A scan of Panta Rhei's ORC Certificate, complete with technical specifications -- thanks, Ben!

Panta Rhei: Polar Diagrams

2008-08-13T15:13:00.002-04:00

Some scans of the polar diagrams for Panta Rhei, courtesy of Ben de Ruyter -- thanks, Ben!

The Frumious Bandersnatch

2008-08-07T18:52:00.004-04:00

Attached is a recent pic of Bandersnatch sitting on her Medway Yacht Club mooring.

Serendipity IMS Certifications

2008-08-07T09:00:00.001-04:00

USSailing was kind enough to provide us with a list of Serendipity IMS certifications from their database. Thanks goes to the Offshore Office for their assistance!

Certification Number, Yacht Name, Sail Number, Year

16637, AIR WAVES, 8937, 1986

15983, CHESAPEAKE, 15555, 1990

16922, COEUR DE LION, 15104, 1995

15981, CONQUEST, 26776, 1989

15870, CORSAIR, 8954, 1994

16619, FAST COMPANY, 43456, 1993

16915, FRUITION, 30707, 1984

16219, LOUISIANA CRUDE, 30404, 1997

16537, MOJOE, 15133, 2008 (ORR Rating)

16517, QUADRIGA, 30353, 1995

16553, TERMINATOR, 30810, 1996

17871, TIANA CARISSA, 69122, 2000

16193, TOSCANA, 6120, 1991

15807, TRUE NORTH, 23734, 1999

Acadia In The (Old) News

2008-08-06T12:25:00.004-04:00

A 1980 Sports Illustrated article about Acadia (view full story):

"Two years ago, in his first Acadia, [Burt Keenan] took third place in fleet in the Southern Ocean Racing Conference . Last year he was second. This year, in his new Acadia , he placed first in a strange, albeit convincing, style. He did not win any of the six races that make up the SORC circuit, but by the end of the first two, the 138-mile Boca Grande race and the 359-mile St. Petersburg to Ft. Lauderdale , in which he placed 12th and second, respectively—he led and was never headed. By the time the fleet reached Nassau , with five races done, Keenan's Acadia led her nearest rival, Tatoosh, by 37.5 points, and only two other boats out of 72 had even a slim mathematical chance of beating her. Taking 16th place in the short (27-mile) final race, Keenan finished No. 1 by a margin of 22.5 points."

Frumious Bandersnatch

2008-08-05T21:34:00.004-04:00

An update on The Frumious Bandersnatch, now owned by Brian Douglas and happily floating in the UK:

Hi Matt

For an S 43 owner this is a hugely interesting blog with lots of really useful info.

FYI - I bought "The Frumious Bandersnatch" from the Beneteau agent in Hong Kong when Alan Burge part exchanged it for a First Class 12 ( in 1987). I still own it, but it hasn't been raced in an awfully long time. ( I race a Projection these days!)

Bandersnatch is based in the river Medway in the UK ( Southeast ) these days. I brought it back from HK in 1990-91.

When I can get my head round how to upload a photo I'll send a recent one in - but I warn you, I have lots of questions about the boat as well!!!

rgds

Brian

============================
Some other FB-related comments:

When i first started with Horizon Sails in Hong Kong, there was a Serendipity-43 here called The Fromous Bandersnatch. owned by Dr. Allen (Budgie) Burgess. she was a tillered boat and the first one to use the tiller designed with a section of it turning upwards and then a slow grade of downward angle. this was done so that the driver would not bang the shit of his knee when power reaching. it was the only boat at that time that i could intentionally broach or rather jam the tiller down hard and climb like crazy and pull her out of it. great or climbing above a would be luffer. dough peterson did a great job of introducing balance in this design.

LONE STAR RAFFLE: OFFICIAL NOTICE

2008-08-05T08:35:00.000-04:00

LONE STAR RAFFLE: OFFICIAL NOTICE (posted by owner Gary Powell)

We are holding a raffle for Lone Star. We are offering 600 tickets at $200.00 (US) each. Buy as many as you wish. We will also register 60 alternate names for late-comers to cover possible defaults. We are aiming for a drawing in December 2008 or January 2009. Once there are 600 commitments, the funds will be collected. At that time you will send your certified check or money order by registered mail, return receipt requested to the address to be designated. Lone Star will then be open for inspection at Marina San Carlos for all ticket holders, or their representatives, for 30 to 60 days, or until all ticket holders have seen the boat or have communicated their satisfaction.

The drawing ceremony will be held in San Carlos. All ticket holders are invited to attend. The 600 tickets will go into a basket, or some other container, which will be available for inspection by ticket holders. A disinterested third party will draw the lucky winner's name. The drawing will be video-taped for those who cannot attend. A celebration party will follow the drawing with congratulations to the lucky winner and BOOOZZZZE for the also ran's. An absentee winner will be notified by e-mail or phone immediately.

How much did your last night out on the town cost? Is it now just a $200 dollar memory? With your ticket you may become the new owner of the finest high-performance cruising boat around. This is your official invitation to buy a chance to win Lone Star. The sooner we get our 600 entrants the sooner we can hold the drawing.

Lone Star will be transferred to the winner by Marine Documentation Service, Inc., 212 Commercial Ave., Anacortes, WA 98221. You can phone or fax them to confirm our clear title and ownership. We will e-mail you those numbers upon your request. Nevada title and registration will be transferred at our cost, approximately $125.00 (U.S). We will pay the escrow fee up to $250.00 (U.S). These funds will be credited if the new owner wishes to make other arrangements. The lucky winner will take delivery of Lone Star at Marina San Carlos. The slip rent will be paid to the first of the month following the transfer.

We invite your comments, questions and suggestions. With your permission we will post your contributions on our web site to share with your fellow ticket holders. Lone Star is still, and will be, for sale at $89,950.00 (U.S) until all 600 tickets are sold. The success of the raffle will terminate the necessity for the sale. Contact Marina San Carlos, San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico to confirm Lone Star's location.

We are planning to be back in San Carlos on or before November 1. E-mail us at this address and register for your chance: svlonestar@yahoo.com Please include your full name, home address, phone number and email address as well as the number of tickets you want to buy. We will reply and give you your numbers, 12 through 600. If you know someone who you think would be interested forward this email to them. Remember we are serious about the limited number of tickets.

See our web site at http://www.geocities.com/svlonestar/Lone_Star.html If you want more pictures contact us by email.

MoJoe Wins!

2008-08-01T12:51:00.005-04:00

MoJoe sailed to her first series win last night in the initial race for Jubilee Yacht Club's 2008 Fall Series. Competing against MoJoe in the 'A' fleet were three other boats: Heat Wave (J109 PHRF72), Blue Finn (FinnGulf37 PHRF90), and Priceless (Carrera290 PHRF96). MoJoe currently rates PHRF72 racing and PHRF84 cruising. Conditions were primo, with relatively flat seas, 15-18kts of wind, and eight crewmembers filling out the positions.

In addition, MoJoe recently posted an extremely close second place cruising result in the 2008 Beringer Bowl offshore/overnight race, coming in second to Ares (C&C402 PHRF105) by only nine corrected minutes!

Keep up the good work (ie, fun), guys!

Unsolved Mysteries

2008-08-01T09:00:00.009-04:00

Anyone having information that can shed light on the following vessels, feel free to post a comment:

* La Pantera, sail no. 59670, Finn Nielsen, 1999-2001, British Columbia area. Not a full Serendipity but an original Peterson 42 that sailed the 1979 Fasnet as La Pantera became Sunset (Terry B owner) became Chimera (Cliff L owner). No interior back then, steered by a tiller. Fun boat to sail as crew. I suspect a person could spend $100K making the boat sail to its rating today.

* And I believe the boat "Wolf Pack" was a Serendipity that I saw at the 1984 Kenwood Cup. Correction on Wolf Pack. I saw the boat in the 86 Kenwood Cup not 84. Still not sure if was a Serendipity.

* "The next year [1982]...Dreyfus (the builder) brought on 'Your Cheatin Heart' with Kolius and had a bad circuit. "

* one currently for sale in Sao Paulo Brazil [2007]

* Coeur de Lion of Detroit, for sale in Chicago in mid to late 90's, on 2001 IMS list. Was owned (and built for) Dr. Neal Wilson, and was raced out of Bayview Yacht Club. I did the Bayview Port Huron-to-Mackinac in 1993 and 1994 on the boat. Many of the locals nicknamed the boat, "Cord O'Wood". Great boat...

* Fast Company on the 2001 IMS list, M Edward Skinner III Anne Arundel County MD Built 1981

* I believe there was one named 'Oz' that sailed in MDR in the early '80s.

* another called Driller. both Winnebago models

* There was also one called SPECTRUM in San Diego owned by Bob Collins, and another called ELECTRA, also in SD, owned by Dr. Al Simon.

* ENESEAY (Sail# R67), a Peterson 43 owned by John Duffin in Australia

* BRA 2113 TEMBO GUACU PETERSON 43 1979 CLUB

* Meu-Lar III, Chile

Ruby Rose Richard A Gaines King County WA, Built 1983

* Pretty sure that Bill Buchan's "Sachem" is a Serendipity hull --- has a nice coach roof house, not full flush deck. Great boat and really fun to sail with a great group in Seattle. Still owned by Buchan family, still named "Sachem" (American Indian term for chief I think) - wheel boat and really done well. [update: Sachem is a Peterson 44 -- not a Serendipity]

* Ed (James?) McDowell used to have a graphic like this on the bow of his Serendipity-43 "Illusion"

Pied Piper

2008-07-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a short anecdote about Pied Piper from Getting Started In Sailboat Racing (ISBN: 0071424008), page 70:

"One of the best things about the phenomenon of apparent wind is, in some situations, it can be harnessed to generate a breeze where there seemingly is none. One day the Peterson 43 Pied Piper, for example, was sailing against two other Peterson 43s in a 30-mile port-to-port race on Lake Michigan that was almost directly downwind. For an hour after the start the three boats sailed side by side. Then the crew on Pied Piper decided to heat it up to a broad reach. It was light, blowing around 4 knots, but as the boat headed up the speed increased by nearly 2 knots. On the downside, this left the boat pointing about 15 degrees in the wrong direction. But once the boat was up to speed, the crew found it could slowly -- meaning about 2 degrees every 15 seconds -- bring the boat back down without losing what it had gained, thanks to its new apparent wind. A few minutes later the boat was actually sailing on its original course, but going 1.5 to 2 knots faster! Meanwhile, the other two boats were still barely moving. Later, after winning the race by over an hour, everyone had a great laugh about how lucky Pied Pier had been to catch that little sliver of air -- especially the crew that had caught the puff."

Apollo V

2008-07-29T09:51:00.000-04:00

Apollo V is a Peterson 43 located in San Diego and owned by Ned Knight that competed in the 1999 Transpac:

http://www.transpacificyc.org/99/entries/apollo.html

Richard Rodseth

2008-07-28T09:00:00.000-04:00

Obituary for Richard Rodseth, past owner of Vagary (now Blitz)

"Richard D. Rodseth age 69 passed away in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Tuesday evening, January 16, 2001. Richard's Peterson 43, "Vagary" sailed out of Muskegon, Mi. for the past 16 years. Richard was one of the leaders with Mr. John Nedeau "Windancer", for the most Chicago-Macinaws races of 51. Richard began his sailing days in Chicago and retired to the Muskegon area in 1983. In the winter he and Lillian resided in St. Petersburg, FL. Dick leaves a very long sailing legacy of different people he has sailed with and against. - Carl and Sue Petersen"

Malolo (Sail #22399)

2008-07-27T09:00:00.005-04:00

Some shots of Malolo (ex. Impulse), owned by Earl Libby, and located in Jamestown, Rhode Island. Malolo appears to have a Scanmar video camera system mounted to its stern:

Malolo is on the valid rating list (page 14) for PHRF-Chesapeake Bay

Malolo competed in the 2007 Marion to Bermuda Race

Malolo competed in the 2008 Bermuda Ocean Race (Annapolis to Bermuda)

Love Machine - was sold to Mark Usiskin -re named Tern- back in the late 70's - he had her for about a year - and then she was sold -( Mark then bought Golden Daisey ) I think Love Machine / Tern is now up in the Newport RI area - as Impulse

This PET43 has an aluminum hull and is not actually a Serendipity. But, it's still fun to keep track of her -- she has great history :)

Impulse

2008-07-26T09:00:00.001-04:00

Here's a shot of Impulse scooped up from the Jamestown Yacht Club's website

Blitz Profile Page

2008-07-25T09:00:00.002-04:00

Here's a profile page for Blitz, which includes the following picture

And, according to this report, it also appears that Blitz won its class (IRC G) in the 2005 Bacardi Bayview Mackinac Race

From SailorRose (SailingAnarchy.com):

"Blitz update for 2008 season: 1st DRYA Spring Series and 1st IRC-D for PH to Mac! We would have won the Mills if we had raced IRC (damn PHRF!). "

Conquest, a Navy alumna

2008-07-24T09:00:00.000-04:00

From The NPSC Site:

LCDR Dick Kammann, Jr., USN has been racing and cruising sailboats with family and friends since age eight. He has accumulated nearly 15,000 offshore miles, including four Bermuda races. During his first class (senior) year at the Naval Academy, Kammann was full time skipper of the team's Peterson 43, CONQUEST.

Soverel vs. Peterson

2008-07-23T16:25:00.001-04:00

From The Soverel 26 Owners' Site

"Despite the Grey Mist fiasco, Locura's owner believed strongly in Soverel's design ability, and he commissioned Mark to design a boat to win the SORC. A second Locura popped off Soverel's drawing board, this one 43 feet long and very fast. Going into the Nassau Cup, the final race of the Circut. Soverel found himself with a comfortable ten-point lead over Chriss Corlett and the Crew of the Peterson 43, Scarlett O'Hara.It looked like Mark's year at last, but....

The race started with a downwind drag race to the first mark. Scarlet got away clean and Soverel had to jibe away at the start in a port / starboard situation. He never recovered and finished far enough back to allow Scarlet to grab the overall fleet trophy."

Schuttevaer Update!

2008-07-17T08:36:00.001-04:00

This just in! Schuttevaer is alive and well in Muiden, Holland. Her name is now Panta Rhei, and she has been owned by Ben de Ruyter since 1993. Ben's original comment can be viewed on the main Schuttevaer page.

Serendipity Marketing: Brag Sheet

2008-07-05T10:00:00.000-04:00

Here's a scan of the brag sheet from the original marketing information published by Serendipity Yachts.

MoJoe Bermuda Pics

2008-07-02T09:00:00.001-04:00

Some pics sent in from MoJoe's Andy MacInnis from the 2008 Bermuda Race -- thanks, Andy!

Serendipity Marketing: Blueprints

2008-07-01T09:00:00.001-04:00

A collection of blueprints from the original Serendipity Yachts marketing brochure:

MoJoe Update

2008-06-30T09:16:00.002-04:00

A Bermuda update sent in from Andy MacInnis, who handles the foredeck for MoJoe:

"Imagine the Halifax race with heat and less sleep. The Gulf Stream was two sleepless nights of short, steep chop and high winds. Add another day of pounding on longer waves after that, and you get the idea. Several rain squalls that were so strong they flattened the rough edges off of the waves. Wet, sleep deprived, hungry, almost seasick, and we finished DFL in our class. But, I can't wait for the next one. The island itself makes up for any discomfort on the race. The beaches are amazing. So much history there, too."

Congrats on finishing, Andy -- a couple more seasons with the boat and she'll be blowing away the pack in 2010.

Goodbye Girl (Sail #15555)

2008-06-30T09:02:00.003-04:00

Some great history on Goodbye Girl from Ross Barth of Jefferson, Ohio:

"Goodbye Girl sail # 15555, was built for and first owned by Jim Bozell, from MHYC in cleveland, Ohio. I supervised construction in Costa Mesa Cal, in early 1980. Tom Dreyfus flew out to mount and fair the keel, Jim Pugh then with Peterson, also looked in on const. The boat was shipped to Jim's plant in Ohio, where it was finished, and loaded on its own lowboy semi trailer.

She hit the water flying, (I was on board as sailing master), and won everything in 1980; Lake Erie Race, Class A PH Mac, Lake Erie Boat of the Year, etc. Jim Bozell's illness forced her sale to Herb Finley, and I delivered the boat to Fla., in Jan 1981. She went on to many wins, and renamed "Chesapeak", won class at Key West a decade later.

What a boat...The best ever."

Thanks very much, Ross!

=========================
Mills Race early 80's - Serendipity 43 named Goodbye Girl. Blue hull, new on the scene and dusted our ericson 46. No idea where it went after that race... I always like those boats.

Goodbye Girl was out of Sandusky I think that the Disbrow brothers owned her

Then later that summer [1981] raced with Herb Finley on his Goodbye Girl out of Newport. He was the original owner (I think).

Original owner was Herbert Finley. Did the 1982 SORC.

According to Bill Reilly, Goodbye Girl competed in the 1982 Fort Lauderdale to Key West Race, as well as the SORC.

Scooped off of David Hamilton's website: Chesapeake is a Peterson 43. I was her navigator during 1990-1993. Sorry there is no picture. Highlights include winning Fall & Spring series in Annapolis, Race Weeks in Block Island, Soloman's Island and Key West, and the Maryland Governor's Cup (overall).

MoJoe Reaches Halfway Point

2008-06-23T13:57:00.003-04:00

MoJoe has crossed the halfway point and is now within 300nm of Bermuda. She's currently sitting in the middle of the pack, and sticking very close to the rhumb line.

Click here to access the race tracker

Serendipity Marketing: Welcome Letter

2008-06-18T09:23:00.005-04:00

We recently received some scans of the orginal marketing literature published by Serendipity. Here is the letter that came with the brochure:

MoJoe Ready For Bermuda

2008-06-16T09:24:00.006-04:00

Just got back from delivering MoJoe to Newport in preparation for the 2008 Newport-Berumuda Race. We left Marblehead at 12:30am on Saturday morning, put the sails up about an hour later, and sailed the rest of the way to Cuttyhunk. After a nice evening moored in Cuttyhunk Harbor, we headed on to Newport, greeting the fleet of the Onion Patch as we arrived.

With a crew of five, MoJoe handled the trip well, encountering only a couple of small issues along the way. She's running with five jibs, three spinnakers, and a brand new carbon fiber pole from Hall Spars. As with BB's comment on Fruition, the scheel keel has altered her ability to point by a couple of degrees. However, she's fairly fast on the reach, making a consistent 7.5kts on 12kts of wind with the #2 jib.

The energy in Newport is absolutely fantastic. Tons of boats and people are filling the city as the starting gun draws near. The harbor is bristling with towering masts, and gear is flying out of the shops faster than it can be unpacked and put on display.

Sitting in her slip next to the other offshore warriors, you can tell this Serendipity is back in her element, and ready to race.

Fruition Update

2008-06-16T09:23:00.002-04:00

From Battleship Bill (see comment on Fruition profile page):
"At summer 2008 Fruition is still moored at Hewitt's Cove in Hingham, MA.. She is kept up-to-date and, while used for almost exclusively for cruising, placed 2nd in the 2008 Figawi non-spinnaker top non-spinnaker class.

Fruition's New Orleans Marine hull was sent to Palmer Johnson for a first class fitting out by her original owner (two heads en suite, telephone pole-like Hood Sto-Way mast, etc.). She is, technically, a PJ-43, although her hull and measurements are exactly the same as a Serendipity 43. Except, of course, for the new, heavier 6'3" scheel keel that Jim Taylor designed for her and JAM in 2005. She sails very well with the new keel; she lost two or three point to weather but is slightly faster at all other points of sail.

Fruition is headed for the Caribbean 1500 Rally in Nov. 2008."

Fame-ous Photos

2008-06-07T23:57:00.008-04:00

Hi Serendipity 43 fans, I dug up some photos of Fame to share.

That's all for now folks. Happy sailing.

--Matt B.

Impulse

2008-06-05T11:58:00.005-04:00

"August 2006: The Serendipity 43 Love Machine, now Impulse is in Jamestown RI. And apparently just was sold after being on the market (softly) for a few years. She is in very good condition. and is well kept. "

Now named Malolo, owned by Donald Bresnan

Moonshadow

2008-06-03T09:18:00.001-04:00

Not much known about Moonshadow, other than a couple comments scooped up from the SailingAnarchy.com forum:

*My dad worked at a shop finishing Serendipidy 43's in San Rafael Ca for a few months back in 1981. While he was there Moonshadow was completed and raced in the '81 BBS. Think the owner was Bob Moe. Moonshadow was gorgeous with silver topsides and a black bottom. Think she left the Bay Area right after the BBS; I can't remember where she went to."

"There was also a cruising version called SILVER STAR that did the BBS in around 1981 or so. The "Slurpendripity" 43's came in two versions, one was a flush deck "racing" version, the other had a low cabin, smaller cockpit, and cockpit coamings, and was called the "cruising" version. I don't remember that either had much of an interior. Oops, the cruising version from the BBS was called MOONSHADOW, and had beautiful silver painted topsides."

From the SI Vault

2008-06-01T20:11:00.007-04:00

A great article from Sports Illustrated, March 09, 1981 (Volume 54, Issue 11) (click link for full article):

========================
Animal House Goes To Sea
This year's SORC winners are the guys from the Crude, whose antics are rude
by Coles Phinizy

"There was a time long ago when the object of the Southern Ocean Racing Conference was simple: It was an excuse for salty chums to gather and try to win trophies and drink each other under the table. Today the quest is more complex. The six-race series is now the proving ground on which boats rating between 30 and 39.9 feet try for berths on the U.S. team that will compete in Great Britain's Admiral's Cup series in August. It's also the place where skippers of craft great and small especially love to beat Dennis Conner, the hyperserious super-sailor from San Diego who has won fleet honors in three of the last six SORCs.

At the end of the series last week the men of Louisiana Crude, a rated 32.6-footer out of New Orleans, hadn't won a single race, but in the process of cultivating cirrhosis of the liver they did win the overall fleet title and selection to the Admiral's Cup team—and they beat Conner to boot. But because of serious illnesses in their families, Dick Jennings of Chicago and Tom Dreyfus of New Orleans, co-owners of Louisiana Crude, declined the Admiral's Cup berth and sold their boat, a setback softened for Dreyfus, who reckoned it was better to have crewed on Crude and beaten Conner than never to have sailed at all."

Need Sails?

2008-05-31T23:59:00.003-04:00

SailRite lists sail dimensions on their site for a variety of boats, including the Serendipity 43

Lone Star (Hull #10, Sail #77273)

2008-05-31T13:40:00.000-04:00

LONE STAR, Doug Peterson's SORC Serendipity 43', 1980. Re-fit, 1995-97, into an elegant, comfortable, high- performance cruiser. Daylight crossings between San Carlos and Punta Chivato will delight both the skipper and crew. Touches of home include: parque floors, entertainment center, custom galley, china closet, wine and goblet display, cedar-lined compartments for clothes and toiletries, linen locker, two person shower and large, comfortable berths. Lying in San Carlos, Mexico.

"Our observations during our 2 year building project confirmed in our minds that LONE STAR'S hull was epoxy reinforced with either kevlar, or carbon fiber, or both, along its principle support frames. This has been confirmed by the owners of the sister ships, WINGS and SCARLET O'HARA, although we have no Master Carpenter Certificate to this effect.

We have sailed LONE STAR in extreme conditions and never had any doubt that the boat was a lot tougher than the crew! "

Visit the Lone Star Website

Also, Lone Star is for sale:
Check out the listing

===========================================
The History of Lone Star
A Serendipity 43

Hull #: 10
ID #: NEX 431012790
Current Registration: NV 7710 KG

The Serendipity 43 was designed by Doug Peterson to compete in the 1980 Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC). These yachts were built by New Orleans Marine of a new epoxy composite. The design was strengthened by airex filled horizontal and vertical ribs in addition to seven 360 degree bulkheads. Lone Star's raised wedge-shaped balsa core deck was unique to only nine of these yachts. This Doug Peterson design is noted for its light weight, strength, flexibility and double digit speed.

Lone Star was built for Mr. Burt Benjamin and was successfully raced out of San Diego for eight years. In 1989, a consortium purchased Lone Star and raced her out of Los Angeles. In 1992, Mr. Dave Reed bought her and successfully raced her on San Francisco Bay in the Mid-Winter Series until 1995. The present owners Gary and Stephanie Powell have given Lone Star a new direction: a high performance, cruising yacht. With a knowledgeable women's insights, many modern cruising comforts were added between 1995 and 1997.

Sailed by her new owners, Lone Star passed under the Golden Gate Bridge on March 14, 1998 and headed South to Mexico where she has sailed the Sea of Cortez for nine years. At present she is berthed in San Carlos Marina, Sonora, Mexico.

Houn Dawg Photo

2008-05-31T12:57:00.002-04:00

Here's a shot of Houn Dawg (Team San Diego) taking first place in the 2006 NHRA Championships

Tiana-Carissa

2008-05-31T11:12:00.000-04:00

Tiana-Carissa is a Serendipity 43 owned at some point by Bob Neuerburg out of Seattle, as seen in this Cape Flattery race report from 2000:

View the race report

Also, from a 2000 Ranger 23 newsletter:

"I motored by the committee boat to clarify the location of the marks. The course as to a windward mark near the I-90 Bridge, a jibing mark near the east shore, the lee mark up by the I-520 Bridge, then back to the finish. The wind was light out of the south with a hint of more to come. The first start was at 9:30 so the big boats were tuning up. Haka, a Santa Cruz 50, Tiana Carissa, a Serendipity 43, Shoot the Moon, a Peterson 40, and about 10 other slightly smaller boats, were getting all woundup."

(Class 3: PHRF Heavy)

Carissa, 1984, Everett, WA, skipper/owner was Curt Lillebridge Ah yes, she was moored at Point Roberts for years, as I recall. A little more data on Carissa. Sail number 69122. Got 2nd. place in class in the Vic_Maui race in 84, and 1st. place in class in the Vic-Maui in 86. Did the Kenwood Cup in 86 and place somewhere in the middle of the class. Carissa did two Big Boat races in SF in 84 and 86. Did well doing the local Northwest and Canadian races when I was on the boat between 84-86. There were several owners after my time on the boat and don't remember who they were.

Tiana Carissa - owned by Curt Lillebridge in Washington from 1984 to 2000, and on the 2001 IMS list

"Ah yes, she was moored at Point Roberts for years, as I recall. More of a cruising version than a balls out racer, methinks."

Blitz (Sail #31377)

2008-05-30T10:07:00.002-04:00

Vagary was among the most successful. I know that I am missing a bunch.

Vagary was a bare hull Serendipity 43 bought from New Orleans and finished off by the original owner. It is now Blitz on Lake St Clair/Huron.

THE OLD VAGARY WITH THAT FAMOUS WHALE TAIL LOG ON THE BOW HAS BEEN FULLY REDONE IN DETROIT AND IS BLITZ, AND A GOOD OLD WAR HORSE. THE STICK WAS TAKEN OUT AND A 7FT RED WHEEL ATTACHED, AND IS BEING WELL SAILED BY A BUNCH OF "OLD" GROSSE ILE (LAKE ERIE) GUYS.AS A MATTER OF FACT THEY ARE TRYING TO FIND OUT SOME OF THE PHRF RATINGS OF SOME OF THE OTHER SERENDIPITY 43 AROUND THE COUNTRY. NEW OWNERS ARE BEING KILLED FOR THE OLD VAGARY RATING. DICK OWNED VAGARY FOR 20 YEARS, AND PUT THE CREW AND SAILS ON THE BOAT.

Blitz finished second in DRYA for the season [2007]. I also believe they won their PH to Mac class in 2005

Blitz is owned by someone named "Soutar", per this 2007 DRYA race report

Blitz runs a set of Doyle sails

5/30: It appears that Blitz is on the US Sailing ORR list (as is MoJoe). After a little more research, it appears that the "Peterson 43" designation simply means that it was a bare hull, whereas "Serendipity 43" means that the hull was fleshed out with a crusing interior. Technically, they are the same type of boat.

Cert#, 40089
Boatname,"BLITZ"
Sail#,"USA-31377"
Class,"Peterson 43"
Designer,"PETERSON, DOUG"
Beam,13.0
Draft, 7.7
LOA, 42.4
Disp, 19125
I, 57.0
J, 17.7
P, 50.3
E, 14.1
LP,153
Spinnaker,"Asym-Pole"
SMW, 31.8
SL, 59.6
SF, 32.2
AMG, 31.8
ASL, 55.8
ASF, 32.2
SPL, 17.7
Flotation,"1983-5-17"
VPPDate,"2008-5-28 17:2:55"
Chicago_Mac_All_Purpose_20kt, 0.922

16537,"MOJOE","USA-15133","Serendipity 43","PETERSON, D ",13.2, 6.2, 42.3, 23418, 57.6, 17.7, 50.5, 14.6,146,"Symmetric", 30.3, 57.2, 29.1, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 17.7,"2007-10-10","2008-5-28 16:56:43", 0.877

Red Baron (Sail# 30327)

2008-05-18T14:15:00.001-04:00

Here's Red Baron, a Serendipity 43 located in Tortola and purchased for what appears to be a great deal:

"Red Baron - holed in Puerto Rico in 1996, repaired in the BVI and just sold. "

View the Posting

From a 2002 BVI race report:

In the cruising class J/42 Keep It Simple and Sabre 402 Wildflower skippered by Gerry Ficks and Ron Noonan respectively will renew old rivalries. Barney Crook, one-time BVI resident and owner of Melges 24 Airgasm makes an appearance on J/120 Jahazi and Cliff Campbell's Freedom Dai Sei enters the fray together with Red Baron, a Serendipity 43, skippered by Nanny Cay's general manager Paul Warnock.

"There was a Serendipity Peterson 43 in the carribbean also for many years.. I think it was a glass boat and reportedly had been holed in a race and salvaged/converted to a live aboard and or charter for many years. Was painted red and re-named Red Barron"

"Red Baron, was in Nanny Cay, is a wedge deck, wheel, two spreader, S43, built 1980. Was owned by Paul Warnock, then Juan Requena Cobas, now Pamala Baldwin."

Comment from Paul Warnock (thanks, Paul!):
"There is a slight mistake on the history, it first belonged to Tom Hill in Puerto Rico and was named Titan 3. Tom is a very well known racing sailor and campaigned her successfully through many Caribbean regattas. He still races boats with the Titan name. Then Juan bought her from Tom and she was damaged in hurricane George whilst berthed on the dock in Puerto Rico."

Ra Carat Crude

2008-05-15T21:04:00.002-04:00

Found a posting on a Swedish site and was able to translate it using Google (thank you, Web 2.0):

"Shareholding in the Serendipity 43 Carat Crude Crude, highly qualified racer / cruiser. 8 shares á 100 000 SEC offered in this retired havskappseglare. In the first instance wanted a partner who wants to fix and may sail together type socialkappsegling but also able to use the boat for individual semestersegling a couple weeks a year. 1981 Doug Peterson design built in New Orleans Marin. Length 13.00, width 3.95, djupg 2.50. Westerbeke 50 hp. A heavy equipment, toilet, galley, life-raft. Many opportunities to influence its use."

The photo is from the user's profile -- I'm assuming it's a shot of Ra Carat Crude (ex. Michigan/Louisiana Crude). Don't be fooled by the photos of the boat -- if you look closely, they are of Wings!!!

Conquest Details

2008-05-15T20:40:00.004-04:00

Scooped up from the For Sale listing:

This Serendipity 43 is a performance cruiser/racer that is fitted more for racing, however with a small amount of work she could have a nice cruising interior, and would be excellent for performance cruising. The boat underwent an extensive restoration between 2003 & 2006, during which the exterior of the boat was completely restored by professionals.

The hull was faired and sprayed with Endura paint.

The deck was stripped of all fittings and restored including non skid, all fittings were re-bedded.

A rebuilt Pathfinder 55 HP engine, drive shaft, folding prop. and cutlass bearing have been installed.

The mast was stripped, re-enforced and painted with Spectra.

Standing rigging was replaced and inspected where necessary.

All lifelines were replaced.

The interior was stripped and is 75% complete.

The galley has been rebuilt.

The engine cover is new providing excellent access.

A new head was installed in 2006.

Galley
-------------
CNG 2-Burner propane Stove W/Oven
AC/DC Fridge
Formica Counter Tops
Single Stainless Steel Sink (New 2006)
Pressurized Fresh Water
Manual Marine Head (New 2006)

Electronics
-------------
Raytheon 2 KW Radar
Raytheon Chart Plotter
Raytheon St 60 Tridata Instrument (2003)
Raytheon ST 60 Close Hauled Wind Instruments (2003) With repeaters
Icom IC M127 VHF (2003) At Nav.
Icom VHF in Aft. Cockpit
Binnacle Compass
2 Steering Compasses
Stereo/CD (2003)
Salon & Cockpit Speakers

Electrical
-------------
Boat Rewired Over Last 3 Years By Professional
12 Volt DC Electrical System
(1) Engine Battery (2007)
(4) House Batteries /2007)

Deck & Hull
-------------
Fortress Anchor C/W 25' Chain & 175' Rode
Bow Pulpit & Rails
Fenders & Docklines
Side Stanchions & Lifelines
Vented CNG Locker
(2) CNG Tanks
Life Ring
Rescure Collar With MOB Pole & Strobe Light
Swim/Boarding Ladder
Navigation Lights
Fiberglass Deck
White Hull Color

Sails & Rigging
--------------
Alloy Mast
Rod Standing Rigging (Replaced 1998)
Navtech Central Hydraulic At Helm For Back Stay, Baby Stay, Vang, Outhaul. (Rebuilt 2007)
Spinnaker Pole
13 Lewmar Winches (Various Sizes)
Kevlar Sails ( New 2005)
Quantum Kevlar Racing Main
145 Kevlar Genoa (New 2005)
135 Jib Kevlar ( New 2005)
.75 Spinnaker
Dacron Blade

Mechanical Equipment
---------------------
(1) Manual Bilge Pump
(1) Electrical Bilge Pump
Manual Wheel Steering
Fuel Tank (New 2006)
Martech Folding Prop (New 2005)
Shaft & Cutlass Bearings (New 2005)
Emergency Tiller
(2) Fire Extinguishers

SDY43 Half-models available

2008-05-13T09:52:00.005-04:00

Came across a couple companies out there who list the Serendipity 43 in their inventory of half-models:

Visit the site

Visit the site

More Red Baron Photos

2008-05-13T09:08:00.006-04:00

Fame (Hull #25, Sail #43266)

2008-05-12T10:25:00.003-04:00

Fame is a Serendipity 43 (sail #43266) owned by Gus Rutledge which races out of Raritan Yacht Club in the PHRF-MA (Mid Atlantic) region.

View a picture of Fame

A SailingAnarchy.com post by Matt Breef, who crews on Fame and collects SDY43 information:

More from Matt Breef:

"She was built by New Orleans Marine in 1981.

Fame is hull #25.

She is all carbon fibre with balsa cored hull and deck.She is a race version with a flush deck and a tiller.

The boat was commissioned by a racing syndicate out of NYC and sailed the SORCs between 1981 and 1985.

The boat was then donated to the New York Merchant Marine Academy. Gus bought the boat from the Academy in 1987.

She was originally christened "Fame" and the name has never changed.

Fame and Scarlett O'Hara were mentioned by name in the 1982 or 1983 Harken catalogue as boats using Harken rudder bearing systems.

The 1984 book "Great Yacht Races" [Fisher, Bob - ISBN 978-0941434577] has a photo of Fame in it, it was from the start of one of the SORC races. Coincidentally, the book also has photos of two other boats that were from the same yacht club Fame lives at, Raritan Yacht Club. These boats were also Doug Peterson designs, Impy Sinett's Willawaws.

Fame currently rates 66 in PHRF Mid Atlantic."

More Red Baron Photos

2008-05-11T21:42:00.001-04:00

Scarlett O'Hara: Rescued!

2008-05-10T14:26:00.001-04:00

========================================
Puddle Jump Boat Rescued by Mexican Navy
April 9, 2004 - South Pacific

John and Renee Prentice of San Diego were among the most experienced sailors in this year's Pacific Puddle Jump fleet, and their Serendipity 43 Scarlett O'Hara was very well equipped. But that did not make them immune to breakdowns.

Having departed Puerto Vallarta on March 15, they had sailed 700 miles of the 3,000-mile passage to the Marquesas when, at 3am on March 20, their rudder broke off. "We tried to build an emergency rudder," explained John, "but it lasted only a few minutes in the large seas and strong winds."

Luckily, they were able to raise Don Anderson of Summer Passage who assisted them in contacting the Mexican Navy, which initiated a rescue and eventually towed Scarlett O'Hara all the way back to Manzanillo. "We cannot say enough good things about the way the Mexican Navy handled us - they towed our boat for six days!!!" said John. "They were professional and very concerned about our safety and were careful to not cause any further damage to the boat."

The Prentices are now completing repairs and say that they'll probably give the Puddle Jump another try next year. Three cheers for the Navy!

MoJoe (Hull #9, Sail #15133)

2008-05-10T12:37:00.002-04:00

2008: MoJoe (sail #15133), a Serendipity 43 owned by Joe Naroski of Marblehead, Massachusetts has recently gone in the water after a winter of hard work converting her from JAM (the cruiser) to the racer she is now. Joe is planning on entering her in the 2008 Newport-Bermuda race.

According to the records which came along with JAM, the vessel's name used to be Jammin'

"Back in 1988, 0r 1989 ther was a bitcin looking one called Jammin' in Northern Michigan. It had a silver metal flake paint job, that everyone was afraid to scratch. The owner was killed in an automobile accident the night before the Red Fox Regatta. Don't know what happened to that one though."

"Jammin in Northern Michigan in 1988 or 89, on the 2001 IMS list"

More photos of MoJoe

2008-05-10T12:32:00.001-04:00

Doug Peterson

2008-05-09T14:47:00.001-04:00

Doug Peterson
A talent for designing speed
Apr 24, 2002
Sailing World Magazine

In the mid-'70s, Peterson's designs dominated offshore racing events, with a string of high-profile IOR boats such as Ganbare, Gumboots, Imp, Eclipse, Yena, Rubin, Ragamuffin, and Moonshine.

He also designed several other stock racers such as the Contessa 35 and the NY 40. Peterson later entered the America's Cup circle as a key member of the winning '92 America3 and '95 Team New Zealand design teams. In 2000, Peterson designed the winning Louis Vuitton Cup boat for Prada. Looking to repeat, he again designed Prada's two boats for the 2003 America's Cup.

Visit the Wikipedia page for Doug Peterson, the designer of the Serendipity 43

Scarlett O'Hara: A Long and Interesting Life

2008-05-09T14:28:00.000-04:00

"A Long and Interesting Life (near end of page)

=======================================
A Long and Interesting Life
January 30 - Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

Some boats seem to be fated to spend relatively dull lives, mostly stuck in their berths. But that's not true of boats like the Serendipity 43 Scarlett O'Hara. She was commissioned by [Monroe Wingate] in the early '80s, and as we recall enjoyed great success in the SORC and the Admiral's Cup in England which, at the time, were the zenith of offshore racing. She didn't fare as well in the Pan Am Clipper Cup Series in Hawaii, as she dropped her rig in one of the early races.

Many years later, Scarlett was acquired by John and Renee Prentice of San Diego, who worked hard to convert her into a cruising boat. They cruised her quite a bit - and quickly, too - in the Baja Ha-Ha and around Mexico. But trouble struck shortly after heading for the Marquesas - their rudder snapped off.
When we bumped into Renee on the docks the other day, she had to tell us all about their new rudder - although it's not clear to us when they got it. "Our new rudder is all carbon and came from the Santa Cruz 70 Mongoose. It only cost $300!"

John confirmed that they picked up the rudder - which probably would have cost $15,000 if they had it made - for just $300 from Minney's Marine Surplus in Costa Mesa. "I hardly had to do any modifications, and it works great."

Another thing Renee loves on Scarlett is the solar-powered night lights that a friend brought down from Costco in the States. "They only cost about $7 each, and they make great night lights inside the boat. We used to have some of the amber ones, and they were pretty good, too. In fact, one night we were ashore with a bunch of other cruisers at Tenacatita Bay, and a bunch of thunderheads came through with lots of wind. Boats were dragging and bumping, and we all had to get back to our boats as quickly as possible. The only way we were able to do it was by the amber lights, and the only way others were able to do it was by their boat's position relative to the amber lights of our boat"

Tommy Dreyfus

2008-05-09T14:26:00.003-04:00

A blog article by Fred Roswold (Wings) about the late Tommy Dreyfus

1984 SORC Report

2008-05-09T13:34:00.007-04:00

Some scans of a 1984 SORC race report. Page 2 lists Pied Piper, Michigan Crude, and Celerite as competitors (along with Tommy Dreyfus' Detente -- lots of drama there).

More Scarlett O'Hara Photos

2008-05-09T13:01:00.003-04:00

Scarlett O'Hara, 1983 SORC Champion, Miami-Nassau Race

Scarlett O'Hara, shortly after leaving the starting line of the 1983 Fastnet Race (Admiral's Cup)

Scarlett O'Hara docked at the 1985(?) SORC.

More Conquest Pictures

2008-05-09T12:05:00.002-04:00

More Counterpoint Pictures

2008-05-09T11:55:00.004-04:00

More Wings Pictures

2008-05-09T11:50:00.008-04:00