America
Recently the San Francisco Yacht Club won the America's Cup back from the Swiss in a long-delayed battle of cutting edge multihulled designs. This was the first time that a trimaran had raced a catamaran design in this hallowed race, but the traditionalists who complained should remember that the America's Cup has always been an opportunity for revolutionary and radical designs to push the technology envelope whether it's monohulls or multihulls. But where did this all come from? Why is it called The America's Cup?
I think it would be educational to look back at the racing yacht, America, the namesake for the race and the prize. She was built in 1851, designed by George Steers specifically to challenge the Brits for their Royal Yacht Club's 100 Guinea Cup and bring glory to the New York Yacht Club. Her rig was an aggressive schooner sail-plan with plenty of canvas and the masts raked strongly aft, but it was her hull that was the most revolutionary. She had a concave clipper-bow with a very narrow entry and the greatest beam amidships. This was a great departure from the traditional cod head & mackerel tail design with a bluff bow, sharp stern, and the widest beam about 1/3rd of the way abaft the bow. They took her to England hoping to make up the cost of building her in betting on impromptu races with British yachtsmen before the big event, but the English were cagey about the sleek craft and they stayed away from racing her. Then there was the 53 mile race around the Isle of Wight with Queen Victoria presiding over it. America made a mediocre start, but she was able to pass landward of a marking lightship through having a skilled pilot aboard and that (perfectly legal but dangerous) maneuver combined with her speed soon placed her well in the lead. And so the prize went to the New York Yacht Club and has been called The America's Cup ever since.
But what of her career after the race? That's where things get even more interesting! She was sold off fairly quickly and passed through many hands. Renamed Camilla by one owner, she was allowed to fall into disrepair while other more responsible owners kept her in better shape. This was a continual pattern for the rest of her existence-- alternating years of neglect and years of good upkeep. She did commercial work for a while and then was sold to the Confederate Navy as a blockade runner. She might have been renamed Memphis at this point; the records are unclear. She was then sunk in Jacksonville's harbor when the Union took that city in order to block the channel but she was raised by the Federal forces and converted to an armed US Navy ship, USS America, and was now used to catch blockade runners. She had a 12 pound gun in the bow and two 24 pounder cannons amidships. After the war she was turned into a naval training vessel and was also raced by the Navy in the 1870 America's Cup where she came in fourth. In 1873 she was sold and reverted to the alternating years of good upkeep and neglect in various private hands. Finally she was donated back to the Naval Academy who kept her in a shed that collapsed in a snow storm in 1942 where she was crushed beyond repair. In 1945 the elegant lady was finally scrapped and burned.
I think it would be educational to look back at the racing yacht, America, the namesake for the race and the prize. She was built in 1851, designed by George Steers specifically to challenge the Brits for their Royal Yacht Club's 100 Guinea Cup and bring glory to the New York Yacht Club. Her rig was an aggressive schooner sail-plan with plenty of canvas and the masts raked strongly aft, but it was her hull that was the most revolutionary. She had a concave clipper-bow with a very narrow entry and the greatest beam amidships. This was a great departure from the traditional cod head & mackerel tail design with a bluff bow, sharp stern, and the widest beam about 1/3rd of the way abaft the bow. They took her to England hoping to make up the cost of building her in betting on impromptu races with British yachtsmen before the big event, but the English were cagey about the sleek craft and they stayed away from racing her. Then there was the 53 mile race around the Isle of Wight with Queen Victoria presiding over it. America made a mediocre start, but she was able to pass landward of a marking lightship through having a skilled pilot aboard and that (perfectly legal but dangerous) maneuver combined with her speed soon placed her well in the lead. And so the prize went to the New York Yacht Club and has been called The America's Cup ever since.
But what of her career after the race? That's where things get even more interesting! She was sold off fairly quickly and passed through many hands. Renamed Camilla by one owner, she was allowed to fall into disrepair while other more responsible owners kept her in better shape. This was a continual pattern for the rest of her existence-- alternating years of neglect and years of good upkeep. She did commercial work for a while and then was sold to the Confederate Navy as a blockade runner. She might have been renamed Memphis at this point; the records are unclear. She was then sunk in Jacksonville's harbor when the Union took that city in order to block the channel but she was raised by the Federal forces and converted to an armed US Navy ship, USS America, and was now used to catch blockade runners. She had a 12 pound gun in the bow and two 24 pounder cannons amidships. After the war she was turned into a naval training vessel and was also raced by the Navy in the 1870 America's Cup where she came in fourth. In 1873 she was sold and reverted to the alternating years of good upkeep and neglect in various private hands. Finally she was donated back to the Naval Academy who kept her in a shed that collapsed in a snow storm in 1942 where she was crushed beyond repair. In 1945 the elegant lady was finally scrapped and burned.