Much rum has been spilled, I suggest, over discussions pertaining to “The Perfect Boat.” Most likely The Perfect Boat is the one that suits your purposes, closely followed by the one you have…The boats for folks who like racing, gunkholing, entertaining their mates or ocean voyaging are all vastly different, yet each owner might argue theirs is the perfect boat. Few of us are in a position to create a craft we view as the perfect boat. A custom 40-foot cruiser is not much change from a million bucks these days.
Nonetheless, one such Perfect Boat is owned by a dear friend and great shipmate of mine, one Warwick “Commodore” Tompkins (Google him). Years ago, Commodore purchased the hull and deck from Westerly Marine in Santa Ana, CA, who had built a number of these boats for the West Coast racer/cruiser market. Constructed to a design from Tom Wylie, these production boats (hull and deck) were all a bit different, an OK way to get a (semi) custom boat for less than a custom job.
Commodore towed the hull and deck to a barn on a farm owned by a mate of his in Napa Valley, and spent about twenty years finishing it off to his very high-level standards. The brief for the boat: Comfortable living for two people over several months of sailing, gunkholing in the lagoons of the South Pacific, enjoyable and easy to sail, seaworthy, sufficient stowage for extended passages, and with lines – “the look” – to be easy on the eye. With Flashgirl, Commodore hit a home run. At 39 feet LOA, Flashgirl is certainly like no other boat anyone, anywhere, will have seen. She’s the culmination of ninety years of seagoing experiences, crafted, and shaped by Tompkins around his requirements and desires.
This Coop’s Corner is a bit different. It’s a photo essay of the yacht Flashgirl, the boat Commodore conceived of and finished, and in which he and his (now late) wife Nancy voyaged around the South Pacific from 2000 to about 2010. The young lady in the pictures is not Nancy but another shipmate of ours, Sarah, a partner in crime for many Commodore Kapers. The pictures with her were taken on a circumnavigation of the Farallon Islands on the occasion of Commodore’s 90th birthday in February 2022. As I write, he is at sea bound for Hawaii, then southwest to Micronesia. The yacht was not only built (finished) by him; she was also, in many ways, built around him, a reflection of his literally nine decades at sea. He grew up from birth on the Schooner Wander Bird (Google her).
Flashgirl motoring out of Richmond YC, towing the nesting lapstrake dinghy built by Commodore Tompkins to, again, a Wylie design. This dinghy stows on the cabin top between the hard dodger and mast. When assembled, it may be rowed or sailed with a windsurfer rig he adapted to the purpose.
On Friday afternoon, 07 Feb 2025, with two crew, he departed Richmond Yacht Club bound towards Hawaii, for reprovisioning and then to Pohnpei, in Micronesia.
I write about his boat, for Commodore is a dear mate of mine, an absolute character, regrettably unknown by today’s up-and-coming sailors and a craftsman in soul and execution, never to be hurried or lured into hasty decisions. Even watching him make breakfast is like a Japanese tea ceremony; calm, ordered, even and quiet. And so was the building of the boat and his operation of her.
The starboard gangway, looking forward. The large white structure is the trunk for the lifting keel. The bench area outboard, under the work light, houses the fridge, freezer and tool locker. The galley is to port. The keel trunk makes a great structure on which to lean on in harsh weather. This gangway leads to the head and on through to the forepeak.
For instance, one time he and I had been out sailing her and were entering the cut to Richmond Yacht Club. The mainsail was still set when the engine expired. I glanced at Commodore and there was none of the “Oh, my God! Run down below and fiddle with the engine!” that such misfortune usually generates. I don’t think we spoke three words. We ended up sailing her into the slip…on a Sunday afternoon and so potentially providing the assembled throng on the club deck their weekend entertainment. They all asked for their money back.
The galley is clean, light and easy to clean. The hatch above the double sink has a Windscoop attached. It’s held up by the flag halyards and admits air even in conditions where waves are breaking on deck. There’s a sister hatch to starboard.
These racks, crafted in carbon fiber by Commodore, hold glasses and paper towels. ‘If I’m going to live here, the things I will look at ought to be pleasing to the eye’, quoth he. The rows of fasteners secure access to hatches for the water ballast tanks. On the right is a Maori painting, several of which are spread around the boat.
Beneath the bean bag and the other stuff is a full-size double berth, under the cockpit. The aft hatch allows a flow of air; very comfortable in the tropics. The flat cockpit floor allows this vast berth. Lee cloths are rigged at sea. Hydraulics for the water ballast system are visible above.
Commodore, lurking in the main hatch, keeping an eye on things on deck
Sarah and Commodore reminiscing on some Kaper or another. Looking aft from the main hatch, one sees the totally flat cockpit floor. This detail allows a vast berth below, and one may stand up and see the bow when sailing downwind in fresh conditions, all the better to surf with.
A place for everything, and everything in its place
Sarah, hamming it up and comfortably steering out “The Gate” en route to the Farallons. The big gray box is a canvas cover over the liferaft. The mainsheet traveler and purchase are to the lower left; the sheet is controlled by the winch immediately in front of her.
This column barely touches on the details reflecting the thought that went into the “idea” of Flashgirl, let alone the execution of her. I hope you all get a sense of what The Perfect Boat (or as close to such a high bar as it’s possible to get) looks like for someone who can produce her.
All in all, Flashgirl is a yacht like no other. In January, I was out visiting Commodore and sitting below, after a cool sail, nursing cups of hot chocolate, musing about our adventures across the forty years we’ve known each other. I remarked, again, on what a great job he’d done firstly in the conception of what he wanted, his vision, and then the execution. During the building process, I would visit and note the progress. He was adamant that the slowness was due to two things. He enjoyed the process, the craft, the work of seeing his ideas bear fruit. And again, there was this idea that since he was going to be living aboard her for long chunks of time, she ought to look nice. The fit, finish and detailing all attest to this philosophy being executed to the highest level. Then there is the sailing performance and the aesthetics of the yacht as he rows away.
There was once an ad for Little Harbor Yachts, with an LH 50-something anchored in a green and rocky fiord somewhere in Maine. There was only one sentence in the full-page ad: “The beauty of a yacht is expressed in the time it takes you to row away from her,” with the LH logo punctuating it.
One of the crew aboard heading towards Hawaii is a high-test electronics wizard, one Eric Steinberg. Flashgirl has been upgraded with all manner of new electronics and Starlink comms, on top of the B&G and GPS. (Years ago, I delivered an Alden schooner from LA to Hawaii, with Commodore navigating by sextant…) I and some of his other mates have the link to Flashgirl’s Garmin In Reach tracker, just so we can keep an eye on him.
Commodore entered his 93rd year at the end of February. A few days out of Hawaii and across the line (for the umpteenth time), he will be literally heading into the sunset. It would not surprise me to see him sail back into his slip at Richmond Yacht Club in time for Christmas, in The Perfect Boat. ■
Australian born, Joe ‘Coop’ Cooper stayed in the U.S. after the 1980 America’s Cup where he was the boat captain and sailed as Grinder/Sewer-man on Australia. His whole career has focused on sailing, especially the short-handed aspects of it. He lives in Middletown, RI where he coaches, consults and writes on his blog, joecoopersailing.com, when not paying attention to his wife, dog and several, mainly small, boats.
