America (yacht)
| 300px The yacht America | |
| Class and type: | gaff schooner |
| Displacement: | 170 tons |
| Length: |
LOA 101 ft 3 in (30.9 m) LWL 89 ft 10 in (27.4 m) |
| Beam: | 22 ft 10 in (7.0 m) |
| Draught: | 10 ft 11 in (3.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | Sail |
| Sail plan: | 5,296 sq ft (492.0 m2) upwind sail area |
| Armament: | two 24-pdr & one 12-pdr[1] |
| Notes: | Hull material: Wood (white oak, locust, cedar and chestnut) |
| Career (US) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Owner: |
John Cox Stevens (May 1851) Lord John de Blaquière (September 1851) Lord Templeton (1856) |
| Builder: | William H. Brown |
| Laid down: | late November 1850 |
| Launched: | May 3rd, 1851 |
| Christened: | America |
| Renamed: | Camilla (1856), America (1862) |
| Honours and awards: | R.Y.S. £100 Cup, 1851 |
| Fate: | Scrapped, 1945 |
| Career (Confederate States of America) | Jack of the CSA Navy (1861-1863) |
| Renamed: | Memphis (1860) |
| Fate: | scuttled (Jacksonville, 1862) |
The America was a 19th century racing yacht that was the first to win the eponymous international sailing trophy now known as the America's Cup; in 1851 the trophy was known as the Royal Yacht Squadron's "One Hundred Guinea Cup", but was later renamed after the original winning yacht. The schooner was designed by George Steers for Commodore John Cox Stevens and a syndicate from the New York Yacht Club. On August 22, 1851, the America won by eight minutes in the Royal Yacht Squadron's 53 mile regatta around the Isle of Wight.[2]
Contents
America origins
John Cox Stevens was a charter member of the New York Yacht Club. He and 5 other members formed a syndicate that would build a yacht to sail to England. The purpose of this visit was twofold: To show off U.S. shipbuilding skill and make money competing in yachting regattas. Stevens employed the services of the shipyard of William Brown and his chief designer, George Steers.[3]
Designer
The America was designed by James Rich Steers and George Steers (1820–1856) (See George Steers and Co) . Traditional "cod-head-and-mackerel-tail" design gave boats a blunt bow and a sharp stern with the widest point (the beam) placed one-third of the length aft of the bow. George Steers' pilot boats designs, however, had a concave clipper-bow with the beam of the vessel at amidships. As a result his schooner-rigged pilot boats were among the fastest and most seaworthy of their day. They had to be seaworthy, for they had to meet inbound and outbound vessels in any kind of weather. These vessels also had to be fast, as harbor pilots competed with each other for business. In addition to pilot boats Steers designed and built 17 yachts, some which were favourites with the New York Yacht Club.[4]
Captain
America was captained by Richard Brown who was also a skilled member of the Sandy Hook Pilots group renowned worldwide for their expertise in manoeuvering the shoals around New York City harbor. They were all extremely skilled racers as a result of impromptu races between pilots to ships in need of pilot services. Brown had sailed aboard a pilot boat designed by George Steers, of whom he was a personal friend. He chose as first mate Nelson Comstock, a newcomer to yacht racing.
Events leading to the race
America was crewed by Brown and 8 professional sailors, with George Steers, his older brother James, and James' son George as passengers. They left New York on June 21, and arrived at Le Harve on July 11. They were joined there by John Cox Stevens. After drydocking and repainting the America then left for Cowes, Isle of Wight, on July 30. While there the crew would enjoy the hospitality of the Royal Yacht Squadron while Stevens searched for someone who would race against his yacht.[5]
The British yachting community had been following the construction of the America with interest and maybe some trepidation. When the America showed up on the Solent on July 31 there was one yacht, the Laverock, that appeared for an impromptu race. The accounts of the race are contradictory: a British newspaper said the Lavrock held her own, however, John Cox Stevens later reported that the America beat her handily. Whatever the outcome, it unfortunately seemed to have discouraged other British yachtsmen from challenging the America to a match. She never raced until the last day of the Royal Yacht Squadron's annual members-only regatta for which Queen Victoria customarily donated the prize. Because of the America’s presence, a special provision was made to "open to all nations" a race of 53 miles 'round the Isle of Wight, with no reservation for time allowance.
The race
The race was held on August 22, 1851, with a 10:00 AM start for a line of seven schooners and another line of eight cutters. America had a slow start due to a fouled anchor and was well behind when she finally got under way. Within a half an hour, however, she was in 5th place and gaining.[6]
The eastern shoals of the Isle of Wight are called the Nab Rocks. Traditionally, races would sail around the east (seaward) side of the lightship that marked the edge of the shoal, but one could sail between the lightship and the mainland if they had a knowledgeable pilot. America had such a pilot and he took her down the west (landward) side of the lightship. After the race a contestant protested this action, but was overruled because the official race rules did not specify which side of the lightship a boat had to go on.[6]
The result of this tactic put the America in the lead. She held this lead throughout the rest of the race. At one point the jib boom broke due to a crew error, but it was replaced in fifteen minutes. On the final leg of the race the yacht Aurora closed but was 8 minutes behind when the America finished shortly after 6:00 PM. Legend has it that while watching the race, Queen Victoria asked who was second, and received the famous reply: "There is no second, your Majesty."[6]
History subsequent to the race
John Cox Stevens and the syndicate from the New York Yacht Club owned the America from the time it was launched on May 3, 1851 until ten days after it won the regatta that made it famous.
On September 1, 1851, the yacht was sold to John de Blaquiere, 2nd Baron de Blaquiere, who raced her only a few times before selling her in 1856 to Henry Montagu Upton, 2nd Viscount Templetown, who renamed the yacht Camilla but failed to use or maintain her. In 1858, she was sold to Henry Sotheby Pitcher.
Pitcher, a shipbuilder in Gravesend, Kent, rebuilt Camilla and resold her in 1860 to Henry Edward Decie, who brought her back to the United States. Decie sold the ship to the Confederate States of America the same year for use as a blockade runner in the American Civil War and Decie remained as captain. During this time she may have been renamed Memphis but the details are unclear. In 1862, she was scuttled at Jacksonville when Union troops took the city.
She was raised, repaired and renamed America by the Union, and served on the Union side of the blockade for the remainder of the war. America was armed with three smooth bore bronze cannon designed by John A. Dahlgren and cast at the Washington Navy Yard.[1] A 12-pounder was located on the bow and two 24-pounders were placed amidships.[1] The larger 24-pounders had a bore diameter of 5.75 inches (14.6 cm).[1] Each 24-pounder weighed 1,300 pounds (590 kg) and had a range of 1,140 yards (1.04 km) at an elevation of four degrees. After the war, she was used as a training ship at the U. S. Naval Academy. On August 8, 1870, the America was entered by the Navy in the America's Cup race at New York Harbor, and finished fourth.
The America remained in the U. S. Navy until 1873, when it was sold to Benjamin Franklin Butler, a former Civil War general, for $5,000 ($NaN today[7]). Butler raced and maintained the boat well, commissioning a rebuild to Donald McKay in 1875 and a total refit of the rig in 1885 to Edward Burgess to keep her competitive. Upon the General's death in 1893, his son Paul inherited the schooner, but had no interest in her, and so gave her to his nephew Butler Ames in 1897. Ames reconditioned America and used her occasionally for racing and casual sailing until 1901, when she fell into disuse and disrepair.
The America was sold to a company headed by Charles H. W. Foster in 1917, and in 1921 was sold to the America Restoration Fund, who donated her to the U. S. Naval Academy in Annapolis. She was not maintained there either, and by 1940 had become seriously decayed. On March 29, 1942, during a heavy snowstorm, the shed where the America was being stored collapsed. Three years later, in 1945, the remains of the shed and the ship were finally scrapped and burned.
Modern Replica
A replica version of the America was built in 1995 and operates whale watching and racing tours out of the Maritime Museum of San Diego.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bruzek, Joseph C. (November 1967). The U. S. Schooner Yacht AMERICA. United States Naval Institute Proceedings. pp. 174–176.
- ↑ New York Times (1920-02-22) (PDF). America's Cup Held Here Since 1851. New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9E06E3DC103BEE32A25751C2A9649C946195D6CF.
- ↑ "Death of George Steers" (PDF). New York Times. 1856-09-26. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9501E7DF1039E134BC4E51DFBF66838D649FDE.
- ↑ Chapelle, Howard (1949). The History of the American Sailing Ships. W.W. Norton & Company. pp. 307–316.
- ↑ Roland Folger Coffin (1885). The America's Cup: How it was Won by the Yacht America in 1851 and Has Been Since Defended. Charles Scribner's Sons Press. pp. 9–10. http://www.us.archive.org/GnuBook/?id=americascuphowi00coffgoog#25.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 John Rousmaniere, B. A. G. Fuller, Stuart Parnes, Mystic Seaport Museum, New York Yacht Club (1986). The Low Black Schooner: Yacht America 1851-1945. Mystic Seaport Museum Stores Inc. pp. 34–38.
- ↑ Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–2008. Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved March 8, 2010.
- Tom Cunliffe (2001). Pilot Schooners of North America and Great Britain. Woodenboat publications. ISBN 9780937822692. http://books.google.com/?id=VNsGi3nmuaQC&pg=PA76. - accurate lines of the America (1851)
- Jacques Taglang. "AC-clopedia - Americaʼs history". americascup.com. http://www.americascup.com/en/acclopaedia/boatdestiny/index.php?idIndex=0&idContent=1347.
- "History from Schooner Man". http://schoonerman.com/asa/americ.htm.
- (German)"yachting historian". Klaus Kramern. http://www.klaus-kramer.de/Schiff/America_Cup/AMERICA_Cup_1851.html.
- "San Diego Sailing Charters". http://www.stars-stripes.com/.
_by_Bard.jpg){kind=link}