Herreshoff Marine Museum
Here's one final picture from the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, RI. This is the racing yacht Defiant, now in retirement at the museum. The boat was a contender for the America's Cup in 1992, eventually losing to America3 in the preliminary rounds. Both Defiant and America3 were part of the same syndicate, also named America3, which successfully won the America's Cup in 1992.
As I remember that race, the counter weight on the bottom of the keel was revolutionary, and a big secret. It's still a beautiful boat even if it is no longer cutting edge and competitive.
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful boats, but they are only built to race. After their racing careers are over, they are often broken up for scrap. For this reason, none of the America's Cup defenders, designed and built here at Herreshoff Manufacturing exist today. It's kind of a shame. The next defense of the America's Cup will be in 2013 in San Francisco. Interestingly, all of the boats in 2013 will be catamarans.
DeleteI hadn't realized that they changed the formula to all catamarans. Apparently officials must think they had gotten all that was possible from a single hull. I realize that these racing boats are uncomfortable for sailors, and they are all about speed, but they are beautiful, a perfect example of form following function.
DeleteHmmm, might have to take a trip to R.I., my husband is a big wooden boat fan. Were you able to see OpSail?
ReplyDeleteI didn't get a chance to see OpSail this year. I went down to Niantic Bay on Friday night, hoping to see the tall ships anchored there, but they were far off shore and didn't provide any good photo ops. The rest of the weekend I spent in NYC, taking in a Mets game with my daughter and son-in-law. Your husband should attend the annual Wooden Boat Show at Mystic Seaport sometime. I'll be posting some pictures from that event in the coming weeks. In case you haven't realized it, I too really love wooden boats. I haven't been able to follow your blog lately. Blogger tells me I'm not allowed to. Thanks for looking!
DeleteYes, my husband has gone to the Mystic Wooden Boat show a couple times and has taken a class a the WoodenBoat School in Brooklin, Me. He would love to build a small sailboat, but our home won't allow for it. He's also a Mets fan and goes to games several times a season. As for my blog, I've noticed a certain website showing up in the stats that I didn't really care for. Or I should say, I wasn't sure of. So as an experiment, I changed my settings. I think you would have to sign in with your blogger account to see it now. I can't remember the name of the questionable site, but if I see it again maybe I'll ask you about it. Do you look at your "stats" for your blog?
ReplyDeleteBlog.train.net is the referring website that was questionable to me.
ReplyDeleteI have looked at my stats, but not that carefully. I'm not really sure what they mean, but what from what I can tell, I don't get a lot of page views. Perhaps I'll pay closer attention to my stats now, and I'll keep an eye out for any questionable sites. Thanks for the information. I can understand your concerns. Owning a wooden boat is a dream of mine. As much as I admire them, I don't think I have the skill nor the patience to actually build one.
ReplyDelete