… she has accommodation for six guests, and two crew. Designed by Olin Stephens when he was only twenty-five, Stormy Weather was launched from the Henry Nevins yard in New York in 1934. The following year she won both the Newport-Bergen Transatlantic race and the Fastnet race. This was the beginning of an illustrious racing career.
Olin Stephens, in partnership with his brother Rod at the firm of Sparkman & Stephens, was the most successful racing yacht designer of the twentieth century. He scored seven America’s Cup wins in the 12 meter class, with Intrepid and Courageous both winning twice, and single wins for Freedom, Constellation, Columbia). He also shared in the design of Ranger, the last J-Class America’s Cup winner in 1937. He designed countless successful ocean-racers, including Ted Heath’s Morning Cloud, and Ted Turner’s Tenacious.
By winning the Fastnet Cup in such a convincing manner, Stormy Weather has demonstrated her right to be the champion deep-sea yacht of the world – Yachting World
An evolution from his equally famous Dorade, Stormy Weather was often named by Olin as one of his favourite designs. Sparkman & Stephens later created many successful variants of the same basic design, such as the sloop Sonny, and the larger and smaller yawls Bolero and Loki.
During her long career Stormy Weather has crossed the Atlantic thirty times, and undergone at least two major restorations, one in the Caribbean during the 1980s, and most recently at the Cantiere Navale dell’ Argentario in 2000-2001.
In 1995, Stormy Weather was still competitive enough to place sixth overall in the Fastnet race, the sixtieth anniversary of her victory. Olin Stephens last raced on Stormy Weather in Argentario, Italy in 2007, when he was 98 years old.