The golden age of sail was still ablaze as father and son Rosenfeld captured great yachts, and a few wild-eyed motorboaters on film. Fill a glass with champagne and join this celebration of New York 50 Class boats in 1913, or Istalena, the first M Class boat, and Weetamoe,the J Class America’s Cup contender in 1930, along with many more. You can almost smell the sea with these nautical outings that will sweep you through the year on a fair ocean wind. Sales benefit Mystic Seaport Museum.
This 2024 monthly wall calendar features: Large blocks for notes | Superb printing quality | Heavy 100-pound paper | Deluxe 11- by 14-inch size
Vessels featured in this edition include:
≈ A flotilla of New York 50 Class boats gathers at the start of the Larchmont Spring Regatta in Larchmont, New York, on June 14, 1913. Sailing on starboard tacks and making for the starting line under gaff-rigged mainsails, topsails, staysails, and jibs are: Ventura (NY-7) with stern to the camera, Spartan (NY-6), Acushla (NY-1), and Pleione (NY-9), along with three other NY 50s.
≈ Nathaniel Herreshoff designed and built nine New York 50 Class boats during the winter of 1912-1913. Measuring 72 feet overall and 50 feet on the waterline, they were fast but comfortable. Here are: Samuri (NY-2), Acushla (NY-1), and Iroquois II (NY-3). Just visible behind them is the bow of P Class Windward (P-64). One NY 50, Spartan, survives and is still sailing.
≈ Heeled over on a port tack in July 1929, Istalena was one of the first M Class boats built according to the rules for scantlings and construction established by the New York Yacht Club in 1928. The 87-foot cutter was designed by L. Francis Herreshoff and built by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. for George Pynchon.
≈ The 125-foot 9-inch J-Class sloop Weetamoe (J-1), designed by Clinton Crane, is racing 118-foot Marconi sloop Vanitie in 1930. Weetamoe contended for the America’s Cup in 1930. Vanitie attempted but failed to qualify as the Cup defender in 1914 and again in 1920. Originally designed as a cutter, she was rerigged in 1928 by Starling Burgess.
≈ Launched as a potential America’s Cup defender, the 130-foot J Class Whirlwind was designed by Herreshoff and built in 1930 by George Lawley & Son in South Boston, Massachusetts. She is seen here close-hauled on a starboard tack sailing under mainsail, staysail, and jib.
≈ Launched in 1930, the J Class Enterprise was designed by Starling Burgess and built by Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. for a New York Yacht Club syndicate to defend the America’s Cup challenge by Sir Thomas Lipton. Enterprise won against Lipton’s Shamrock V, sweeping all four races. She is seen here sailing on a starboard tack with her jib, staysail, and mainsail set.
≈ Her starboard rail in the water, designer Olin Stephens (his brother, Rod, is looking ahead) is at the helm of the 52-foot yawl Dorade in June 1931. Designed by Sparkman & Stephens, Dorade was built in 1930 by the Minneford Yacht Yard in City Island, New York. She is sailing under mizzen, mainsail, staysail, and jib in June 1931.
≈ Piloting this 1933 Century Rascal requires concentration, while also seeming to deliver a good deal of enjoyment.
≈ In 1936, Cornelius Shields asked Norwegian Bjarne Aas to design a new class of International One-Design boats to race on Long Island Sound. English boat builder Uffa Fox described the result as a boat with “lines as clean as a smelt’s and each and every line perfect for its purpose.” Three examples of the 33-foot sloop are sailing here in September 1941: Elselan (7), Jick, and Three Belles (22).
≈ Running with the wind, these boats cross the starting line during the New York Yacht Club’s
summer cruise in 1955.
≈ With her crew in seaman’s whites and passengers wearing jackets and ties, the M Class Istalena sails gently heeled on a port tack in July 1930.
≈ In March 1964, the 12-metre Class Constellation defended the America’s Cup in a successful four-nil sweep, defeating the Royal Thames Yacht Club’s Sovereign. Designed by Olin Stephens, she is seen here on a New York Yacht Club cruise from New London, Connecticut, to Block Island, Rhode Island, in 1964.
Published by Tide-mark Press © 2023
