The first race

The first race was to have been sailed on November 8th, but light wind made a postponement necessary. Both Gracie and Mischief were on hand, a claim of the right to defend the cup being made for each. The committee made its choice of Mischief that day.

THE DECISIVE RACE FOR THE QUEEN’S CUP - OCT. 23, 1871
THE HARPER'S WEEKLY: Published November 11, 1871

The decisive race for the Queen's Cup, so gallantly won by the yacht America in 1851 from the flower of the English yachts, was sailed on Monday, October 23, between the Livonia and the Sappho. Our artist was a witness of the friendly contest from the start to the close; and on this page records the triumph of the American yacht in a series of pictures which show the position occupied by each of the competing vessels at different hours during the progress of the race.

Greater revival of American yacht designing

American yacht designing never had a greater revival than that which followed the acceptance of the second Dunraven challenge. Great progress had been made since the days of Volunteer, which was already far outclassed in theory, if not in actual boats.

Sappho was a model widely inspired by the lines of America. It was cut by William Townsend, the main modeller of the C. and R. Poillon Bros shipyard, situated in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and then built in 1867 for Richard Poillon. In fact, he built it on speculation, without a commission, thinking he could quickly sell the beautiful schooner.

For that reason, it was sailed across the Atlantic to Cowes, England, by Captain Tom Baldwin the following year. The crossing took 14 days.

From THE SUN, April 11, 1901

Through the courtesy of B. B. Crowninshield, the designer of the Independence, THE SUN is able to give the sail plan of the yacht built for Thomas W. Lawson of Boston which is to meet the Constitution in a series of races to be sailed off Newport during the coming summer.

Frank John MURDOCH is born February 21, 1904 in Antwerp,Belgium, son of Dan Murdoch and Alice Murdoch (born Jansen), married to Phyllis Murdoch (born Strutt), he had two boys Anthony John and Colin Peter. He died June 13, 1996 in Nyon, Switzerland.
His involvement with boat building was no surprise. The Murdoch family had been engaged in it since 1867, and he had cruised and raced ...

Born in Gloucester, England in 1830, Raleigh was a sailor from boyhood, running away to sea at age ten aboard a British naval vessel commanded by his uncle. He served in the American navy during the Mexican war and later served as a merchant seaman. In 1877 he settled in New Bedford, Massachusetts and was listed as a marine painter.

Born in London in 1932, David Brackman is considered to be one of the most outstanding marine artists working today. He is a keen yachtsman and aboard his yacht, 'Panache' has sailed in many waters, made transatlantic passages and has spent considerable time during the past 10 years cuising in the Mediterranean.