In 1987 Randall Pittman packed up his J/35 and moved to the East Coast. Now, fifteen years later, he returns with his magnificent 140' Whirlaway to share his good fortune with his old crew and sailing buddies in Seattle.


By Richard Hazelton

The scene on the dock was a familiar one, the skipper sorting out bottles of wine from Pete's store on Lake Union, for a boat party. But this time there were crates of wine, and the boat, a 140' blue hulled beauty named Whirlaway was at the dock. Randall Pittman had returned to take his old J/35 fleet, Juggernaut crew and other sailing friends he'd made in Seattle for a sail, a picnic and the Fourth of July Fireworks on Elliott Bay.
      Going up the gangway onto the boat takes you into another world. Everything is familiar; the roller furlers, the sheet winches, wheels at the steering stations, but the sheer scale also makes everything look completely foreign. The furlers on the jibs are as big as a person. The boom towers over even the tallest person on deck. The cockpit, well, think of it more as a fine outdoor lounging area at your favorite resort, with plenty of comfortable seating for you, your family and friends.
      Keith Lorence is a familiar name to Northwest sailors having spent many years racing and building sails, most notably running the Sobstad loft in Seattle before moving to San Diego. He now is the consultant to Randall on his sails for his racing and cruising boats. His wife Laurie was sitting in the cockpit as I was looking around the boat, trying to take everything in. As I was walking around this big thing I stopped to take a closer look. It was a winch! (see picture at right for scale). The giant Lewmar was so big I hadn't really noticed it earlier. My mouth dropped open and I pointed at it, looking at Laurie. She just smiled and nodded. It was pretty much to be the theme for the day.
      Whirlaway was designd by Dubois Naval Arch. (www.duboisyachts.com) and built in 2002 by Vitters Shipyard in the Netherlands (www.vitters.com). She is the sistership to African Queen, now renamed Red Dragon. Randall, however, wanted to increase the performance so the draft was increased to 4.7m, and an extending dagger board was designed to take the draft to 7m when sailing upwind. This added righting moment and allowed for a taller rig, (170 ft.) for added sail area.
      Another modification to make the boat lighter was the use of Nomax panels. These panels are used in airplanes because of their strength, thermal and sound deadening properities, but especially for their light weight. "We saved 89,000 pounds, compared to the sistership," says Randall.
      But increasing performance in no way compromised the comfort and pure luxury of the yacht. The Dubois theme features split level saloon areas with owner and guest accommodations aft and crew quarters forward. The interior was styled by Redman Whitely Dixon.
      To go below on Whirlaway is more like entering a "Street of Dreams" house than a yacht. You really do have to remind yourself you're on a boat. With 140' length and 29' of beam, you don't need to scale down chairs, tables, or settees. Actually, you don't really have settees, they're couches, and full dining room sets instead of sliding into a horseshoe.
      Even with its size, there are still many ingenious ways in which space is used. For instance, in the center of the dining room table is a hidden flat screen that rises up to turn the sitting area into a home theater. Actually, flatscreens are seen throughout the boat. Among other functions, you can call up a page and check on the status of any system on the boat, and with a boat this size, there are a myriad of systems. Again, just for scale, the freshwater maker can put out 2000 gallons per day.
      Designers have used several types of mahogany to create a very comfortable and home-like feeling throughout the boat. You are not aware that this wood is mostly facing over the Nomax core to keep the weight down. Another striking feature of the boat is the artwork. Rare and original artwork adorns the walls of the rooms (cabins). To answer the obvious question, yes, the air in the boat is specially treated so as not to affect the art. One such piece an original portrait of the famous race horse after which the boat is named, "Whirlaway", painted in the 1940's. "All my boats are named after race horses," says Randall. Whirlaway, Genuine Risk, Ruffian. I see a parallel between race horses and racing sailboats -- all have grace, power and speed."
      Randall Pittman first came to Seattle in 1977 to join the management program at PACCAR. He had a Newport 28 which he later traded in on one of the first J/35's in the area, Juggernaut, which he raced very successfully throughout the Northwest.
      In 1987 the J/35 North American Championships were held in New York, which coincided with Randall having to move to New York to work on Wall Street (he later went into the healthcare industry). So the boat was shipped east, both to race in the North Americans, and as a free shipping container loaded with books.
      "The boat was launched, still loaded with books, and the New Yorkers couldn't believe how low it was in the water. They thought it was funny," grins Randall. "They asked us what our game plan was, and we said "We're passing you -- good. You're passing us -- bad."
      Juggernaut was sold into the Chicago area and Randall concedes, "I still have warm feelings everytime I see her." Now, standing aboard this fabulous cruising yacht, you'd think this would be the topic of the day. But no, like all racing sailors all Randall wants to talk about is his new race boat, the 90' Genuine Risk. It's easy to see why. We watched a DVD on the building of Genuine Risk at McConaghy Boats (mcconaghy-aus.com) in Australia, and test sails in Sydney Harbor which produced truly impressive results. "In 6-8 knots of wind we were doing 11 knots to windward," grins Bill Engle, another Northwesterner. "We also cracked 20 knots on a reach," adds Keith.
      In looking at all the background testing in tanks, windtunnels and computers, it's easy to see why Genuine Risk could be considered the most advanced 90' yacht on the planet. "This is a no compromise project." says the Dubois design team.
      Of course everything is carbon fiber; sails, hull, mast, but there are two things that set this boat apart; the Caraboni canting keel and the fore and aft rudders.
      A canting keel is one that can be adjusted from side to side to help flatten the boat. In other words, if the boat is heeling to port, the keel is raised to starboard. The keel can swing through 100° (fully port to fully starboard) in just 8 seconds.
      There was some concern that canting keels would not be allowed in next years TransPac, but after seeing the amazing performances of the new canting keel boats in some exhibition races, some boats were changed, even in mid-build, to accomodate this new technology.
      There's always the question of what happens if the keel doesn't come over to the other side on a tack? That was answered in an incident related by Keith Lorence during a test sail. "We tacked over and I was a bit late in getting the keel across, so the boat really heeled over. There was a crash below and I looked down to see that Charlie McKee had been thrown completely out of his bunk. I didn't want to go down below. Later, Charlie came up on deck rubbing his head and commented, "what happened on that tack'?"
      Charlie is part of the Northwest connection on "Genuine Risk". He and brother Jonathan have signed on to race on the boat. Charlie will do tactics and Jonathan will do helm and main.
      "We're glad to have Charlie and Jonathan on the boat. They're always attracted to innovative and creative projects," says Randall.
      The Northwest connection continues with Fritz Lanzinger and Mark Newbrook also on the crew.
      Pittman has put together an impressive team, and he emphasizes the word "team". "Our philosophy on the boat is to put together a team that respects and enjoys each other. I would rather have a good sailor that fits into the team than a great sailor that doesn't fit. It's the Northwest style, it's who we are."
      The other standout innovation on the boat is the forward rudder. The forward rudder is not a fixed foil but a true turning rudder. When the boat is tacking the forward rudder turns faster than the aft rudder, allowing the boat to carve a very smooth turn. An analogy would be to a hook and ladder fire truck where you see the man in the back steering as well as the guy up front.
      With all these new variables, tacking takes a bit of choreography. First the front rudder is turned, then the back follows, while at the same time the keel is being brought to the new windward side. Add this to the rotating mast and the sails and you have to have a pretty good crew, not to mention precise.
      After testing in San Diego, Genuine Risk took her show on the road for her first race in Chicago, the Port Huron-Mac race. And it's quite a show, with six semi-trucks and trailers in her entourage: one semi for the boat, one for the mast, one for the keel, one for the tender, and two semis just full of boat stuff. A far cry from putting books in the J/35 to save moving expenses.
      Obviously Randall has done pretty well financially which allows him to take his racing dreams to this high level. "What drives me is that, as a kid I'd look in the magazines and see boats like Windward Passage and Kialoa. It has always been my dream to race a boat like that. Now, with the new Maxi class, we hope to recreate some of the old enthusiam around these boats."
      Randall also hopes to plant dreams in young sailors today. "We take kids out on Genuine Risk for a day and it's something they'll remember for the rest of their lives."
      He's also used Whirlaway as a dream maker. "We took 21 kids to the Galapagos Islands. It was great, sand all over the boat. If even just one kid becomes a scientist because of this, it's all worth it."
      Randall is living his dream and his enthusiasm reflects that same excitement he had as a kid, or when he was racing J/35's on Puget Sound. "I'm the biggest kid," he admits. And a good kid he is, to come back and share his toys with his playmates.

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