Commander Pirie had previously owned Wapi and Lympet and in 1938 he asked Jack Giles to design for him this very pretty 12 ton, centreboard sloop. A light displacement, shallow draft boat – extreme in many respects yet Giles showed with his work for Commander Pirie his sound knowledge and experience in the harmonising assembly of both her construction and layout.
Fitted with a teak centreboard Wapipi was the forerunner of Whooper (design number 0047) where the design was modified consisting of an iron plate with teak palms, both yachts centreboards stowing in a neat case well concealed and entirely unobtrusive.
With Wapipi Giles gave no regard for the racing rule but none-the-less she put up a surprisingly good performance in offshore races during the (her first) 1938/9 season: second in the Dinard/Brehart Race, including a 40m windward leg in conditions that she would have been expected to do poorly, and her lack of draft showed no penalties on that point of sailing except in steep head seas and strong head winds.
Whooper, the second yacht was built to an almost identical design and ten years later in New Zealand Wapipi type number three was built for Mr. H. M. Tate.