Built as a shallow-draft yacht, WHOOPER was mostly cruised, but her natural reaching and downwind speed exceeded expectations. Anecdotes from Peter Bruce recall crossings back from the Channel Islands in the 1960’s, at average speeds over 10 knots!

SALACIA II was commissioned by Arthur William Byrne, the Australian businessman, philanthropist, and founder of B&D Roll-a-Door. The brief at the time to her designer, Olin Stephens, was to match the dominance of Syd Fischer's RAGAMUFFIN on the water