: The Most Astonishing J by Earl Boebert

The Classic Yacht Symposium 2010

YANKEE: The Most Astonishing J

Earl Boebert U.S. Vintage Model Yacht Group

Figure 1 - YANKEE, as designed in 1929/30. (Derived from Chevalier and Taglang). A BST R A C T

This paper documents the technical and racing history of the J Class yacht YANKEE from her design in 1929 to when she was scrapped in 1940

IN T R O DU C T I O N The Universal Rule began as a “rating rule,” intended to facilitate the handicapping of yachts of different dimen- “Of all the J Boats,” said Chevalier and Taglang in sions so that races could be held with mixed fleets. It did their definitive work on the class, “YANKEE was the so by computing an artificial number called “rated i most astonishing.” She came within one second of being length,” measured in feet, which was intended to express the Defender in the 1934 America’s Cup, she was the the inherent performance of the yacht. Rated lengths were most modified J and she was the only American J Boat to divided into ranges and each range was assigned a letter cross the Atlantic. from I (the largest) through S (the smallest). In addition, an absolute limit of 108% of the rated length plus 5 feet T H E UNI V E RSA L RU L E was imposed on the actual Load Water Line length.ii

In 1902 a committee of prominent yachtsmen was In 1929, Sir Thomas Lipton, acting through the Royal formed by the New York Yacht Club to investigate a re- Ulster Yacht Club, challenged the New York Yacht Club placement to the then-prevalent rule governing the design to race for the America’s Cup in 1930. After considerable of yachts, which had led to “extreme” or “unwholesome” negotiation, the two clubs agreed that the contending designs. A rule was proposed by Nathanael Herreshoff boats should conform to a rated length of 76 feet under which forced designers to trade off between waterline the Universal Rule, which then limited Load Water Line length, sail area, and displacement, with an additional length to 87 feet. This was the top of the range assigned provision that penalized excessive overhangs. This rule the letter “J,” and so the J Class came into existence; the was accepted almost immediately by the Club, and mod- two values of 76 feet rated and 87 feet measured remained ified in detail through 1927, during which period it be- constant for the life of the class. came known as the “Universal Rule.”

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F R A N K C A B O T PA IN E A N T E C E D E N TS

Frank Paine, who designed YANKEE, was born to In 1924, while associated with Paine and Burgess, L. America’s Cup competition. He was the youngest son of Francis Herreshoff designed a highly successful boat to General Charles Jackson Paine, who gained fame in the the R Class of the Universal Rule also called YANKEE, Civil War and then went on to amass a large fortune in the shown in Figure 2. R Class boats, which had a rating of railroad business. Charles Paine successfully defended the 20 feet, generally ran about 36 feet overall with a water- America’s Cup three times in a row, with PURITAN, line length of 24. The R Class was the most popular class MAYFLOWER, and VOLUNTEER. These three boats within the Universal rule and actively sailed a Marbleead. were designed by Edward Burgess, with whom the elder The R Class YANKEE had rounded sections in her fore- Paine had a close working relationship, actively partici- body. This design approach straightens the buttock lines, pating in issues of design and construction beyond that which at the time many designers, such as Uffa Fox, ar- expected of a syndicate head.iii gued most accurately reflected the flow of water around the hull. The disadvantage is that both the sections and In 1921, Frank Paine joined Edward Burgess’ son Starling waterlines present a blunt shape to the water, which can and Nathanael Herreshoff’s son L. Francis in a design lead to pounding in a swell. If the swell is combined with bureau that was the start of a remarkable association be- light winds, a not uncommon circumstance in the waters tween second generation yacht designers centered around off Newport, the performance penalty can be significant. Marblehead Harbor. All three were self-taught, all their fathers were close friends, and all three designed J Class T H E 1930 H U L L yachts for the 1930 Cup: Paine did YANKEE, Herreshoff did WHIRLWIND, and Burgess did the eventual winner, The hull that Paine designed over the Winter of . Another associate was Norman Skene, 1929/30 and shown in Figure 1 bears a strong resem- iv author of the then-definitive book on yacht design. blance to L. Francis Herreshoff’s R Class design of 1924. This resemblance is shown in Figure 3, which compares Independently wealthy, Frank Paine considered himself a the three sections that govern the shape of the forebody, racing yachtsman first and a designer second, designing midships, and afterbody of the two boats. This should not many boats for his own use. If he was an amateur he was be interpreted to mean that Paine copied Herreshoff’s a highly talented one, and was responsible for many suc- design. We do not know the degree to which Paine colla- cessful schooners, including the Grand Banks racer GER- borated in the 1924 design; further, it could be that this TRUDE L. THEBAUD, which he designed at the same particular hull form represented the collective wisdom of time as YANKEE. He was known as a man of uncommon the “Marblehead School” of designers in dealing with the generosity and freely gave of his talents in collaborative Universal Rule. designs. He was also an expert in the design and handling of parachute spinnakers, which in the 1930s were both new and poorly understood by many yachtsmen.v

Figure 2 - The R Class YANKEE by L. Francis Herreshoff. (Chapelle).

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Figure 3 - Comparison of the master sections of the J Boat YANKEE and her R Boat namesake.

T he principal difference between the two hull forms lies in the afterbody, which is proportionately narrower in the J Class YANKEE than in the R Class one. It is possible, but unlikely, that this shape was influenced by the some- what controversial theories of Alfred Turner, who at that time had just published his first papers on the so-called “Metacentric Shelf” method of designing a balanced hull, that is, one that does not yaw as a consequence of heeling. These papers were published in the model yachting pressvi, and both Norman Skene and L. Francis Herre- shoff were active model yachtsmen. In any case, by acci- dent or design, the hull of YANKEE conforms exactly to the criteria Turner laid down for a balanced hull.

Figure 4 - YANKEE’s hull under construction at the Lawley yard. (American Brass and Copper). Figure 5 - The 1930 Rig (International News).

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YANKEE had the second highest displacement of the YANKEE’s first rig. The mast was hollow wood and fa- 1930 designs, and had the greatest beam. She was bricated in one 160 foot long piece. Figure 5, taken in equipped with a centerboard which was unusual in that it May of 1930 immediately after the launch of YANKEE, was designed to be used during the run rather than the shows the elaborate bracing and standing rigging required usual deployment during a beat.vii to hold the mast up and keep it from buckling.

Her hull was constructed at the Lawley yard in Neponset, Of particular interest is the small jumper strut at the top of MA, of Tobin Bronze plates laid over a set of steel the mast. As shown, this was a single, forward-facing frames. The process of fabrication is shown in Figure 4. strut with two jumpers passing through it, and the forestay After shaping, the plates were temporarily fastened to the running between them. Almost immediately this arrange- frames with bolts, which were then in turn replaced with ment was changed to the more conventional “vee” strut in flush rivets. The result was a smooth underbody that was hopes of stiffening the upper mast, then quickly, and for very resistant to marine growth and which could be pre- unknown reasons, changed back again; the single strut pared to a fine finish by polishing. She was unique in that arrangement remained in her other two masts. This strut is her ballast was cast inside her hull shell rather than being significant because its failure was widely believed to have molded separately and bolted on.viii cost her the position of Defender in 1934.

Figure 6 shows her original sail plan. For many years af- ter her launch, a flying jib foresail was called a “Yankee.”

T H E 1930 D E F E ND E R T RI A LS

Despite being helmed by Charles Francis Adams, who was one of the leading yachtsmen of his day (and serving as Secretary of the Navy — those were simpler times), YANKEE’s performance during the trials was at best indifferent. Her record against ENTERPRISE was 3 wins and 4 losses; against it was 2 wins and 6 losses, and against WHIRLWIND it was 4 wins and 1 loss. Many of the losses wer attributed by observers to her hull form, which was designed for higher winds than actually occurred during the trials.

At the end of the trials YANKEE was stored on “Peacock Alley” at the Herreshoff yards and not sailed again until the 1934 Cup cycle.

T H E 1934 H U L L

In December of 1933, Chandler Hovey of Boston and Frank Paine began raising money to contend again for the Defender position in the 1934 event. Some funds were given by a still-unknown yachtsman and others by Paine’s sister. Hovey’s daughter Elizabeth was also made an ac- tive member of the afterguard; this marked the greatest involvement of women in a Cup defense to that date.ix Figure 6 - The 1930 Sail Plan (Chevalier and Taglang). Paine, who by now had a controlling interest in the Law- T H E 1930 RI G ley yard, modified the forebody of YANKEE by sharpen- ing the sections and waterlines, as shown in Figure 7. The Rigs were the weakest feature of J Class yachts. work involved is shown in Figure 8. The effect on her Their mammoth canvas mainsails put a static load of performance was profound. around 1500 pounds on the standing rigging even before any effect of wind pressure was taken into account.

Paine drew on his schooner experience in the design of

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Figure 7 - The modifications to YANKEE’s forward sections. (Rudder magazine).

Figure 8 - The modifications under way. (International News).

T H E 1934 RI G Paine added external spruce bracing to the lower one-third of the mast. He also removed the lower spreader to reduce For 1934, the New York Yacht Club increased the windage and aerodynamic drag. The resulting rig is clear- minimum weight of the masts of J Class yachts in re- ly shown in Figure 9, taken during the Defender trials. sponse to concerns about the safety and reliability of these From the appearance of her wake, YANKEE is moving at large rigs. YANKEE’s mast was 300 pounds under the close to her maximum speed in this rare aerial photo- required weight.x To bring it up to the required limit, graph.

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of lead to his yacht to get her performance up to YAN- KEE’s. In the last race between the two, YANKEE’s up- per jumper broke when running for the finish and she lost the race by one second. The selection committee almost immediately selected as the Defender, caus- ing such consternation amongst YANKEE’s partisans in the Boston area that John Lawrence, head of the original 1930 syndicate, was obliged to issue a public statement in support of the committee’s choice of RAINBOW.xi

By the third race of the Cup series, Vanderbilt was in grave difficulty against T.O.M. Sopwith’s ENDEA- VOUR. He called upon Frank Paine for help, and Paine, with characteristic generousity, packed YANKEE’s para- chute spinnaker in his car, drove from Boston to Newport, and joined the crew of RAINBOW. She never lost a race after that, and Vanderbilt publicly praised Paine as the man who saved the Cup.xii

T H E 1935 R E BUI L D

The 1934 Cup cycle was marred by controversy, from the Defender’s trials (which included a collision between YANKEE and RAINBOW), through the selec- tion of RAINBOW as defender, to the famous protest Figure 9 - The 1934 rig. (International News). incident during the defense itself.

T H E 1934 D E F E ND E R T RI A LS A ND D E F E NSE Concerned about the relations with British yachtsmen, the prominent anglophile sportsman Gerard B. Lambert, who was in the process of making his second fortune as the Again helmed by Charles Francis Adams, YANKEE president of the Gillette Company, bought YANKEE and showed significant improvement over 1930. Her record had her completely refitted for a racing tour in England. against WEETAMOE was 10 wins and no losses; against He and Paine essentially discarded the rig, gutted the hull, RAINBOW it was 10 wins to 8 losses. Vanderbilt, leader and made a whole new boat out of her. of the RAINBOW syndicate, was forced to add seven tons

Figure 10 - YANKEE’s rebuilt interior. (Fox).

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Lambert was particularly sensitive to accusations in the cabin was added to conform to the British racing rules, British press that the American boats were not fitted out and remained for the rest of the life of the boat. Skylights as “proper yachts,” but instead had lightweight interiors and ventilators were also added as part of the interior re- and were in effect all-out racing machines; in 1930 EN- fit. TERPRISE, to the great annoyance of Vanderbilt, was commonly referred to as the “mechanical ship.”xiii Lam- The most significant change was in her mast, now made bert accordingly spared no expense in YANKEE’s new from steel instead of wood. The general configuration interior, shown in Figure 10. followed that of the 1934 rig, with just two wide spread- ers. The method of fabrication of the mast is shown in Figure 11 depicts the new rig and deck layout. The small Figure 12. What is not shown is the elaborate internal

Figure 11 - YANKEE as rebuilt in 1935. (Fox).

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Figure 12 - How the 1935 mast was fabricated. (Rudder magazine).

bracing used to stiffen what was, in effect, a thin metal tube welded up out of half-round sections. The entire mast weighed 5000 pounds.

The bolted joints were placed at the points were the stand- ing rigging was attached, and reinforcements there also served as tangs for the shrouds, as shown in Figure 13. The galvanized steel cable shrouds were inserted into steel sockets in what was then a traditional manner.

Designers in the J Class era were very conscious of the aerodynamic effects of mast shape and rigging, at least to the degree that the science of the day enabled them to understand it. A contemporary analysis, based on skin friction resulting from the surface area of the mast, is pre- sented in Figure 15.xiv

Figure 14 - YANKEE rigged as a yawl. (Rudder maga- zine.)

Figure 13 - Mast joints and shrouds. (Rudder magazine).

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F igure 15 - A comparative analysis of mast air friction. (Rudder magazine).

T H E 1935 E N G L A ND T O UR score with Sopwith. YANKEE was on a beat to windward, leading in ten knots of wind under a reefed For the Atlantic Ocean crossing, Lambert and Paine main and single foresail, when Lambert ordered a double- had YANKEE rigged as a yawl and equipped with four clewed (quadrilateral) jib broken out and the entire rig dories stacked on her deck as lifeboats, plus a set of life- immediately collapsed over the side. Later investigation lines around her deck. Her racing mast and 50 foot motor showed that none of the rig had parted, and Lambert be- tender were shipped ahead by ocean liner. (Figure 14). lieved that the combination of the reefed main and extra foresail placed an unequal load on the mast, which caused She was accompanied on her journey by Lambert’s other it to buckle in place. The carnage is shown in Figure 16. yacht, the 185 foot schooner ATLANTIC (Lambert liked large yachts). ATLANTIC held the “Blue Riband,” the Although the racing was a disappointment, the social side record for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, and of the cruise was a great success, erasing much of the ill Lambert thought it would be amusing if the two boats will generated by the 1934 Cup races; a triumph capped raced to England; YANKEE won, though no record was by a telegram from King George V expressing sympathy set. for Lambert’s misfortune.xvii

Once in England, YANKEE’s mast was stepped in the T H E 1936 SE RI ES Royal Navy yard at Portsmouth and Lambert embarked on a combined racing and social program involving the YANKEE returned to Boston in May of 1936 to a raucous highest levels of British society. In her races against EN- welcome, after having been battered by an Atlantic gale. DEAVOUR, YANKEE won 8 and lost 9, sailing in unfa- Lambert had a new racing mast made, which as far as we miliar waters and in unusually light air for the regionxv. can tell duplicated the 1935 mast but with an extra lower One British observer wrote that, had the conditions been spreader. She raced RAINBOW in a series that was in- more typical, she would have been very competitive.xvi tended by the New York Yacht Club to gain information in support of the upcoming 1937 Cup Defense. The series In her last race, against , SHAMROCK, and was even, 8 wins apiece, but YANKEE won the last race , Lambert was determined to even the and the coveted King’s Cup.

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F igure 16 - YANK E E dismasted. (International News).

THE 1937 HULL AND RIG which was bolted on to the outside of her hull, and shaped to sharpen the leading edge of her keel. The additional In late 1936 Lambert decided, as he said later “for the weight brought her waterline up to within inches of the fun of it”, to make radical changes to YANKEE’s hull fixed 87 foot limit of the class. and rig in preparation for the 1937 Cup cycle. Working secretly, he and Paine had YANKEE hauled out at the Even more radical were the changes to her rig. Lambert’s Lawley Yard and modified her ballast as shown in Figure first boat was the I Class , and he recalled that 17. The loose internal ballast added in 1934 was removed he had great success in the 1929 by rigging VANITIE and combined with extra lead to form a ten ton “shoe” with two headsails instead of the then-standard three. As

Figure 17 - External ballast added to YANKEE over the Winter of 1936/37. (Rudder magazine).

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Figure 18 - YANKEE as rigged for the 1927 Defender Trials. (Rudder magazine). h e later recalled, he thought to himself: “All the later ‘J’ boats had this doubleheaded rig. Now why not experiment and have one?”

If it is indeed true that the genesis of YANKEE was in a sloop-rigged R Class design, then this decision brought her full circle, albeit at three times the size.

Paine took the 1936 mast and added reinforcement and the extensive external bracing shown in Figure 18, re- quired because the forestay was omitted. To balance the rig, the mast was moved forward six feet. This was only partially effective; Lambert reported that under this rig YANKEE carried substantial lee helm.

The repositioned mast required a larger main, so large that no sailmaker’s loft of the period could hold it and Lam- bert had to hire an armory in New York to have it made.xviii

The mammoth genoa shown in Figure 19 also posed han- dling problems. Paine designed a monster winch, operated by twelve crewmen distributed around three arms. One observer wrote that it “in the second speed would be near- ly powerful enough to pull the mast down.”xix (Figure 20) Figure 19 - The 1937 genoa. (Sportsman magazine).

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Figure 20 - The 1937 genoa winch. (Hart Collection). A C K N O W L E D G M E N TS In the event, YANKEE was up against the superlative and there was no real contest. After the trials The author is indebted to Jacques Taglang for per- Lambert had her restored to her 1936 rig for the remaind- mission to adapt the lines plan and sail plan of YANKEE er of the sailing season. for this paper; to Frank J. Conahan of the Hart Nautical Collection, MIT Museum, for locating the plans of the T H E E ND O F A N E R A 1937 winch; and to John Palmieri, T. J. Perrotti, Russell Potts, and anonymous reviewers for comments and sug- After the 1937 season, the newly remarried Lambert gestions on earlier drafts of this paper. lost interest in yachting and YANKEE never sailed again. In 1940 he donated ATLANTIC to the Coast Guard for R E F E R E N C ES use as a training vessel and had YANKEE broken up for the valuable brass in her; the proceeds he donated to Anonymous, “The Four Cup Yachts.” The Rudder 50, 7 Queen Mary of England to be distributed to hospitals. All (July 1934). the remains of this once-great yacht is her stern plate in Chappelle, Howard I. The History of American Sailing Museum of Yachting (Figure 21). Ships. (reprint). New York, N.D.

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N O T ES

i Chevalier and Taglang, pg. 199. ii Poor, pp 58-102. iii Stephens, pg 410 ff. iv Knight and MacNaughton, pp 213-216. v Knight and MacNaughton, pp 351-353. vi Turner. vii Robbins 1930. viii Chevalier and Taglang, pg. 199. ix Robbins 1934; Fowler. x The Rudder, 1934. Figure 21 - The last of YANKEE. (Boebert). xi Lawrence. Che valier, Francois and Taglang, Jacques, J Class. Lon- xii Vanderbilt, On the Wind’s Highway, pp 64-65. don, 2002. xiii Vanderbilt, Enterprise, pg 216. Fowler, Leonard M. Jr. “Elizabeth Hovey in Yankee’s xiv Crew.” Boston Globe, March 4 1934. MacGregor 1935 Fox, Uffa. Uffa Fox’s Second Book. New York, 1935 xv Lambert, Yankee in England, pp 99-188. Knight, Lucia del Sol and MacNaughton, Daniel Bruce. xviPout. The Encyclopedia of Yacht Designers. New York, 2006. xvii Lambert, Gerard B. Yankee in England. New York and Lambert, Yankee in England, pp 190-191. London, 1937. xviii Lambert, All Out of Step, pp 232-233 Lambert, Gerard B. All Out of Step. New York, 1956. xix MacGregor 1937 Lawrence, John S. Letter to the Editor, Boston Evening Transcript. September 1, 1934. APPE NDI X: D A T IN G PH O T O G R APHS MacGregor, Charles G. “Yankee Refitted for Racing in England.” The Rudder 51,6 (June 1935). YANKEE underwent so many changes that photographs MacGregor, Charles G. “Yankee Radically Changed.” of her can often be dated by close observation of her ap- The Rudder, 53, 5 (June 1937) pearance. If her hull shows a decorative arrow stripe just Poor, Charles Lane. Men Against the Rule. New York, below the sheer, then the picture is from 1935 or later. 1937. Likewise if she sports a small cabin on her deck.

Pout, Geoffrey J. “British Yachting Notes and Com- With regard to rig, if it has dark colored spars and three ments.” The Rudder 51,10 (October 1935) wide lower spreaders, it is from 1930. Dark spars and two Robbins, James. “New Sailing Use for Centerboard.” New wide lower spreaders indicates 1934. Light spars, two York Times, March 3, 1930. lower spreaders means 1935; light spars and three lower Robbins, James. “Woman Aids in Financing Reconstruc- spreaders indicates 1936 or 1937 after the Defender Tri- tion of Yacht Yankee, America’s Cup Candidate.” New als. The 1937 Trials rig is obvious because of the single York Times, April 22, 1934. foresail and the forward position of the mast.

Stephens, William P. Traditions and Memories of Ameri- A B O U T T H E A U T H O R can Yachting. (reprint) Brooklin, ME, 1989. Turner, Alfred, (writing as “Kappa”): “Model Yacht De- Earl Boebert is the Historian for the U.S. Vintage signing.” The Model Engineer and Light Machinery Re- Model Yacht Group. He is a retired Senior Scientist from view June 2, 1927 through Nov 8, 1928. Sandia National Laboratories. His interest in YANKEE is Vanderbilt, Harold S. Enterprise. New York and London, the result of his writing a book on constructing a radio 1931. controlled sailing model of her, from a design described in a series of articles the Boston Evening Transcript ran in Vanderbilt, Harold S. On the Wind’s Highway. New York 1935, as part of the excitement attendant upon Lambert’s and London, 1939. sailing for England.

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