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Category: SKIPPERS & CREWS
George Nichols was a son of Mr.John W. T. Nichols and Mrs Mary Blake Slocum. He is a brother of Miss Susan F. Nichols and of William B. Nichols. He was graduated from Harvard in 1900. He is a member of the same firm as his father, Minot, Hooper & Co. dealers in cotton goods at 12 Thomas Street.
The Nichols town house is 42 West Eleventh Street and their country estate, The Kettles, is at Cove Neck, Oyster Bay. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan are neighbors of the Nicholses on the North Shore, their country place, Matinicock Point, being at Glen Cove. He is a son-in-law of Commodore J. P. Morgan. He married Miss Jane N. Morgan, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Pierpont Morgan, and a grand-daughter of the late J. Pierpont Morgan in 1917.
On 1917, Mr. Emmons, Charles Francis Adams, George Nichols of New York, and others have bought the interest of the late John B. Herreshoff, and become a part of the NEW HERRESHOFF COMPANY.
George Nichols was Commodore of the New York Yacht Club from 1925 to 1927.
Although Commodore Nichols has lived in New York for years and is associated in business with his father here, he is a Harvard man, graduated from Harvard in 1900, and originally learned sailing “down east." He is well known in the racing game on both Long Island Sound and Massachusetts Bay. For many years he was closely connected with the Seawanhaka-Corinthian Yacht Club of Oyster Bay, at one time being the Commodore of the club. His first boats was the One-Design HEN, the 30-footer PHRYNE, and the sloop EDYTHE.
One of the most important racing yachts of George Nichols was the fifty-footer CAROLINA, which he purchased on 1916. On 1919, he had the craft altered and given the Marconi rig. Under the new rig the yacht was raced against Commodore Morgan's Grayling off Newport. George Nichols ran longtine with CAROLINA:
VINEYARD HAVEN, Mass., Aug. 21, 1926. -- CAROLINA WIN U.S. NAVY CUPS - Carolina, owned by Commodore George, Nichols, was the winner of the sloop prize.
The Six-Meter GOOSE with George Nichols as skipper won every race on the season 1938. On April 25, 1939 at Hamilton, Bermuda, they win the King Edward VII Gold Cup.
On Aug. 29, 1941 George Nichols sailed the 12-meter SEVEN SEAS to victory in Fall Regatta of the New York Yacht Club. Defeats Clinton H. Crane's Gleam by 47 Seconds.
George Nichols died at his home on Aug. 14, 1950 after a long illness. He was 72 years old. George was a gentleman in the finest sense as well as the narrow sense of being in the social register. He epitomized the term yachtsman, looking and dressing the part. His paid crew of Scandinavians revered him. His afterguard considered him a great person and gave him high marks for organizing a campaign.
THE 1920 CHALLENGE :
George Nichols had the position of navigator aboard the RESOLUTE during the seasons 1914 & 1915. At her helm was Charles Francis Adams 2d of Boston, and with him was Robert W. Emmons 2d. also of Boston; George Nichols, James Parkinson, Jr., George A. Cormack, Secretary of the New York Yacht Club, and Nat Herreshoff. The only professional aboard was Capt. Chris Christiansen.
February 1st, 1920 - NICHOLS WILL SAIL VANITIE IN TRIALS - Rear Commodore Nichols did not seek the honor of sailing Vanitie. It was forced upon him. In 1914 he was a member of the after-deck war council of Resolute. When Alexander Smith Cochran gave his sloop to the club, it was imperative that someone should have command of the craft, and the Cup Committee of the club asked Rear Commodore Nichols to race the boat. Believing that Vanitie had an excellent chance of being chosen, Commodore Nichols consented to take charge of the yacht.
February 1st, 1920 - NICHOLS IS BACK ABOARD RESOLUTE - Rear Commodore George Nichols, who sailed the Vanitie this year, is to be back in his old position of navigator aboard the Resolute, while Robert W. Emmons 2d is the manager of the Resolute outfit and the man who is very largely responsible for the wonderful teamwork of the defender’s crew.
THE 1930 CHALLENGE :
Four yachts was built for the defense of 1930 : Weetamoe, Enterprise, Yankee, and Whirlwind. WEETAMOE was designed by Clinton H. Crane and built by the Herreshoff Mfg. Co. for a syndicate organized by George Nichols and Junius S. Morgan, Jr.. Former Commodore George Nichols is skipper and sailed the yacht throughout the season. With him on the afterguard are John Parkinson, Robert N. Bavier, A. H. Eustis, and Junius S. Morgan.
Weetamoe won the greatest number of races among them before the final trials but Enterprise won the first two final races and was selected.
After losing the trials to Enterprise, George Nichols told her designer Clinton Crane: “Clinton, it is all my fault. The boat was better, but I let you down.” This remark at the moment of defeat is a measure of the man. Better sailors than George Nichols have raced for the America's Cup but no better men.
- America's Cup fever - Open Library
- NICHOLS WILL SAIL VANITIE IN TRIALS - Rear Commodore of New York Yacht Club to Race Sloop Against Resolute. - Article - NYTimes.com
- SKIPPERS ARE BIG FACTORS IN RACE - C.F. Adams, Amateur, in Command on Resolute and W.P. Burton Shamrock's Corinthian. - Article - NYTimes.com
- CAROLINA WINS ONE OF THE ASTOR CUPS - Rear Commodore Nichols's Dusky-Hulled 50-Footer Carries Off the Sloop Prize. - Article - NYTimes.com
- KING'S CUP RACE WON BY CAROLINA - Nichols's Fifty-Foot Sloop Is First in New York Yacht Club Classic Off Newport. - Article - NYTimes.com
- NICHOLS'S CRAFT FIRST IN BERMUDA - Yacht Goose Captures Third Race in Row and United States Keeps Gold Cup - Article - NYTimes.com