JADA is a sailing yacht that was originally commissioned by Delbert Axelson of Axelson Manufacturing. Axelson had the yacht built for his son, Jack Axelson, as a college graduation present. JADA is less a name and more of an acronym, being the first letters of the names Jack, Alta (Jack's mother), and Delbert Axelson. Delbert, a member of

Newport Harbor Yacht Club Newport Harbor Yacht Club is a yacht club located on the Balboa Peninsula, Newport Beach, Balboa Peninsula, which is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California. Facilities The Newport Harbor Yacht Club facility h ...

had JADA built at Stephens Brothers Boat Yard in

Stockton, CA Stockton is a city in and the county seat of San Joaquin County in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. Stockton was founded by Carlos Maria Weber in 1849 after he acquired Rancho Campo de los Franceses. The city is named after Ro ...

in 1938. JADA was launched on June 5 of that year. Before becoming and currently serving as a charter boat, JADA was actively raced and sailed up and down the west coast from Santa Barbara to

Ensenada, Mexico Ensenada is a city in Ensenada Municipality, Baja California, situated on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. Located on the Bahía de Todos Santos, the city had a population of 279,765 in 2018, making it the third-largest city in Baja California. The ...

, and to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and back. During the famous 1939 hurricane that caused so much damage at Newport Harbor, JADA suffered minor damage. JADA was sold in 1950 to Mrs. Isabelle Belyea. Her daughter’s boyfriend raced it in the 1951 TransPac race from California to Hawaii and placed 10th in class B and 18th in the overall fleet. From a schooner configuration, JADA was re-rigged into a yawl to be more competitive in ocean racing in 1955 under the ownership of George R. Sturgis. Under George, JADA twice placed 2nd overall in 5 TransPacs. JADA took 1st overall in the Tahiti Race in 1969. JADA went through several owners in the '60s and '70s, and was rumored to have been purchased and enjoyed by actor,

Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...

, for many years in

French Polynesia )Territorial motto: ( en, "Great Tahiti of the Golden Haze") , anthem = , song_type = Regional anthem , song = " Ia Ora 'O Tahiti Nui" , image_map = French Polynesia on the globe (French Polynesia centered).svg , map_alt = Location of Frenc ...

. JADA began her commercial career serving as a charter boat in Honolulu, Hawaii in 1992. She was relocated to San Diego in 1996 and currently resides at the Sheraton Harbor Island Marina. Frequent celebrity visitors on JADA were

Humphrey Bogart Humphrey DeForest Bogart (; December 25, 1899 – January 14, 1957), nicknamed Bogie, was an American film and stage actor. His performances in Classical Hollywood cinema films made him an American cultural icon. In 1999, the American Film In ...

Lauren Bacall Lauren Bacall (; born Betty Joan Perske; September 16, 1924 – August 12, 2014) was an American actress. She was named the 20th-greatest female star of classic Hollywood cinema by the American Film Institute and received an Academy Honorary Aw ...

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John Wayne Marion Robert Morrison (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979), known professionally as John Wayne and nicknamed The Duke or Duke Wayne, was an American actor who became a popular icon through his starring roles in films made during Hollywood's Gol ...

and Broadway star John Raitt (father of singer

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

). More recently in San Diego, guests include

Tom Cruise Thomas Cruise Mapother IV (born July 3, 1962), known professionally as Tom Cruise, is an American actor and producer. One of the world's highest-paid actors, he has received various accolades, including an Honorary Palme d'Or and three Gol ...

, Nicole Kidman and Louis CK.

Designer

I. Judson Kelly designed JADA. The JADA was commissioned by Delbert Axelson of Axelson Manufacturing. The Stephens Brothers built the JADA in 1938. Her length overall was 56 feet, with a draft of 8 feet. Initially a

staysail A staysail ("stays'l") is a fore-and-aft rigged sail whose Sail components#Edges, luff can be affixed to a stays (nautical), stay running forward (and most often but not always downwards) from a mast (sailing), mast to the deck (ship), deck, the b ...

schooner, JADA was later re-rigged as a

yawl A yawl is a type of boat. The term has several meanings. It can apply to the rig (or sailplan), to the hull type or to the use which the vessel is put. As a rig, a yawl is a two masted, fore and aft rigged sailing vessel with the mizzen mast p ...

. JADA was built concurrently with the Odyssey, a sister boat with an almost identical hull, by the Stephens Brothers Shipyard of Stockton. Their cast iron keels were both poured and machined by the Axelson Manufacturing Co. of Huntington Park. Both were owned by a Huntington Park industrialist.

Captain

According to George Sturgis, “Bill was comfortable captaining both sail and powerboats. He won the Los Angeles to Tahiti race in 1956 on his sailboat, Jada, and proceeded to spend six months diving and filming the remote islands in the South Pacific.” Residing in San Diego, JADA can be seen at the annual Festival of Sail and Tall Ship Festival.

References

{{reflist Individual sailing yachts