Author: ws lirakis

a sailor who carries a camera

Virginie heriot

Virginie Heriot, heroine of french sailing on board her eight meter, in which she won a gold medal in the Olympics; the first woman to do so.
      She is also very stylish, many of us would call this “being french”. The photo on the right is my wife, taken in 1975 on board “Quatrofolio” (Shamrock”) the “J” boat looking very much like Virginie Heriot.

Sceptre, K 17 the British challenge 1958

Sceptre, sail number k 17, was the Royal Yacht Squadron’s challenger, built in Scotland, designed by David Boyd. launched in April 0f 1958.

Despite her results against Columbia, the American defender, she demonstrated many clever ideas. As is often the case, good ideas are overlooked, regardless of  how good they might be, if the end result is not a winning outcome.
Another example the comes to mind is “Independence” designed in 1901 by B.B. Crowninshield for Thomas W. Lawson. The story is complicated, the point here is that she had many very innovative ideas that were clearly not lost on Nat Herreshoff, as his next design for a defender incorporated these ideas.
Columbia, was better sailed and had better sails
These photographs os “Sceptre” I took in 1975, somewhere along the south coast of England.

America’s Cup 1958

Columbia the first 12 meter built after world war II and the first 12 meter to defend the America’s Cup.

The “J” boat era was brief 1930-1937 and few boats were built. Prior to the J’s the boats were built to the universal rule with fundamentally a waterline length as the only restriction. and in earlier events time allowances were part of the game.
Back to 12 meters, City Island,NY was the home of the greatest boat building yards in the East,rivaling those in Europe. Certainly during the 12 meter years, any syndicate wanted to have their boat built by a City Island boatyard. There was without question a community of skilled craftsman that were attracted there. Additionally, The major naval architects were based in New York, as were the men with the money. It made sense to have easy access to a construction project. If you lived in Greenwich or White Plains, City Island was on the way home.
Sparkman&Stephens dominated the 12 meter years having 5 designs defend between 1958 and 1980. Two of them being two time defenders.(in the history of the America’s cup there have been 3 two time defenders)
Olin and Rod Stephens lived briefly in City Island, Rod working at Nevins Yard, learning the practical aspects of boatbuilding. and Olin’s early designs were built there.
The Sears family committed to build the first 12 meter, once the class was determined for the America’s Cup competition, the first after world war II.
I had the pleasure to sail “Columbia” US 16 her sail number, in the America’s Cup Jubilee in 2001. Henry Sears, the grandson of the original syndicate head, brought his scrap books, a true joy to listen and read a first hand story.
I will continue this thread along with photographs for the entire span of the 12 meter years.
For those of you interested I have a number of books related to these years for sale.



Safety at Sea

St. Partick’s day weekend in Newport. The Safety At Sea Seminar also took place. The weather outside was some of the worst we have experienced in some time;sixty knots of wind and over 5 inches of rain.

Personally the trellis I built blew over and broke in several places. It had with stood many storms and I had developed a false sense of security about it sturdiness. Nothing that can’t be repaired.

I am now certified for the next five years as far as US sailing is concerned. On sunday I was certified in CPR and First Aid.
There was some new gear exhibited. Of note was the clothing made by Ursuit.
Overall this was the best organized and best presented Safety at Sea Seminar I have ever attended.
Finally Peter Becker and Stan Schreyer were also being certified before they take off in IMOCA 60’s to set a record between New York and Barcelona.



LAS PALMAS

Las Palmas, the largest city on Gran Canaria, has a broad and varied history and architecture. Even Christopher Columbus spent time here. The first settlers found many wild dogs on the island; at the end of the nineteenth century the city fathers commissioned the statues of dogs to emphasize this fact. Curiously they did not choose the Canarian dog.

As a city it has wonderful food, art, music, parks, shopping, beaches.



CANARY ISLANDS




I left Boston on Sunday the 10th of January, on my way to the Canary Islands, off the west coast of Africa, via Madrid. Travel took almost 48 hours because the airport in Madrid was under snow. The return trip took only 30 some hours, because of fog in Madrid.

I had never been to the Canary Islands before, The Coast, is like so many other places, hotels shoulder to shoulder, fast food everywhere.
The Island of Gran Canaria is as a whole a beautiful and varied geography. My destination was the small village of Fataga, in the crater of an extinct volcano, at an altitude of about 5,000 feet. Wonderful food, beautiful flora.
The Islands are named after the wild dogs that were found there contrary to some thoughts that it had something to do with birds. These dogs remind me of the abyssinian breed of Egypt; with their large ears and enigmatic regard.




August 28,1851 Cowes, Isle of Wight

The photo is the Yacht America, taken in Newport, RI sometime before world war II. She was probably on her way to the Naval Academy in Annapolis where she met her end. The photo was taken by a friend of the family from a rowboat.

The newspaper article is from September 20, 1851 recounting the race between the “America” and “Titania”