American Pearl

BOAT REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

The Rebuilding of AMERICAN PEARL

On December 3, 1999, at 13:46 GMT (18:46 EST), Tori Murden of Louisville, Kentucky, became the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean from the Canary Islands to Guadeloupe after 81 days at sea. Sponberg Yacht Design had a hand in the attempt, helping Tori to rebuild her boat, American Pearl.

This was Tori’s third attempt to cross the Atlantic. Her first try was in the 1997 Atlantic Rowing Race (ARR), sponsored by Sir Chay Blyth and The Challenge Business. Tori and her partner Louise Graff started the race in American Pearl, but had to retire early due to, of all things, food poisoning (one of four boats so afflicted). After Tori spent three days in a hospital, she and Louise restarted. One week later, the electrical system failed completely, and they retired for good.

In the summer of 1998, Tori made a west-to-east solo attempt on the northern route in the same boat, leaving Nags Head, North Carolina on 14 June with the intention of reaching France. She was attempting to become the first woman and first American to row solo across the Atlantic. She was sponsored by Sector Sport Watches of Italy.

Unfortunately, on the 85^th day, Tori had to abandon American Pearl in mid-Atlantic after being severely battered by the remnants of hurricane Danielle. In one period of 12 hours during this storm, American Pearl was capsized ten times and pitchpoled once. The seas were horrendous—breaking waves from multiple directions—truly survival conditions for any small boat. Tori hurt her back and dislocated her shoulder and could no longer row. Setting off her ARGOS transmitter emergency signal, Tori was soon picked up by a containership (named, ironically, Independent Spirit), bound for Philadelphia, and was given a hero’s welcome when she disembarked. Remarkably, American Pearl was found about two months later, floating alone in the Atlantic, intact and upright, by a tanker bound for France.

David Stookey, the publisher of Open Water Rowing magazine, had been following Tori’s exploits in print and suggested to her that he, she, and I meet in Newport, RI, to discuss a new solo transatlantic attempt, possibly in a new boat. This meeting occurred in January, 1999, and we also included Ted Van Dusen, expert rower and president of Composite Engineering which builds the Van Dusen racing shells. Discussions centered around putting together a new carbon fiber rowing boat designed specifically for Tori, such as the one shown in the sketch below.

Fig. 2. The conceptual design of a new boat for Tori Murden included expanded living accommodations in a 24’ multi-chine, lightweight, deep-V hullform. The cockpit is shorter than on the ARR design, and can be completely enclosed by a canvas cover.

Sector Watches was going to sponsor Tori again, but they and Tori did not have enough time or money for the new boat to be designed and built. The press to cross again that autumn was being driven by two other women (one from Norway, the other from France) who were themselves trying to become the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic. Careful consideration also had to be given to the current hurricane season which was stacking up to be the worst on record. Prudence dictates a departure from the Canary Islands in November, but the other competitors were pressing for a September start.

Ultimately, the estimated $200,000 design, construction, and testing budget proved to be an insurmountable obstacle, and instead, Tori elected to retrieve American Pearl from France, rebuild her, and make another solo transatlantic attempt later that year. Tori arranged for friends to pick up American Pearl in Le Harve and transport her to Cologne, Germany, where United Parcel Service had a shipping hub. By UPS’s generosity, they flew American Pearl back to Louisville, Kentucky in early May, 1999.

Sir Chay Blyth had commissioned the ARR design from Phil Morrison and Peter Rowsell in England specifically for the race. It is a multi-chine hullform supplied by The Challenge Business in a Laser-cut kit for do-it-yourself plywood and epoxy construction anywhere in the world. All of the plywood panels vary between 1/4” (6 mm) and 3/8” (9 mm) thick. The hull is subdivided into many small compartments which may be used for storing any and all types of stores and gear. It is really Tab A-Tab B construction.

Fig. 3. Profile and plan view of the Rowsell/Morrison ocean rowing boat.

Fig. 4. Some of the exterior hull panels and bulkheads for the ocean rowing boat.

American Pearl was pretty badly damaged from the deck up, but below deck she was completely intact. Most of the damage had occurred during her recovery by the tanker. Tori hired Sponberg Yacht Design Inc. to consult on repairing American Pearl, and in late May I flew to Louisville to see the boat and start the repairs.

Fig. 5. American Pearl after salvage in Louisville, KY.

As soon as I stepped off the plane, Tori drove me to the repair site, put a big Sawz-All in my hands and said, “Get to work!” We proceeded to cut away the damaged wood. Obviously, all of the damaged topside panels had to be replaced, and in addition, we wanted to make some design changes to suit Tori’s 6’-tall frame.

Fig. 6. View looking forward on deck of American Pearl. The side compartments are for food storage. The center compartments are for two 25-gallon (427 lbs., total) bladder-type water ballast tanks which are filled at night and during storms. The two black rails are for attaching an Oarmaster sliding rowing seat. The slot near the centerline just behind the forward compartment is for a daggerboard which is not in the original design. Tori added the daggerboard for better control in contrary winds.

Fig. 7. View looking aft on deck of American Pearl. The little cockpit is a handy place to handle housekeeping chores like cooking and making water. The watermaker is kept in the starboard cockpit locker (open in photo). The main hatch in the bulkhead leads to the main accommodation. Solar panels are normally mounted on top of the cabin.

Fig. 8. View looking inside the aft cabin on American Pearl. I do not like this space. See the main frame that supports the cabin walls and top, which is about 4” deep and is a real rib crusher. Tori bruised herself many times against all edges of this frame. At one point, her back hit the top portion so hard the frame broke. That gives you some notion of the violence that occurs in small rowboats at sea. Also, the hatch at the back is for reaching the rudder and steering cables. The cabin height is so low that I had great difficulty getting through the hatch, this while the boat was sitting on a trailer, never mind when bobbing around on big waves.

The Challenge Business was very supportive of Tori’s activities, and they kindly emailed to my office back in Newport, RI, the AutoCad drawings of the patterns for the parts we needed to replace. I made the aft cabin 4” taller and specified a 1/2” thick foam-cored plywood for its construction. This material, called Rigid Plus from Maine Coast Lumber, was strong and stiff enough to eliminate the deep transverse overhead frame that Tori crashed against on her last attempt. I plotted the finished shapes of the new panels onto Mylar sheets and sent them to Tori in Louisville. There, her boatbuilding crew transferred the patterns to the plywood, cut out the new parts, and rebuilt the boat. American Pearl no longer qualifies as a regulation ARR boat suitable for any of The Challenge Business’ races, but it was a better design for Tori living on board.

Fig. 9. American Pearl and Tori Murden after we finished with our cutting tools. We weighed the boat and trailer on a truck scale before and after our work, and then weighed the trailer empty. Intact, with only the hatches installed and no other gear on board, the boat weighed 980 lbs. We removed 220 lbs. of damaged and broken wood, and will be replacing about 100 lbs. of that. Therefore, the finished intact weight of the boat should be about 860 lbs.

The rest is history. UPS shipped the rebuilt American Pearl back to Europe and friends transported her to the Canary Islands. Tori left in late September and made it to Guadeloupe 81 days later. Tori was on track to set a solo speed record but for the bad luck of running afoul of Hurricane Lenny that stopped her progress for more than a week. Nevertheless, Tori rowed into the record books, and I am proud to have had a little something to do with her success.