RANGER'S STORY

Category: RANGER

The launch of Ranger from the Bath Iron Works boathouse.  This was Harold Vanderbilt's third J-class yacht, and it was built soley for the America's Cup races.  From the Edwin Levick Collection.J-class racing yacht that successfully defended the 1937 America's Cup

Ranger was built as the answer to T.O.M. Sopwith's second challenge for the America's Cup with his Endeavour II. But, unlike Enterprise and Rainbow, the new defender was not a syndicate yacht. All attempts by the New York Yacht Club to form a syndicate in 1937 had failed.

Starling W. Burgess, 58 years old, and Olin Stephens, aged 28Since the Nicholson-designed challenger was very fast, reportedly faster than any of the existing American boats in the J class, it would have been a foregone conclusion that the America's Cup was on its way back to England had not Vanderbilt stepped in and offered to pick up the bill for the building, equipping and racing of a new defender. With an offer of build at virtual cost price from Bath Ironworks, Maine, and reduced design fees from Sparkman & Stephens, Vanderbilt agreed to proceed.

The final lines for Ranger were derived from model 77-CNovember 12, 1936.- MODEL IS SELECTED FOR NEW CUP BOAT - Of the models made for the new America's Cup defense yacht for Harold S. Vanderbilt, one was selected yesterday and a start was made of laying down the boat at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Mo. That means the chalking on a floor of the lines of the racer for the bending of her frames, the steel for which already has been ordered.

December 22, 1936.- LEAD KEEL MOLDED FOR NEW CUP YACHT - Work Is Started on Vanderbilt's New America's Cup Boat. Keel for New Cup Yacht Required 109 Tons of Lead

January 28, 1937.-- "RANGER" is to be the name of the new America's Cup defense yacht now being built at the Bath Iron Works in Bath, Me., for Harold S. Vanderbilt. The selection was made by Mr. Vanderbilt a few days ago, and he announced it yesterday while in this city for a few hours on a fast trip up from Florida and back.

Overhead shot of hull being planked inside the boatshop, men at work rivetting the steel plates onto the steel frames.February 19, 1937 -- Vanderbilt Strip Rainbow for New Boat :
Mr. Vanderbilt decided to keep the rig of Rainbow and her usable sails, her winches and even her chain plates for his new Ranger. Some parts will be used on her and the rest held in reserve.

March 9, 1937.- Work on Ranger Proceeds on Schedule - MAST ASSEMBLY STARTS - New Craft Will Have Wheel That Was Used on Enterprise and Rainbow.

May 11, 1937.- VANDERBILT YACHT LAUNCHED AT BATH - Ranger, Christened by Wife of Owner, Hits Water as Thousands Look On - HUGE MAST IS STEPPED - Racing Craft to Start for Newport on Friday in Tow - First Trial Monday

May 16, 1937.- VANDERBILT YACHT LOSES HUGE MAST - Ranger's Huge Mast Snaps After Night in Heavy Sea; Three-Ton Spar Breaks and Goes Overboard; Rainbow's Old Stick to Be Used.

May 27, 1937.- VANDERBILT YACHT OUT FOR FIRST SAIL - Ranger, Cup Defense Candidate, Appears Very Fast in Her Initial Spin.

THE SELECTION OF THE DEFENDER FOR 1937 CHALLENGE

RANGER went on to prove conclusively that she was the fastest of all the American yachts, winning almost every race in Preliminary Tests (4 victories), Observation Trials (3 victories) and Defender selection series (1 victory).

For the third time Harold S. Vanderbilt stands in the position of head man in the defense of the America's Cup.
Both of his previous candidates, Enterprise in 1930 and Rainbow in 1934, had difficult trials against Weetamoe and Yankee but the selection of Ranger is indisputable.

THE RACES AFTER THE SELECTION OF THE DEFENDER AND BEFORE THE CUP

NICHOLS CUP - JULY 7-10 (Ranger's victories: 8+4=12)

RACE 1 - July 7 - 28 Miles
1 Ranger 3:46:10  
2 Rainbow 3:51:03 4' 53"
3 Yankee 4:01:44 15' 34"
RACE 2 - July 8 - 27,7 Miles
1 Ranger 3:13:41  
2 Rainbow 3:17:17 3' 36"
3 Yankee 3:19:53 6' 12"
RACE 3 - July 9 - 18 Miles
1 Ranger 5:49:34  
2 Rainbow 5:53:41 4' 07"
3 Yankee 5:56:52 7' 18"
RACE 4 - July 10 - 28 Miles
1 Ranger 5:04:43  
2 Rainbow 5:08:35 3' 52"
3 Yankee D.N.F.  

 

EASTERN Y.C. SQUADRON RUN - 28 & 29 JULY

RACE 1 - July 28 - 37,5 Miles
1 Ranger 5:29:13  
2 Yankee 5:35:42 6' 29"
3 Rainbow 5:37:18 8' 05"
4 Endeavour 5:38:43 9' 30"
RACE 2 - July 29 - 37 Miles
1 Endeavour 7:42:55  
2 Yankee 7:44:41 1' 46"
3 Ranger 7:46:18 3' 23"
4 Rainbow 7:53:47 10' 52"
FIRST ENDEAVOUR CONQUERS RANGER

Sherman Hoyt Sails the 1934 Challenger to Victory in 37-Mile Contest
NEW U. S. CRAFT IS THIRD
Finishes 3 Minutes and 23 seconds Behind Winner

 

Courses de l'America's Cup 1937, à Newport :

July 31, first race: Endeavour II is beaten by Ranger by 17 minutes and five seconds over a 30-nautical mile windward-leeward course.

August 2, second race: Endeavour II is beaten by Ranger by 18 minutes and 32 seconds over a 30-nautical mile triangular course.

August 4, third race: Endeavour II is beaten by Ranger by four minutes and 27 seconds over a windward-leeward course.

August 5, fourth race: Endeavour II is beaten by Ranger by three minutes and 26 seconds over a triangular course.
ENDEAVOUR II v. RANGER, America's Cup 1937 - A.D. Blake

THE RACES AFTER THE CUP

THE N.Y.Y.C. CRUISE - AUGUST 17-21

ASTOR CUP

1st RUN - Aug. 17 - 37,5 Miles
1 Yankee 3:57:06  
2 Ranger 4:02:08 5' 02"
3 Rainbow 4:04:00 6' 54"
4 Endeavour 4:08:00 10' 54"
5 Endeavour II 4:10:10 13' 04"
DEFENDER TRAILS
FOR SECOND TIME


VanderbiIt’s Ranger Is 5:02
Behind
Yankee Over 37,5 Miles
Rainbow 3rd
Aug. 1 - Triangle 25 Miles
1 Ranger 3:27:58  
2 Endeavour II 3:36:37 8' 39"
3 Rainbow 3:38:57 10' 59"
4 Endeavour 3:41:03 13' 05"
5 Yankee 3:43:21 15' 23"
2nd RUN - Aug. 19 - 32 Miles
1 Ranger 3:55:50  
2 Endeavour 4:08:22 12' 32"
3 Endeavour II 4:08:48 12' 58"
4 Rainbow 4:42:48 46' 58"
5 Yankee D.N.F.  
3rd RUN - Aug. 20 - 31,6 Miles
1 Ranger    
2 Rainbow   3' 43"
3 Endeavour II   8' 31"
4 Yankee   11' 30"
5 Endeavour   12' 06"
4th RUN - Aug. 21 - 37,5 Miles
1 Ranger 4:40:30  
2 Endeavour II 4:50:23 9' 53"
3 Yankee 4:51:26 10' 56"
4 Endeavour 4:54:36 14' 06"
5 Rainbow D.N.F.  

KING'S CUP

August 24 - 27,5 Miles
1 Ranger 4:58:54  
2 Rainbow 5:13:06 14' 12"
3 Yankee 5:17:18 18' 24"

City of NEWPORT CUP

THE EASTERN Y.C. SERIES - AUG. 28 - SEPT. 2

Aug. 25 - 25,5 Miles
1 Ranger 5:01:02  
2 Endeavour II 5:25:31 24' 29"
3 Rainbow 5:26:14 25' 12"
4 Yankee 5:28:45 27' 43"
5 Endeavour 5:30:02 29' 00"
1st Race - Aug. 28 - 24 Miles
1 Ranger 4:08:59  
2 Endeavour II 4:18:15 9' 16"
3 Yankee 4:25:01 16' 02"
4 Rainbow 5:00:20 51' 21"
5 Endeavour D.N.F.  
2nd Race - Aug. 30 - 32 Miles
1 Ranger 3:36:25  
2 Endeavour II 3:44:05 7' 40"
3 Rainbow 3:51:52 15' 27"
4 Yankee 3:54:01 17' 36"
5 Endeavour 4:03:55 27' 30"
3rd Race - Aug. 31 - 12 Miles
1 Ranger 3:42:26  
2 Endeavour II 3:55:23 12' 57"
3 Yankee 4:01:43 19' 17"
4 Rainbow 4:05:10 22' 44"
5 Endeavour 4:16:07 33' 41"
4th Race - Sept. 1 - 12 Miles
1 Ranger 2:26:53  
2 Rainbow 2:28:46 1' 53"
3 Endeavour 2:40:25 13' 32"
4 Endeavour II 2:42:02 15' 09"
5 Yankee 2:46:21 19' 28"
5th Race - Sept. 2 - 30 Miles
1 Ranger 4:22:03  
2 Yankee 4:23:27 1' 24"
3 Endeavour II 4:26:50 4' 47"
4 Rainbow 4:28:09 6' 06"
5 Endeavour 4:30:35 8' 32"
On 30 competitive races, Ranger
lost only two: the last before the
Cup July 29, beaten by Endeavour
and Yankee, and the first after
the Cup on 17 August beaten
by Yankee.

Anthony Blake - Ranger leads the J class fleet, 1937THE END OF A GREAT SEASON

Taking Ranger to England for racing next Summer has been considered by Vanderbilt, but he said tonight after the last race he had made no decision in the matter. Owners of the other America’s Cup class sloops in the United States suggested to Sopwith that the two Endeavours be kept in this country for another season of Class J racing.
Sopwith pointed out that the first Endeavour was owned by H. A. Andreae and merely chartered to Frederick Sigrist and that she would have to be taken home. He then expressed hope that the owners of the American racers would take their sloops to England.

With nothing settled, the Endeavours will be towed back to England, leaving from Bristol, R.I., about Sept. 16. Mr. and Mrs. Sopwith are to sail next Wednesday on the Cunard White Star liner Queen Mary.
The Ranger is to be towed to the Herreshoff yards in Bristol to be laid up there for the Winter. Mr. and Mrs. Vanderbilt are going on a European trip. Yankee and Rainbow will be hauled out in the Lawley yard in Neponsit, Mass., below Boston.

RANGER WON PLACE IN YACHT HISTORY

Vanderbilt Sloop Swept Four Contests, Kept America’s Cup in This Country

December 26, 1937.- During 1937 international competition was engaged in to a greater extent than ever in the long history of yachting. First in importance was the sixteenth match for the America's Cup, which was taken again by the New York Yacht Club, the defender, with the Royal Yacht Squadron of England the challenger. Harold S. Vanderbilt sailed his Ranger to four straight victories off Newport over T. O. M. Sopwith's Endeavour II.

The twilight of the godsRanger was the outstanding yacht of the year. She won every race she competed in during the Summer with the exception of two. One was the last run of the Eastern Yacht Club cruise, when the wind failed to the extent. that the contestants anchored several times and the ?rst Endeavour, brought to this country by Frederick Sigrist, came in first. The other was the first run of the New York Yacht Club cruise, when Gerard B. Lambert’s Yankee went on a wind hunt and scored by it.
Both the King’s Cup, the premier event for American yachts, and the Astor Cup for sloops were taken by Ranger.

July 13, 1938.- RANGER MODEL EXHIBITED - Members of the New York Yacht Club gathered in the clubhouse at 37 West Forty-fourth Street yesterday afternoon to view the model of the America's Cup defender Ranger presented by her owner-skipper, Harold S. Vanderbilt.

THE END OF AN EXCEPTIONAL BOAT

May 21, 1941.- RANGER SOLD FOR SCRAP - America's Cup Yacht Will Yield Defense Metal — Price $12,000.
Harold S. Vanderbilt yesterday decided to have the last America's Cup defender, the famous Ranger, scrapped for junk. He sold the yacht to the L. & Z. Corporation of Fall River, Mass., for $12,000. She will be dismantled and scrapped at once.
Ranger has a steel hull and her duralumin mast and other spars will provide aluminum for defense. Her lead will be another valuable item. In addition, removal of the sloop from the shore of the Herreshoff Shipyards, in Bristol, R. I., where she has been lying since October, 1937, will provide space for government naval work there.

The new Ranger2003 - THE NEW RANGER

2003
The new Ranger was launched and started her racing programme.

The Ranger that sails today is a replica built to the original lines drawings in steel and launched at the Danish Yacht shipyard in Skagen, Denmark in 2003 recreating the look and feel of the existing J Class yachts Shamrock, Endeavour and Velsheda. The project was in development from September 1999 and its team of designers, naval architects and industry specialists designed and built Ranger to Lloyds Classification, the MCA Code of Practice, for the safety of large commercial yachts, and the J Class Association Rules.