Puritan (yacht)

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359-puritan byJSJohnston.jpg
The yacht Puritan, photographed by John S. Johnston.
Yacht clubBurgee of the New York Yacht Club.svg  New York Yacht Club
NationFlag of the United States.svg  United States
Builder George Lawley & Son
LaunchedMay 26, 1885
Owner(s) John Malcolm Forbes
Racing career
SkippersAubrey Crocker
Notable victories1885 America's Cup
America's Cup1885
Specifications
Displacement105-tons Thames Measurement
Length94 ft 0 in (28.65 m) (LOA)
81 ft 1.5 in (24.727 m) (LWL)
Beam22 ft 7 in (6.88 m)
Draft8 ft 8 in (2.64 m)
Sail area7,982 sq ft (741.6 m2)

Puritan was a 19th-century racing yacht and the 1885 America's Cup defender of the international sailing trophy.

Contents

Construction

Designed by Edward Burgess, she was built at the George Lawley & Son yard in South Boston, Massachusetts and launched May 26, 1885. For sails, Burgess chose the Irish-born sailmaker John H. McManus of McManus & Son, of Boston. The sails were of Plymouth duck. [1] : p121  [2]

Puritan as photographed by John S. Johnston. JSJpuritan.jpg
Puritan as photographed by John S. Johnston.

Puritan was an early combination of American and English designs with some of the depth of a cutter but beam and power of a sloop. It was owned by John Malcolm Forbes. [1]

America's Cup race

Captained by Aubrey Crocker, a well known yacht racer from Cohasset, [3] [4] Puritan defeated the New York Yacht Club's rival sloop Priscilla in trials on August 4, of 1885 [5] . The race was part of the Goelet Cup. [6] [7] [8]

Despite this notable victory, the yacht's owner J. M. Forbes expressed his reservations about whether Puritan was better than Priscilla or the best boat to win the America's Cup offering that more tests were needed. Crocker did not have the same doubts about who would win in a rematch between Puritan and Priscilla. Crocker went on in September 1885 to successfully defend the America's Cup with Puritan against the British challenger Genesta , a traditional cutter.

Immediately following the contest, naval designers began work on an improved version of Puritan which would be called the Mayflower . [2]

References

  1. 1 2 Dunne, W. M. P.; Patrick, William Matthew (1934). Thomas F. McManus and the American fishing schooners: an Irish-American success story. Mystic, Conn: Mystic Seaport Museum.
  2. 1 2 Lawson, Thomas W. (1902). "England Sends a Cutter, Which is Defeated by an Eastern Yacht Club Vessel: 1885". The Lawson History of the America's Cup. Boston: The Author. p. 97.
  3. ↑ "The America's Cup". Chicago Tribune. September 8, 1885. p. 2.
  4. ↑ "The Puritan's Rig - Her Skipper Honored". Boston Evening Transcript. October 1, 1885. p. 1.
  5. ↑ "The Proud Yankee Sloop". New York Herald. August 5, 1885. p. 3.
  6. ↑ "Columbia Gets Lead". The Boston Globe. July 23, 1903. p. 5.
  7. ↑ "Won by the Puritan". The Bulletin. August 4, 1985. p. 46.
  8. ↑ "Priscilla or Puritan? Preparing to Race for the Goelet Cup". New-York Tribune. August 3, 1885. p. 5.


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