John Gale Alden (1884–1962) was an American
naval architect This is the top category for all articles related to architecture and its practitioners.
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and the founder of Alden Designs.
Early life
Alden was born in
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the U.S. state of New York and the county seat of Rensselaer County. The city is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany a ...
, in 1884, one of eight children, only four of whom survived. His family's summer holidays were spent on the
Sakonnet in
Rhode Island
Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...
and on the
Narragansett Bay
Narragansett Bay is a bay and estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound covering , of which is in Rhode Island. The bay forms New England's largest estuary, which functions as an expansive natural harbor and includes a small archipelago. Sma ...
,
where he first learned about boats. He sailed his sister's flat-bottomed rowing boat using an umbrella as a sail and was said to be inspired by the local fisherman and
regatta
Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...
s.
At 18 years old, his father died, and Alden made the decision to train as a naval architect. He took courses at
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
and apprenticed with prominent naval architects
Starling Burgess and
Bowdoin B. Crowninshield
Bowdoin Bradlee Crowninshield (October 13, 1867 – August 12, 1948) was an American naval architect who specialized in the design of racing yachts.
Early life
Crowninshield was born on October 13, 1867 in New York City. He grew up in Marblehea ...
, starting in 1902.
In 1900, his family moved to
Dorchester, Massachusetts
Dorchester (colloquially referred to as Dot) is a Boston neighborhood comprising more than in the City of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Originally, Dorchester was a separate town, founded by Puritans who emigrated in 1630 from Dorchester ...
, where the
Grand Banks
The Grand Banks of Newfoundland are a series of underwater plateaus south-east of the island of Newfoundland on the North American continental shelf. The Grand Banks are one of the world's richest fishing grounds, supporting Atlantic cod, swordf ...
fishing
schooner
A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoon ...
s were docked. These were said to have inspired his later designs. A compulsive doodler, as a child he made countless sketches of the boats that were later to make him famous.
Career
![Puritan launch in 1931](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/73/Puritan_launch_in_1931.jpg)
In the winter of 1907, Alden undertook a voyage that would define his distinctive design trademark: The schooner ''
Fame'', owned by the Eastern Fishing company, had to be returned to
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
when her crew of 23 men had gone down with
smallpox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...
and there was no one left to sail her. Alden put together a crew of four inexperienced young men and one old salt to undertake the journey. During the weeks that followed, they experienced extreme winter weather of up to 60 mile an hour winds that turned the salt spray to ice. The boat, and the crew, completed the journey and it is said that Alden learned how to design a boat that would be resilient in heavy seas and what was important when a vessel was short-handed. His subsequent designs are admired not only for their grace and elegance but for their stability and for the fact that they can, generally, be sailed single-handedly if necessary.
After the voyage, Alden returned to the
Burgess __NOTOC__
Burgess may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters
* Burgess (given name), a list of people
Places
* Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community
* Burgess, Missouri, U ...
offices but left in 1909 to found his own company, the Alden Design Office in 1909.
Alden Design Office
The early years of the Alden Design were difficult and were said to have put a strain on his finances and on his marriage, which broke down after only three years. By 1917, business had improved and the offices were doing sufficiently well that by the 1920s, the office was able to employ specialist
draftsmen
A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for ...
. The approach Alden took was to discuss requirements with the clients, make the initial sketches and then hand over the work to the draftsmen to complete. Therefore, each boat designed by the firm had Alden's individual style stamped on.
By 1932, the Alden Design Office was known around the world due to the success of the "Malabar" designs in the
offshore racing scene:
*In 1923, ''
Malabar IV'' won the
Newport–Bermuda race
*In 1926, ''
Malabar VII
Malabar may refer to the following:
People
* Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India
* Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion
Places
* Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline ...
'' won the
Newport–Bermuda race
*In 1932, ''
Malabar X
John Gale Alden (1884–1962) was an American naval architect and the founder of Alden Designs.
Early life
Alden was born in Troy, New York, in 1884, one of eight children, only four of whom survived. His family's summer holidays were spent on ...
'' won overall, with his other designs occupying the top four places.
When Alden achieved his great success in the 1932 Bermuda race, the yachting world was already beginning to see changes in boat design.
Olin Stephens
Olin James Stephens II (April 13, 1908 – September 13, 2008) was an American yacht designer. Stephens was born in New York City, but spent his summers with his brother Rod, learning to sail on the New England coast. He also attended the Massa ...
' yawl ''
Dorade'', which had already won the Transatlantic and
Fastnet races in 1931, was the winner in Class B. Stephens followed this with another winner, ''
Stormy Weather'' which won the 1936 Transatlantic Race to
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
by a wide margin. This began a long-running rivalry between the two designers. Alden's designs depended on a certain amount of inside
ballast
Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship, ...
, where Stephens' adopted the idea of all-outside ballast. Stephens' boats were of lighter construction, using steam bent frames, rather than the sawn frames favored by Alden. Over the next thirty years, Alden designed over 1,000 boats,
including the 63.5' schooner ''When and If'' for
General Patton
George Smith Patton Jr. (November 11, 1885 – December 21, 1945) was a general in the United States Army who commanded the Seventh United States Army in the Mediterranean Theater of World War II, and the Third United States Army in France ...
, though of them all the 744 Rena series have been considered the most admired.
Eric Hiscock, a leading yachtsman of the time, said "I considered her to be one of the most beautiful yachts I had ever seen…quite perfect in (her) sea-kindly grace and harmony".
Al Spalding
Albert Goodwill Spalding (September 2, 1849 – September 9, 1915) was an American pitcher, manager, and executive in the early years of professional baseball, and the co-founder of A.G. Spalding sporting goods company. He was born and raised ...
became the firm's chief designer after
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, and occupied the role for fifteen years.
Later life
From the 1950s onwards, Alden took an increasingly less active role in the design business and retired in 1955. The Alden Design office carried on until 2008, under the helm of Niels Christian Helleberg, naval architect.
Helleberg continued providing design and print services until closing his office in January 2014.
[Hart Nautical Collections List]
''mitmuseum.mit.edu'', accessed 6 March 2019
Alden continued to race into his seventies, and enjoyed sailing one of his Sakonnet One designs until his death in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
at the age of 78. His designs were donated by the company to
MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the m ...
's
Hart Nautical Collections.
Alden was inducted into the
National Sailing Hall of Fame The National Sailing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture; and demonstrating i ...
in 2013.
Selected designs
Alden created many designs, with the database listing over 1000 numbered designs,
of which some 39 are shown at SailboatData.com.
Sailboats Designed By John G. Alden
''sailboatdata.com'', accessed 8 March 2019
Some of the more celebrated are shown below.
*''Bagheera
Bagheera ( hi, बघीरा / ''Baghīrā'') is a fictional character in Rudyard Kipling's Mowgli stories in ''The Jungle Book'' (coll. 1894) and ''The Second Jungle Book'' (coll. 1895). He is a black panther ( melanistic Indian leopard) who ...
''
*'' Ciara Madeline''
*''Clara Brown
Clara Brown (1800–1885) was a former enslaved woman from Virginia and Kentucky who became a community leader and philanthropist. She helped formerly enslaved people become settled during Colorado's Gold Rush. She was known as the 'Angel of th ...
''
*''Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
''
*'' Gitana''
* Surazo
*La Goleta- along with '' Tally Ho'' designed by Albert Strange, the only two finishers in the 1927 Fastnet race
The Fastnet Race is a biennial offshore yacht race organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club of the United Kingdom with the assistance of the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes and the City of Cherbourg in France.
The race is named after the Fastnet ...
*'' Wendameen''
*'' When and If''
See also
*Carl Alberg
Carl Alberg (11 April 1901 – 31 August 1986) was a Swedish born naval architect known for his influence in early fiberglass boats.
Career
Alberg moved to the United States in 1925 where he began working as a rigger then later as a spar mak ...
*Hodgdon Yachts
Hodgdon Yachts (incorporated as Hodgdon Shipbuilding, LLC
and previously known as "Hodgdon Brothers" yard) is a builder of yachts and specialized military vessels, based in East Boothbay, Maine. It is a family-run business that was founded in 181 ...
References
External links
Company page
List of Alden Yachts
(Excel-file)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alden, John
1884 births
1962 deaths
American naval architects
American yacht designers
Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
People from Dorchester, Massachusetts