The Herreshoff schooner Elena 1930

oil on panel 24x36

Elena (owned now by William B Bell)is depicted racing Vanitie (Gerard B Lambert) off Great Point Light Nantucket in 1930. Vanitie has been re-rigged as a sloop for the defender trials for the Americas Cup of 1930.

Vanitie was originally built to contest the 1920 Americas Cup with  a gaff rig. Vanitie under the ownership of Harry Payne Whitney came out as a staysail schooner in 1926,27and 28 . In 1929 both Vanitie now owned by Gerard Lambert and Resolute where re-rigged as marconi sloops.

The Schooner Magic racing America

Oil on Panel 12x18

The First defender of the Americas Cup Magic is depicted racing the original winner of the cup the schooner America.

The Schooner Yacht America

Leaving Nantucket July 1870

Oil on Panel 28x42

The above painting depicts the schooner America under the new ownership of General Butler as she makes her way from the Eastern Yacht Club regatta at Marblehead to the New York Yacht Club Fleet at New London.

Elena racing career

A little background to the schooner Elena.

Elena 1911

Named after Queen Helena of Italy , Elena was launched on April 24^th 1911 at Bristol RI. Elena was built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing company for Mortan F Plant. Elena was the first large centerboard craft to be built since Vigilant in 1893. Of all steel construction she a near sister to Westward built in 1910. Her principal dimensions where

Specifications

Length over all 135ft

Legth on the waterline 96 feet

Beam 27ft 6 inches

Draught 17 feet

Racing Career

Her maiden season saw her victorious in the Eastern Yacht Regatta and New York Yacht Club cruise over the schooners Irolita and Enchantress. On the New York Yacht Cruise she met and defeated her near sister Westward which had just returned after a successful campaign in Europe in 1910. During the year she won both The Puritan Cup, the EYC Gold Cup.

In the 1911 season she defeated Westward 5 times out of 8 meeting. Though only 40 seconds over 231 miles separated them in the final two weeks of racing. She defeated Itolita 14 out of 17 meetings and Enchantress 8 out of 9 contests.

During 1912 and 1913 her successful racing career continued with many defeats over her rival schooners in bothe The Eastern Yacht Club and New York Yacht Club Cruises. She won 3 cups at the Atlantic Yacht Clubs regatta in 1913.,  Astor Cups in 1912 and 1913. And the Puritan Cup in 1913

In 1916 the refurbished Elena wins both the Astor and Kings Cup and races for both the Cape May and Brenton Reef Cups against the big Herreshoff schooner Katoura, winning the Cape May Cup.

Before his death in 1918 Mr Plant sold Elena to Col Vanderbilt during the winter of 1916/17.

In 1928 Elena gained her most famous victory winning the Trans Atlantic.

In 2009 A Replica was launched named Elena she can be seen most years in the Mediterranean.

Norseman 1881

Oil on Panel 12x18

The keel schooner Norseman was built in 1881 by C& R Poillon of Brooklyn for Multimillionaire property developer and prominent New York Yacht Club member Ogden Goelet. Her principal dimensions where

Length overall=131 ft

Length on the waterline 112 ft

Breadth 25ft

Depth 11ft 6

Norseman was built from oak, hackmatack( a north American Larch) and yellow pine.

Ogden Goelet used Norseman for cruising up until his death at Cowes in 1895. Under new ownership she was fitted with a 35hp auxiliary engine and renamed Alsacienne. She was successfully owned by Arch McNeil and W. T Brunt before returning to her original name Norseman in 1910 under the ownership of Charle Meyer. She appears to have passed to English ownership in the 1920s. She was eventually gutted by fire while in the ownership of Ronald Brewis in 1949.

The remains of Norseman can be found on the river Hamble near Southampton at Swanwick. See www.aquanaut.plu.com for details of the Norseman wreck.

Ogden Goelet was the instigator of the Goelet Cup , a very prestigious Cup raced for my the New York Yacht Club in the 1880s and 1890s. Upon his death the Cup was replaced by the Astor Cup still raced for.

C & R Poillon , Norsemans builder where responsible for some of the greatest American schooners built in the 1870s and 1880 including both Sappho and Dreadnaught

1911 Herreshoff schooner Elena

oil on Panel 12x18

Norseman 1881

Oil on Panel

12x18

Above are a couple of new schooner paintings, just completed. The first shows Elena  The near sister vessel to Westward. She differed in her keel having a slightly rounded section to her keel and a centerboard. She was the dominate schooner in America from her launch in 1911 until the first world war.

The second painting shows the 129ft schooner Norseman built for prominant New York Yacht Club member Ogden Goelet for cruising. Norseman was designed by William Townsend and built by C. and R. Poillon at there Brooklyn yard

Her principal dimensions where

Length over all           129ft

Length on waterline   114ft 3inch

Beam                           25ft 2inch

Draught                       12ft 2 inch

Spar dimensions

Main mast deck to hounds         90ft

Foremast                                    86ft

Maintopmast                              45ft

Foretopmast                               45ft

Mainboom                                 74ft

Maingaff                                    36ft

Bowsprit outboard                     20ft

Jibboom outboard                      27ft

tonnage gross                             154.34

tonnage net                                 146.61

The schooner Idler in New off Castle Gardens New York 1870

Oil on Canvas 12x24

Idler 1864

Designer /Modeler ; Sam Pook

Builder ; Sam Pook Fairhaven Conn

Commissioning Owner T Durant

Sailing Qualities

“ Stately Idler” Idler was a compromise between the shoal Center board and deep keel schooner. Idler was a favorite for beauty with her sharply raking masts. Idler was a very fast vessel on the wind, one of the fastest and most weatherly vessels in the New York Yacht Club fleet . Quick and maneuverable she would always be at the head of the fleet in a beat and close reach to the Sandy Hook Light vessel.  Idler would often be over powered with the wind free or aft by the larger schooners in the fleet.

In 1873 , she came out with a new counter which enhanced her beauty. There was work to be done in getting her ballast right, with some removed she appeared lively doing better with the wind free than formerly, but at a little  cost of her windward qualities.

In 1874 she was observed going to windward of the whole fleet, “she was most stunning to watch, as she crowed on she heeled down to her leerail throwing spray along her deck intending to carry sail or drag it. She sailed like a witch with the wind free, and was good down wind”

In 1876 she was again rebuilt and lengthened by Steers.

Idler later raced on the great lakes before tragically foundering off Cape Hatteras  on jan 26th 1915 while on her way to Havana to pick up her owner Mr Jefferson. She was to have cruised extensively in the Caribbean before passing through the Panama Canal to cruise in the Pacific.

Racing History

NYYC Regatta 1869 winner

Americas Cup   1870 2nd

                             1876 defeated by Madeline in an unofficial trial race with Tidal Wave;

Brenton Reef Cup July 27^th 1876

Cap May Cup Sept 7^th 1877

Cape May Regatta; 2^nd behind Madeline July 13^th 1873

Flag Officers Cup; Sept 19^th 1876

Match Races Defeated by Cambria Aug 18^th 1870 after suffering gear failure

                         Defeated by Atalanta in Ocean Race

Ownership

1864 T Durant

1873 Sam Colgate
1885 A.J Fisher

The above information has been gleaned from various newspaper reports and is by no means complete yet.

Specifications

LOA;- 96ft2 then 100ft 1inch

LWL;-87ft 6inch then 96ft 9 inch

Beam;-22ft 4inch

Depth 8ft 5inch then 9ft 7inch

Draft 6ft 8inch then 9ft 2 inch

Tons 143.5 old.