THE MARUFFA YEARS

 

S. V. MARUFFA,

Skipper John Graham Jr 
and crew, homeport of 
Seattle, WA.
Possibly in 1947, the year of this 
International Swiftsure Race.
Click image to enlarge.
Original photograph by 
Ray Krantz, Seattle, WA. 
Thank you Heather Graham.

"MARUFFA, from her debut in 1947, stamped her personality on Swiftsure. During the middle fifties, however, she really came into her own. MARUFFA stole the show, one way or another, no matter who, or what the challenge. And her list of laurels grew. 

Humphrey Golby comments:

'Certainly one of the outstanding yachts that helped Swiftsure become a recognized international sailing event was John Graham's MARUFFA. She first came to Swiftsure in 1947, and even in this, her maiden race, she was first boat home. For the next 16 years, she was the public's choice; the photographer's joy; and the true queen of the fleet. Her unparalleled Swiftsure record speaks for itself.

She was the first boat home in at least six if not seven of her starts. However, since the City of Victoria Trophy was presented to PIYA in 1956, MARUFFA has won it four times. It took John Graham 10 years, from 1947 to 1957, to win the Swiftsure Trophy so many times, MARUFFA boiled through the race with every rag of sail she could carry, driving for the finish line in all-out last-ditch effort to save her time on the fleet. Sometimes, she only lost by a minute or two, and once, only by seconds.

Many times a winner in AA Class, only once in her career did she fail to finish, and that was the race of the great calm in 1958 when 23 yachts finally gave up and powered home.

MARUFFA was built in 1936 in the Pendleton Yard in Wiscasset, Maine. She was designed by Phil Phodes and meticulously built to the special order of Henry Babson. Commissioned and sailed on the Great Lakes for three years, she made quite a name for herself in Mackinac and other major events. During the war years, 1943-1946, MARUFFA was put into storage, and at the war's end, was sold to John Graham. John recalls that the former owner had two paid hands, and kept them steadily at work on the boat for three years. When Graham saw her, she was gleaming like a concert grand. One look closed the sale. MARUFFA went to Annapolis for a short time before her proud new owner rounded up a crew to sail her to Seattle. 

In his design, Phil Rhodes, had produced a handsome wholesome boat, beautifully balanced, capable of holding her own on every point of sail. MARUFFA was at her best in light to medium winds, but even when it blew hard, she could snug down and keep pace. Her real strength was the ability to run, even in the lightest airs. So many times, I have observed MARUFFA quietly sail away from the fleet on the downwind leg. This great offwind speed once planted her third across the line into Hawaii, a performance that enabled her to beat all but two of the A Class boats, boat for boat, even though she was racing in B Class. In any consideration of MARUFFA's marvelous Swiftsure years, we have to remember that throughout all those years, she was sailed by John Graham and a crack crew.

John Graham was a sailing competitor, even as a young boy, coming to Victoria in 1919 to sail on the Seattle team against Royal Victoria dinghies. The Seattle-ites used Winslow Kittens, which were much faster than the local boats. John had probably the best sailing teachers that anyone could ask for. He was a member of Ted Geary's SIR TOM crew, the famous R boat that dominated the Pacific Coast for so many years. Ted Geary was an acknowledged master of the art of sailing. He picked John to skipper the boat when he could not be on board. From R boats to Star boats, John sailed and won. He was a fierce competitor, an intuitive tactician, and he never quit. When Ray Cooke built CIRCE and raced her in the 1934 Swiftsure, John Graham was aboard as sailing master. He sailed on CIRCE in all her early Swiftsures. Here again, he had, in Ray Cooke, the best teacher in the business. After WW II, John bought MARUFFA, starting her Swiftsure saga in 1947. 

Swiftsure records are filled with the exploits of this great yacht. Let me relate two incidents that show just how hard the skipper and crew worked for their laurels. At first light, the escort tug picked up MARUFFA close in under the land off Neah Bay. She had rounded the Lightship about midnight and had led the pack on the homeward run. The entrance to the Straits was glassy calm. Boats out in the stream were rolling listlessly without steerageway. John had worked MARUFFA right inshore where the first morning thermals created the slightest breeze. As the tug followed her, we saw a classic example of how a fantastic skipper can keep even a big boat moving under almost impossible conditions. The wind was shifting back and forth, from the merest offshore zephyr to a few faint puffs from the southwest as the westerly sought to become established. In each of these shifts, from slightly ahead of abeam to dead astern, John had the crew alternate with a light drifter for the offshore puffs, returning to the spinnaker when the westerly caught up. What was happening was simple. When the westerly drove MARUFFA ahead, she promptly sailed out of the following wind. As quickly as she nosed out of the westerly, she slid forward into the offshore breeze, faint as it might be. For each of these alternating conditions, John had his crew down spinnaker as soon as the westerly quit, and hoist a gossamer drifter to take advantage of the offshore puffs. As we watched, MARUFFA sent through this drill 12 or 15 times. The marvel of it was that John Graham kept MARUFFA moving while others sat and waited for the morning westerly. When the wind did finally make up, MARUFFA had gained at least an additional mile on her listless rivals.

The second incident unfolded right at the finishing line. The late afternoon westerly was unusually fresh in 1955 as MARUFFA charged through Race Passage with a substantial lead. Skipper Graham had his biggest spinnaker up, and MARUFFA made a glorious picture as she surged forward at breakneck speed. Just off Work Point, and less than 1,000 yards from the finish, a sudden gust off the land hit MARUFFA, sending her reeling, but she did not broach. In seconds, she seemed to recover, when suddenly her mast snapped at the upper spreader. The great spinnaker sagged in confusion on the foredeck, while the main hung like a broken wing. Thousands of spectators had gathered to watch her finish. An audible gasp went up as tragedy struck. The committee had timed her nearest rivals through the Race when there was a chance that MARUFFA would save her time and win it all. Now these precious minutes ticked away as MARUFFA's hopes for the Swiftsure Trophy slipped from her grasp, once more. Even then, MARUFFA didn't quite. John swung her round with the mizzen, and sailed her BACKWARDS across the line! The City of Victoria Trophy for first boat to finish was hers again. And what a finish it was.'

MARUFFA left the Pacific Northwest to engage in research projects sailing out of Woods Hole Marine Biological Station. For her day and time, MARUFFA  was an outstanding yacht, ahead of her time in design, faultlessly built, and meticulously maintained. She is a living legend. This chapter cannot end without listing MARUFFA's principal dimensions. She was 67.5' x exclusive of the bowsprit. Waterline L 49.7' x 15' B x  8' 6" D. 

The MARUFFA story has a sad postscript. On Sunday 4 March 1979, she went aground and became a total loss while on a research mission in South New Zealand waters. The tragedy occurred while en route from Dunedin to Stewart Island with a young American crew guiding her. Skipper Steven Sewell decided to turn back when he met rough seas off the southland coast. During the turning manoeuvre, the main backstay parted. After making temporary repairs he set his course for Tuatuku Bay Lighthouse. However, MAURFFA's great speed carried her in too close before the order to alter course could be carried out. In the confusion, those vital seconds proved fatal. MARUFFA drove hard aground. Within minutes she began to break up in the heavy seas, a sad end to a heritage yacht that still had meant useful years of service.

In the process of abandoning ship, one of the young crewmen caught his leg between the topside and the rocks, severing it below the knee in one of the powerful serges. A female crew member lost her thumb, but thankfully no lives were lost."

Source: SWIFTSURE, the First Fifty Years.

Humphrey Golby and Shirley Hewitt. Edited by Ed Gould. Published by Lightship Press Limited, Victoria, B.C., Canada. 1980.