Document No 4010: A regatta off Sandy Hook | |||||||||||||||
REF : 0 EDITION : 1851 DATE : 11 Aug 1885 COURSE : 0 DESCRIPTION SITE : Oil on canvas Although seemingly unrecognisable as the great yacht which achieved immortality by winning the coveted trophy (in 1851) subsequently named after her, it has been suggested that this work – perhaps the preparatory sketch for something larger? – probably depicts the legendary ‘America’. It certainly shows her as she appeared after Donald McKay’s modifications in 1875 but before she was re-rigged and given a pole bowsprit by Edward Burgess (the designer of the America’s Cup defender ‘Puritan’) in 1885. Furthermore, the “low black hull” which had always been her trademark was finally lost when, in 1887, her then owner, Captain Ben Butler, had her painted white. It is also noteworthy that for the third America’s Cup Challenge in 1876, (‘Countess of Dufferin’ versus ‘Madeleine’), the New York Yacht Club allowed ‘America’ – as a gesture – to take an ‘honorary’ part in the race but starting five minutes behind the two official contestants. The Race Committee nevertheless took her time and, to universal delight, she finished only seven minutes behind the defender (‘Madeleine’) and fully nineteen minutes ahead of the Canadian challenger. This intriguing oil undoubtedly has all the atmosphere of an America’s Cup event off Sandy Hook about it, particularly the Hudson River steamboats carrying spectators in the rear, yet the most prominent vessel taking centre-stage is neither the leader nor trailing but, in fact, in the perfect position to be the ‘America’ as she was in that opening Cup Race on 11th August 1885. LICENCE : Public domain |
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BATEAUX : AMERICA | |||||||||||||||
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