Too Loco (ex Ripple) was designed by renowned naval architect Paul Bieker for Olympic medalist Jonathan McKee. Under McKee, she won her class in her inaugural Pacific Cup, finishing in 8.5 days with a average close to 260 miles per day. This off the wind speed is made possible by her 5,500 lb displacement and 1604 sq foot downwind sail area. On the wind, 1,200 lbs of water ballast help her stay on her feet. Nearly 30 years after her launch, Too Loco and her sistership Terremoto have proven themselves to be successful and tough to beat. She was beautifully constructed to a high level, and was recently repainted inside and out. While blazing fast, she also has some level of comfort for crew, with standing headroom, good bunks, galley and head – features very much appreciated on a long distance race.
Since 2020, Too Loco has received a significant refit, including: repainted mast and boom, new standing rigging, new running rigging, deck hardware and winches, repainted hull, deck and interior, new JEFA rudder bearings, new electronics, a full rewire with lithium batteries for house and start, reconfigured ballast pump, transfer and dump system and more.
Comments from the designer, Paul Bieker:
The Riptide 35 was my first design for Jonathan and Libby McKee of Seattle. The concept for the 35 was conceived by Jonathan during a long and uncomfortable distance race on an ultralight 50 footer. He realized that a high percentage of the sailors on board were there purely as human ballast. His design brief was for a high performance racer/cruiser capable of blistering speed on the race course (Jonathan is an Olympic gold medalist in the FD class and a silver medalist in the 49er class). The boat was intended to be sailed only by the number of people required to handle the boat. In addition the boat also needed to have reasonable accommodations for family cruising with standing headroom, galley and enclosed head. She is capable of being sailed to a large percentage of her potential with a crew of two or three persons. Both Riptide 35s raced in the ’98 Pacific Cup race to Hawaii with crews of four and placed 1st and 2nd in class, beating all but one (turboed) Santa Cruz 50 over the line.
| Name of vessel | Too Loco |
| Model | Shaw Riptide 35 |
| Year | 1996 |
| Builder | |
| Designer | Paul Bieker |
| Price | $145,000 USD |
| Location | |
| Length (feet) | 35 |
| Beam (feet) | 11.5 |
| Draft (feet) | 7 |
| Displacement (pounds) | 4700 |
| Ballast (pounds) | 2250 |
| Engine model | |
| Engine horsepower | |
| Engine hours | |
| Fuel tank capacity (gallons) | 20 |
| Water tank capacity (gallons) | 40 |
| Holding tank capacity (gallons) | 20 |
Interior Accommodations
Too Loco’s interior provides spacious and comfortable accommodations given her design parameters. Headroom is 6 feet throughout. There are settee berths to port and starboard in the salon. Lee cloths keep crew in the berths. The galley is forward to starboard, with a small counter space with locker below and a single bin stainless sink at the aft head. The head is opposite to port. Forward, there is a large v-berth. Her interior is entirely finished in white LPU paint and all areas are fully accessible for inspection and cleaning. The cabin sole is covered in custom foam decking.
Jetboil stove
Push pot
Single stainless sink with foot pump water
Jabsco manual toilet with holding tank and Y valve
Electronics and Navigation
B&G Hydra 5000 package, all underwater sensors and masthead unit new
(2) 9” B&G chartplotters in cockpit with smaller readout at nav table
B&G sailing display at nav station
B&G VHF radio at nav station with AIS along and handheld with charging cradle, masthead antenna
Electrical Systems
Too Loco was entirely rewired in her 2020/2021 refit
Blue Sea Systems DC distribution panel with DC digital multimeter
Renogy RB100-HP 100 amp hour lithium iron phosphate house battery
(3) 12v outlets at nav station
LED cabin lights with red mode
Mechanical Systems
Yanmar 20GMF diesel engine
Yanmar SD20 saildrive
Martec folding propeller
Deck and Hull
From Paul Bieker:
The goal of the construction was to maximize performance for a given cost and maximize the use of laminated flat stock.
Hull below the chine was built of strip planked Duracore with eglass/epoxy skins. The sides were built from eglass/epoxy skins on cross linked PVC core layed up on a flat table and cut to computer patterns. These sides weighed 32 kg each and were sprung into the female building jig.
The deck and cockpit were similarily built from carbon/foam flat panels and the house was carbon skins over a strip planked foam core.
All interior panels are built from lightweight composite panels cut out to accurate computer patterns for minimum weight and minimum waste.
The spar was built by Hall Spars and rigged by Paul Bieker in Seattle. Standing rigging is discontinuous rod.
Stainless stanchions, bow pulpit and pushpits
1×19 wire lifelines
Carbon fiber flagstaff with US ensign
Deck accessed anchor locker and cockpit locker/cooler
Sails and Rigging
Hall Spars carbon fiber mast
Carbon fiber boom
Stainless rod rigging
Composite chainplates
(2) Harken 35ST two speed primary winches
(2) Harken ST cabin top winches
Harken adjustable jib cars
Gray canvas mainsail cover
Sails:
Quantum carbon mainsail (2021)
Quantum A-2 (2021)
Quantum 1.5 (2021)
Quantum Code Zero with Harken furler (2021)
Quantum genoa (2022)
Quantum J3 combo spin staysail (2022)
North carbon main, good shape (2014)
North A-1, good shape
North carbon AP J1, excellent shape
North older J2, below average shape
Quantum main older, good shape
Quantum dacron delivery main
Miscellaneous older spinnakers
Miscellaneous and Safety
MOM 8A MOB
ACR Globalfix v4 EPIRB
Details of refits and upgrades since 2020
New paint: deck, hull and interior along with complete nonskid replacement, deck color Whisper Gray, hull color Snow White
New standing rigging
Mast and boom painted
All running rigging replaced
All new Harken 2 speed winches
New jib tracks and blocks along with all adjustment hardware, re-bedded and mounted with G-10 backing plates
New spinnaker blocks, along with carbon deck protector plates
New backstay custom built with easy tension “on” system
All new Spinlock halyard clutches
All new turning blocks at mast base
All new Harken deck hardware replaced and re-bedded
Asym pole butt end fit with a snug system to secure aft end of pole in a fixed position to eliminate pole bounce by Fitzgerald Racing
New custom keel fin and G10 kelp cutter installed by Fitzgerald Racing
New JEFA rudder bearings with stainless sleeve on rudderstock for strength and smoother steering
Rebuilt Yanmar engine and SD20 F saildrive along with entire wire harness and deck mount full display unit
B&G Hydra 5000 package, all underwater sensors and masthead unit new large twin 9” readout in cockpit with smaller readout at nav table, full GPS antenna.
VHF With AIS along with handheld and charging cradle and masthead antenna
ACR EPIRB
Lithium house and engine starting batteries along with rapid charging system by Waypoint Racing
Fully rewired, including new engine panel and main battery switches, including new carbon main panel by Waypoint Racing of SD
Cabin overhead LED lights w/red night option
Nav lights, masthead tricolor as well as deck level set and LED stern light
New tiller with new Spinlock extension
New holding tank and new plumbing along with replaced head pump
New lifelines
Lifeline stanchions – first two replaced with jib roller and all stanchion removed and re-bedded
New lifeline covers
New stern lifeline out of spectra
New windex
New ballast pumps and wiring and engineering for quick fill
New ballast tank water transfer system
New ballast tank water dump system
New cockpit compass
All new interior cushions including foam higher quality foam