SERENADE

● Name: SERENADE

● Rig : 7/8 MARCONI CUTTER

● Year: 1938

● Designer: NICHOLAS POTTER

● Builder: Wilmington Boatworks, CA-USA

● Location: NE USA

● LOA: 18.90

● LOD: 18.90 m

● LWL: 12.20 m

● BMax: 4.0 m

● Depth: 2.70 m

● Displacement: 23 T

● Engine: YANMAR 4JH3 THE-96 hp -1999

● Equipments:  

Electronics and Navigation Compass in original Herreshoff brass binnacle ICOM VHF Brooks & Gatehouse depth

sounder Apparent wind / speed indicator Close-hauled indicator Masthead wind indicator Simrad radar Simrad /

Roberstom AP-21 autopilot Simrad GPS / chart plotter AM / FM radio cassette CD player 2 B&G Hydra repeaters (back,

aft cabin) 1 G&G repeater (engine/elec. panel area)

Sails & Rigging

A complete set of sails (new in 2000) were custom made by Doyle of New Zealand. 7/8 sloop rig varnished hollow

keel-stepped sitka spruce spars (1985) 2 spinnaker poles snatch blocks genoa tracks boom original Wilbo winches  

Electrical 12v lighting & staring system Amptech 160 amp & 75 amp engine alt. Balmar Max-Charge alternator/regulator

110/220 v 60/50hZ shore power hookup master switch Link 1000 monitor battery condition indicator. (3) 12v 4d house

batteries (1) 12v Optima starting battery circuit breaker panel Freedom 25 2,500 watt inverter 130 amp charger Heart

Echo charger (for emergency battery charging)

Ground Tackle

Original bronze Herreshoff vertical windlass converted for use as both manually and by electrical power. Removable bow

roller, original fisherman anchor, secondary anchor and rode.  

Equipment engine-room bilge blower 4 fire extinguishers Espar hot-water heater Full-length winter cover (Fairclough)

Plumbing for deck wash hose manual bilge pump air horn original dinghy boom with light Cockpit cover

● Costruction and Accomodations: Construction

(Please note: SERENADE was rebuilt in 1999; many of these original construction materials have been replaced with top

quality materials.) Built by the Wilmington Boatworks Company in Wilmington,California in 1938, SERENADE is

double-planked mahogany over cedar, and has white oak frames, keel, backbone, deadwood and floor timbers. Her

original stem was mahogany. Bronze screw fastened throughout. Cabin house is varnished mahogany with dynel-covered

cedar cabin house top. Herreshoff binnacle-and-quadrant steering.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Accomodation

(Please see interior diagram .jpg for complete layout. Note: interior layout plan is mostly accurate: there is no access to the

engine room from deck; there are two access doors adjacent to the ladder below deck.)

Special attention was paid to the joiner work during her restoration. Interior is original varnished butternut; cabin sole is

teak.

SERENADE sleeps nine comfortably. Ample accommodation consists of 5 single, 1 double, 1 pilot and 2 pipe berths.

From up forward, moving aft: sail locker followed by crew’s quarters: full-width double v-berth, 2 lockers. Next aft is the

galley: full width; sink and pressure hot and cold water system with 15-gallon hot water tank; Paul Luke propane 3-burner

stove with oven, custom stainless steel icebox and Seafrost DC-5000 fridge. Next aft is roomy main salon. Many original

details exist in this lovely mid-ships space: fireplace, gimballed drop-leaf mahogany dining table (seats 6) and semi-spiral

staircase leading to the deck. Also in the main salon: settee berths port and starboard, bookcases, and storage cabinets.

Aft of the spiral staircase is access to the guest stateroom: two berths, bureau, mirror, shower. Across from guest

stateroom is a second head. Next aft is a double stateroom with berths to both port and starboard. Double has private

access to the deck and its own head with shower.

● Description:   ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Restoration Between

1999 and 2000 SERENADE underwent a restoration by the fine craftspeople at William Cannell Boatbuilding in Camden,

Maine. The project required most of a full year of intensive work that included removing the deck, all of the interior, and

replacing every frame. Particular attention was paid to retaining all original hardware, butternut interior paneling, spiral

staircase, brass fireplace, Herreshoff windlass and compass binnacle. Her restoration included the following: new solid

teak deck new stem new stern stem complete refastening new frames 100% new deck houses and hatches new hull

planking (partial) new systems new engine (1999 Yanmar 96 hp) new mast step with bronze mast partners

repair/restoration – interior joinery ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SERENADE’s current owner is an avid classic yacht enthusiast and sailor and has taken great pains to maintain this vessel

in superb condition.

In recent races since 2000, SERENADE has proven herself as a fast and powerful yacht. She has participated in many

feeder races and regattas since 2000 and has placed near the top of her class in each. This vessel was designed, built and

restored with a keen eye for detail, aesthetics, and performance. She has many years left in her for the right individual

looking for a fast and superb classic vessel.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Owner’s Comments

“There are no sail tracks on the boat as we use the fact she has two tack downhauls to position the lead. This combined

with several leads on the deck enables us to not have a genoa track; the original did not have either. She has lazy jacks for

easier sail handling. The original wire reel halyard winch has been removed (but kept in storage) so that we can use a self

tailing Bronze Lewmar. The original owners – the Heifetz family – wanted to achieve that difficult combination in a

yacht: a competitive race boat while at the same time a comfortable cruising boat for the family, all packaged in an

attractive shape. In order to take advantage of the active racing fleets on the West Coast, he specified that the boat be built

using the Universal Rule as an N-Class racing sloop. Other boats of that class included the Herreshoff NY-40s. He also

specified that the boat be able to accommodate guests properly and so the boat has 6 feet of headroom throughout. In

addition, a separate guest cabin was configured which is unusual for a boat her size. When cruising short-handed, she is

sailed with an original configured self-tacking jib. The boat was originally configured with two headstays: one for the

self-tacking jib which is regularly hanked on, and the other one ready for any headsail change. This insured that the boat is

not sailed bald-headed. While this is convention today, it was not the case in 1938. In addition, she has 2 spinnaker poles –

the spinnaker pole attachments on the mast are off-center. This was to accommodate the fact that the Transpac is largely a

reach as in many offshore races. As a result, SERENADE jibes her large spinnaker by simply raising the new spinnaker

pole to meet the new luff. In effect, you jibe with two spin poles rather than the dip pole jibe. Finally, in an effort to take

every precaution regarding his “insured” hands, all sheets were led to the middle of the boat. Thomas Skahill, the noted

West Coast yacht historian notes that Elsa Potter tells of a race in which she was aboard along with Florence Heifetz, who

cautioned her husband to be careful setting up a running backstay. He replied that each finger was insured for one million

dollars!”

● Asking Price: SOLD

● History:

History

SERENADE was built by Wilmington Boatworks of California for the 1938 Trans Pacific Yacht Race (Los Angeles to

Honolulu) – the longest of the two oldest ocean races in the world. She was designed by American West Coast sailboat

designer Nicholas Potter, who worked between the late 1920s through the late ’40s; he has often been referred to as the

‘Herreshoff of the West.’

Her original owner, who commissioned her in time for the TransPac, was famous Lithuanian violinist Jascha Heifetz.

Other celebrity owners have included the Cousteau family and Zsa Zsa Gabor; Donald Douglas Sr. (of aircraft building

fame) was often skippering the boat when he was not sailing his own Potter-built M-class yacht. SERENADE is noted in

the Encyclopaedia of Yacht Designers by Lucia del Sol Knight and Daniel B. MacNaughton.

© Enrico Zaccagni www.zaboats.it