Resolute (yacht)

Resolute
Resolute circa 1914
Yacht club New York Yacht Club
Nation United States
Designer(s)Nathanael Greene Herreshoff
BuilderHerreshoff Manufacturing Company
Launched1914
Owner(s)Henry Walters syndicate
E. Walter Clark (1925–)
Racing career
SkippersCharles Francis Adams III
Notable victories1914 defender trials
1920 America's Cup
America's Cup1920
Specifications
TypeMonohull
Displacement105.5 short tons (95.7 t)
Length106 ft (32 m) (LOA)
75 ft (23 m) (LWL)
Beam21 ft (6.4 m)
Draft13 ft 9 in (4.19 m)
Sail area8,650 sq ft (804 m2)[1]

Resolute was a yacht designed and built by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff for a syndicate of New York Yacht Club members headed by Henry Walters to contend the 1914 America's Cup.[2]

Design

Resolute was the last Cup defender to be designed by Herreshoff.

  • Overhang forward - 16 feet (4.9 m)
  • Overhang aft - 15 feet (4.6 m)
  • Fore triangle base - 48 feet 4 inches (14.73 m)
  • Boom - 78 feet (24 m)
  • Deck to topmast - 130 feet (40 m)
  • Lead - 65tons

History

Resolute was christened by Grace Vanderbilt and launched on April 25, 1914. In the 1914 America's Cup defender selection trials, skippered by Charles Francis Adams III, she beat Vanitie and Defiance.[2] In so doing, she beat the America's Cup course record off Sandy Hook by sailing 30 miles in 3:16:41.[3] However, the outbreak of World War I caused the America's Cup races for 1914 to be postponed.[2] The race was finally held during the 1920 America's Cup.

Resolute leading Vanitie at start of first elimination race off New Haven 1920.

In 1920 the America's Cup was reconvened and Resolute again prevailed in selection races before successfully defending the Cup in July, once more with Adams at the helm.[2] Resolute lost the first two matches before recovering to defend the cup 3–2 against Shamrock IV.[2] Robert Wales Emmons, Jr. was the manager of the yacht in 1920.[4]

In 1925 Resolute was sold to E. Walter Clark of Philadelphia.[2][5] Her racing career lasted another ten years, and in 1930 Resolute again participated in the America's cup selection races, albeit as a "trial horse" against which the potential defenders could be judged.

Robert F Kennedy named his Wianno Senior Resolute in 1964, after the America's Cup yacht.

References

  1. ^ "Challenger and Defenders of the America's Cup". Scientific American: 622–623. June 5, 1920.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Resolute". Americas Cup. Archived from the original on 2012-03-31.
  3. ^ "Resolute Beats All Cup Course Records". New York Times. June 11, 1914. Retrieved 2010-10-15.
  4. ^ "Robert Emmons 2d, Yachtsman, is Dead". New York Times. April 19, 1928. Retrieved 2011-04-26.
  5. ^ "E.W. CLARK, BANKER AND YACHTSMAN, 88; Head of Philadelphia Firm Dies --Owned Resolute After It Defended America's Cup". The New York Times. April 5, 1946. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
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