8 - A World at War

(Part 3)

Defenders of the America's Cup

One unique Enterprise, which sailed during the period between the world wars, was the 1930 winner of the America's Cup. This famous yacht race had its beginning in the mid-19th Century. At the time, the United States was a recognized leader in ocean-going commerce, with its fast clipper ships. When it came to racing yachts, however, Great Britain was the unquestioned leader.

American yacht designer George Steers built the America as a refinement of the fast and seaworthy New York pilot boats, and took her to Le Havre, France to be put into race trim. On her subsequent passage from France to Cowes, England, she met one of England's fastest racing yachts and in an informal race sailed away from the British boat. The America was allowed to enter the 100 Guinea Cup, a prestigious race around the Isle of Wight, and proceeded to soundly defeat all of the top British racing yachts. According to one account, when Queen Victoria asked who was second, the response was, "Alas, Your Majesty, there is no second."36 In 1857 the America's owners deeded the trophy to the New York Yacht Club and it has been known ever since as the "America's Cup."

The Enterprise was a 121-foot J-class yacht designed by W. Starling Burgess. Burgess also designed the 1934 champion Rainbow and the 1937 champion Ranger. He is said to have been not only an extremely ingenious designer, but also a competent sailor who recognized the sailing effects of his designs. He is credited with saving the Enterprise's position as defender in the final 1930 preliminary race against the Weetamoe by improvising repairs to a broken fitting in the heat of battle. In the words of Harold Vanderbilt, the Enterprise's skipper:

Every country, every individual, every boat has a high spot, a point of climax in his or its history, which often spells the difference between success or failure. I consider this the high spot of Enterprise's career. Had Starling Burgess failed to find the right answer, had we either withdrawn or lost our mast, I do not believe we would ever have defended the Cup. Little things often determine momentous questions.37

Harold Vanderbilt, who also piloted Burgess's other Cup winners, Rainbow and Ranger, was the skipper of the Enterprise for her successful 1930 defense of the America's Cup. He is said to have had a brilliant mind at the helm and in business, and inspired his crews with his leadership, confidence, judgment, and innovativeness.

The J-class yacht Enteprise defeated the British yacht Shamrock V to win the America's Cup in 1930. [Photo: Rosenfeld Collection, Mystic Seaport Museum]

To qualify for her 1930 defense, the Enterprise had to defeat the yachts Weetamoe, Yankee, and Whirlwind in preliminary elimination races. These races were held in June, July, and August of the championship year. In 1930, as in the majority of cases, the boat which won most of the early races in June and July did not necessarily triumph as the yacht selected to defend the Cup. The Weetamoe was the strongest boat during the early races and was favored to be selected as defender. However, Starling Burgess used these races to experiment with changes on the Enterprise, including replacing her wooden main mast with an aluminum mast, which saved over 1,000 pounds in weight; replacing her boom with a design which allowed for a more efficient sail shape; recutting her main sail to fit the new boom; and installing a smaller rudder to reduce drag. When it came down to the closing races against the Weetamoe, the Enterprise was ready, winning both. It was during the very last elimination race that Burgess pulled victory from disaster by improvising a repair to save her main mast from collapse. On the evening of August 27, 1930, Enterprise was officially announced as the defender for the America's Cup.

The challenger was the British yacht Shamrock V, designed by Charles Nicholson, a British naval architect, and piloted by Ernest Heard, a professional yacht skipper. The first race was held on September 13, with smooth seas and winds of about 9 knots. The Enterprise covered the 30 mile course in 4 hours, 3 minutes, 48 seconds. Shamrock V was almost six minutes behind. In the second race, on September 15, Enterprise widened her winning margin to almost ten minutes. The third race was run on September 17, and the Enterprise won by default when the Shamrock V's main halyard parted from the masthead in moderate seas and a wind of up to 16 knots. The final race, of a possible seven, was held on September 18. The Enterprise again won easily, completing the course in 3 hours, 10 minutes, 13 seconds, or more than five minutes ahead of the Shamrock V. The official results were announced in a letter from the race committee to the secretary of the New York Yacht Club which read: "We have to report that Enterprise won `the best four out of seven races' from Shamrock V and thereby the Match for the America's Cup."38

After World War II, the enormous cost of building and operating a J-class yacht threatened to kill the America's Cup tradition. After much deliberation, the race organizers settled on rules mandating much smaller 12-meter yachts. This new class was well suited for the America's Cup races, because they were out-and-out racing boats.

In 1977, forty-seven years after the Enterprise's 1930 victory, another Enterprise was in America's Cup competition. However, this Enterprise was not quite as lucky and lost to Ted Turner's Courageous in preliminary elimination races. The Courageous went on to defeat the challenger Australia. In 1980, the same 12-meter yacht Enterprise was used as the training and trials boat for the American defender Freedom, which also went on to defeat the challenger Australia. Every sailing day over a 2-year period, the two American yachts worked together. After Freedom's victory in the last race of the 1980 match, the race committee signaled, "Well done Enterprise/Freedom Syndicate. See you in 1983."39 This was an acknowledgment of the important part that the 12-meter Enterprise had played in the successful defense of the America's Cup.

The 1977 America's Cup contender Enterprise was of the new and smaller 12-meter class. She lost in preliminary races to successful Cup defender Courageous. [Photo: Rosenfeld Collection, Mystic Seaport Museum]

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Last Updated: January 1, 2003