We at Trudeau Yachts are always looking for the next inspiration. This one came from within Second Life itself. It turns out a close SL friend of Jacqueline Trudeau works in the fashion industry. Within that industry he is a designer of women’s handbags and other leather goods. Within that job description he reports to those at the top of the fashion houses where he works. For a time the very top of this particular fashion house was Yves Carcelle, a well respected executive and by all accounts well loved within the organization he headed. But business and fashion was not the only thing Monsieur Carcelle lived for. His passion was sailing, and in particular the sailboats of Danish designer Gerhard Rønne (1879-1955). Rønne was a building architect, but also a passionate yachtsman who designed and oversaw the building of 10 yachts (6 for himself) beginning in 1910, all christened Runa (from I to X).
“It’s a name I found within myself. It indicates ‘rune’ – a little mystical. I am also aware that it has a nice sound to it”. — Gerhard Rønne ¹
Over the decades the Runa yachts were well tended to, sailed by humble everyday sailors to those of more noble standing, including an ex-commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, the son of a prestigious French pastry chef, a top Portuguese financier. ²
Fast forward a century later to 2009. Carcelle, with his keen eye for classic beauty, acquired two of the five extant Runa yachts, the yawl Runa IV (1918) and cutter Runa VI (1927). He commissioned beautiful stem to stern restorations of both and were relaunched in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
Monsieur Carcelle actively participated both restored Runas in classic yachting regattas, but sadly about this time he was diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of cancer which took his life in 2014. One of his last acts was the commissioning of the book La Saga des Runa, a history of the Runas and an ode to all things Gerhard Rønne.
This brings us back to Jacqueline’s SL friend. As mentioned, he was one of Carcelle’s lieutenants, a sailing enthusiast himself and a personal eyewitness to Carcelle’s fleet of Runa yachts. “Jacqueline, il faut construire Runa!” One quick google of the boats and it was absolutely agreed. But which one? Since we hadn’t done a multi-masted mesh yacht yet, it had to be the topsail yawl Runa IV.
The Trudeau Runa IV
Working from the Runa plans, it didn’t take long to get the basics in place.
But that’s when the fun began. In keeping with the authenticity of the Runa, not only the sailplan but things like the rope lashings that make fast sails to spars, multi-part sheets for all sails, blocks and tackles for the gaff halyards, etc. would have to be modeled, and scripted to move in concert with every angle of sail trim. (if some of you are wondering why this boat has been under construction for longer than it would take to build the RL version, that is a good part of the reason why!)
(and a big thanks to our beta-testers who revealed that what we originally thought was scripted to move in concert with every angle of sail trim wasn’t quite so!)
We added a Danish-finish inspired cabin interior, also based on the RL Runa:
One slight change, in addition to the aft quarter single berths we added a forward double vee-berth in place of the head in the RL Runa. Because everyone in SL knows, avatars need sleep more than those other bodily functions :-) There are a total of 34 53 (v1.1) sit, sleep, above deck lounging and cuddle animations in the cabin. Headroom is at a premium, so you may have to belay that beehive hair-do before going belowdecks ;-) (Seeing water in the cabin? This is the explanation)
Underway, there are seating positions for skipper and 2 crewpersons – 1 heel-offsetting hike position per side for the skipper, 3 per side for each crewperson.
Other features of the Trudeau Runa IV include
- Our should-have-been patented in-world luffing Tru-Sails.
- 1 reefing setting (douses the jib and main topsail).
- Wing and wing foresails for additional oomph when running before the wind.
- Half a dozen built-in traditional color schemes.
- Auto-rezzing boatyard jack stands (28LI).
Customization!
As with all Trudeau yachts, Runa IV is modify permission-ed allowing you to make her your own. These are the links to the Photoshop PSD templates for the:
Hull Parts (hull – including the transom and boat name face, rudder and tiller 5.1MB)
Sails (all – including jib, staysail, mainsail, topsail, mizzen, main/mizzen furl 20.4MB *Please read how to apply in the “Sailing the Trudeau Runa IV” card that comes with the boat*)
Bowsprit (including boomkin, hardware, stays, chainlinks, etc 17.1MB)
Decks (including gunwales 13.1MB)
Deck furniture (including cabin, cockpit, coamings, hatches, skylight, etc 26.2MB)
Spars (including mast, booms, gaffs, halyards, stays, turnbuckle, etc 29MB)
(additional templates for other boat parts will be coming soon)
Dimensions:
Trudeau Runa IV – 85 prim equivalent , 51.66 ft (15.75m) length on deck, 75.85 ft (23.12M) length overall, 12.13ft (3.7m) beam, 7.5ft (2.3m) draft. 85 land impact moored, max 95 land impact when sailing.
Come view her at Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts and see if you are ready for a sail into the mystic.
¹ ² The Runa Saga
Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts 