"Coriolis" shines like a diamond as she sails her course across the cobalt blue water off the emerald green forests of the San Juan Islands, an archipelago in the US state of Washington, close to the Canadian border. This Concordia Yawl 41 is a symphony of mahogany, teak, spruce and varnish. She has been owned by Douglas Adkins, a retired investor, since 1981.
Because he has the necessary funds, Adkins can afford his weakness for classic cars with wheels and masts. In his private harbour in West Sound on Orcas Island, a Bertram motor yacht and a restored Boston Whaler from the 1980s were bobbing alongside "Coriolis" during a visit to YACHT a few years ago. Meanwhile, the shed is full of old cars: a 1964 Porsche, a 1941 Dodge Power Truck and a well-used Land Rover. A classic Pocock rowing boat made of wafer-thin cedar wood, as rare as the Blue Mauritius, hovers above it all. But financial leeway coupled with selective lapses of budgetary common sense are not uncommon among classic car enthusiasts. In the case of the "Coriolis", they were in fact decisive prerequisites for this yacht still existing at all. Foot Pump
Concordia Yawls, it is said somewhat mystically, exist beyond space and time. The evenness of their proportions, the finesse of their lines and the beguiling grain of teak and mahogany make these yachts a work of art from another planet compared to today's mass-produced products. Their perfect outlines could just as easily have sprung from the imagination of a child drawing sailboats. Free from the formulas, curves and calculations of adults.
The fact that these yachts were built in Lemwerder by Abeking & Rasmussen between 1950 and 1966 is an important part of their legend. The German workmanship with the precisely executed dovetail joints and the invisibly smooth plank joints laid the foundation for the fact that most of these Concordias are still sailing today. A total of 103 were built, 99 of them at A & R, according to plans by C. Raymond Hunt, who had designed this type of ship in 1938.
At the time, Hunt was a business partner of Llewellyn and Waldo Howland, the bosses of the Concordia shipyard in Padanaram. They had to cope with the loss of his family yacht "Escape", a gaff-rigged Colin Archer cutter that had been destroyed by a hurricane. Hunt's reputation as an ingenious designer who intuitively knew what made boats fast preceded him. He was guided in his design by the instincts of a successful racing sailor, but also by the wishes of the Howlands, who had specific ideas about equipment, performance and design.
The cooker, for example, had to be installed on the starboard side because this supposedly suited the majority of customers, who are right-handed. The bunks had to be foldable so that they didn't get in the way when racing. And the water tanks had to be easy to remove for inspection and cleaning. A built-in engine was essential, as was a separate toilet. The boat was also to have a yawl rig, as this was advantageous according to the Cruising Club of America's measurements at the time and the tiny mizzen was also supposed to keep the boat better in the wind when anchoring.
However, the Howlands also attached great importance to aesthetics and proportions. They didn't want to leave anything to chance. Every curve was discussed, analysed and moderated. Because the helmsman was to have an unrestricted view forwards, the deckhouse was designed to be low and narrow. "The dimensions of the coachroof were carefully worked out, so that the deck step and the height of the sides fitted harmoniously into the overall design," wrote Waldo Howland.
The result is an extraordinary yacht with a fabulously bold deck, moderate freeboard and a graceful stern. Compared to the wide sterns of today's production boats, it is so dangerously elegant that it would actually require a firearms licence. The thin crescent moon at the aft end of the Ziergöhl is easy to miss. At the front, on the other hand, it's more dignified. The bow with the self-confident five-pointed star on its sides is a stunner. It was not created in the towing tank, but through Hunt's familiarity with the shallow, windy and often choppy Buzzards Bay, where Concordia mainly sailed.
Originally, these yawls were only 39 feet long, but actually measured almost 40, i.e. a good twelve metres. Because business was booming and A & R was able to deliver fine goods at much more favourable conditions than US shipyards, Hunt added a slightly larger 41-foot version. Twenty-six of these were built in Lemwerder. The 41-footer, like "Coriolis", is only half a metre longer, but has one more plank walk and thus more space below deck, but basically retains the lines and proportions of the original. According to the current head of the Concordia shipyard, Robert MacGregor, it was important that the two types could compete against each other without being penalised.
"Coriolis", which was imported to the USA as "Starsight" in 1960, actually only had three sailing owners who never skimped on maintenance. She was probably given away twice to educational institutions in New England for tax reasons, but they sold her immediately. There was also an interlude with a flamboyant architect from South America. He only owned it for a short time, but still got a lot done. "He had new electronics and a diesel installed," recalls Adkins. "But he also did some crazy things, like colouring the cabin roof green and covering the bunks with leopard-skin sheets."
But then the West Coast investor replays in his mind the fateful day in early 2002 when he learnt that his ship was on fire. A fire had broken out in the harbour of the Seattle Yacht Club. A wreck, burnt down to the rubbing strake, was all that remained. The insurance company wrote it off as a total loss. The current value was paid out, but that was not enough to make up for the loss. So Adkins bought back the charred Hulk.
"It was painful to write that cheque," he says with a serious face. But he had no other choice, because the yacht was simply part of the family. There were too many fond memories associated with it, such as winning the Master Mariners regatta in San Francisco and the tours with his wife Susan and their two daughters, to whom "Coriolis" was almost a sister.
"Drinks for eight, dinner for four and a good night's sleep for two," says Adkins, referring to the advantages of this type of boat. He couldn't stop thinking about this and therefore turned his attention to the question: who should repair "Coriolis"? Only the Concordia shipyard came into question, although it is located 5,000 kilometres away from Seattle on the east coast in Padanaram on Buzzards Bay.
"She was a picture of horror, in a really bad state," recalls Gary Harwood, the boat joiner who looked after Coriolis there. "I said to her: 'Don't worry, we'll fix you up, everything will be fine'." The solid teak deck, the skirting boards, the seat thwarts, coamings, winch platforms, hatch covers and part of the port side sheer gangway were renewed. More complicated was the milling off of the charred mahogany on the sides of the superstructure, over which new wood was then laminated. The cabin roof could be repaired with epoxy, and new spars made of Sitka spruce with a 1.50 metre higher mast were added.
In the summer of 2003, "Coriolis" was then painted to perfection to celebrate a brilliant comeback in the truest sense of the word. Adkins left her in New England for two seasons and sailed in the classic regattas there. And there were also tears to be shed over Harwood's farewell gift, which consisted of a charred cleat mounted on a varnished board with the inscription: "'Coriolis' - may she find joy in distant harbours."
She found joy in the clear, cold waters of the Pacific Northwest, where the rendezvous with the YACHT took place a few years ago. "She is one of the most complete Concordia Yawls," Adkins proudly announced, listing the upgrades, such as the well-patinated but larger bronze Barient winches, the back-friendly electric anchor windlass on the foredeck and the wheel steering as well as her triangular rudder, a more streamlined special part designed by Ted Hood.
There is also a huge emergency tiller, lashed to the main bulkhead in the cabin. Ready to hand is a different matter, but it would certainly be ideal for steering if necessary. Then there are the typical Concordia folding bunks made of galvanised iron pipes, the manual water pump in the sink, the toilet hidden in a large box, whose multifunctional doors create a private bathroom amidships when open - all still original. Adkins is particularly proud of his vice, which enhances the workshop in the foredeck, the cabin stove, a custom-built model of course with a crescent moon and star, and the flag box, from which, as a self-confessed vexillologist, he likes to fish signal flags, which he then calls to show the nautical correctness of the situation.
An afternoon breeze from the south-west was the thing of the moment and everything was ready to go in no time, with Adkins at the wheel, assisted by his wife Susan and Miles McCoy, a neighbour. McCoy in particular was clearly delighted. As the former skipper of a marvellous Crowninshield schooner, he is well aware of the beauty of this yawl. Coriolis" gratefully accepted the gusts that rippled the West Sound, with the ten-tonne ship moving surprisingly light-footedly despite the small self-tacking jib and also having good dimensional stability thanks to the extremely hard-curved bilge. The performance was also favoured by the longer mast and the resulting additional sail area of around five square metres, which does not harm the ship in light winds.
The compromise that Adkins is making means more work for the mainsheet trimmer, who only has to tame the cloth with a winch attached to the centre of the bridge deck without a traveller - as well as windward yaw, which is noticeable even in light winds. Adkins is therefore considering a bowsprit, which would allow larger headsails, which would also move the sail pressure point further forwards and thus reduce the rudder pressure.
Ray Hunt himself was the first to do so, as he had his own Concordia 41 built by A & R in 1955. It was called "Harrier" and was rigged as a sloop with a bow platform for larger headsails. First he and his family went on a holiday trip, then, also with his family on board, he won Cowes Week and would probably also have triumphed in the Fastnet Race if a shroud tensioner hadn't broken on the way. It was - almost - perfect proof of the realisation of the basic idea behind the design of the Concordia Yawls: to create a boat that is pleasant to look at on the one hand, but is also great fun to sail both on tour and in regattas on the other.
And this was also evident on "Coriolis", this naturally varnished beauty that almost fell victim to a fire 15 years ago, but thanks to Adkins' weakness for beauty and old things, continues to majestically make its way along the cobalt blue water in front of emerald green forests.
This article first appeared in YACHT 05/2018 and has been updated for this online version.
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