''Niagara'' was a long ''sloop'' built in 1895 by the

Herreshoff Manufacturing Company Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (March 18, 1848 – June 2, 1938) was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893 and 1920. Biography Her ...

Bristol, Rhode Island Bristol is a town in Bristol County, Rhode Island, US as well as the historic county seat. The town is built on the traditional territories of the Pokanoket Wampanoag. It is a deep water seaport named after Bristol, England. The population of ...

for New Yorker

Howard Gould Howard Gould (June 8, 1871 – September 13, 1959) was an American financier and the son of Jay Gould. Early life Gould was born in Manhattan on June 8, 1871 to railroad financier Jay Gould (1836–1892) and Helen Day Miller (1838–1889). He ...

Construction

The ''Niagara'' was built in 1895 by the

for $12,500 for prominent New York financier,

, a son

Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made him ...

, the enormously wealthy railroad magnate and financial speculator. She was built at the same time as the other Herreshoff flier, ''Isolde'', to challenge Lord Dunraven's ''Audrey''.

Racing history

During her first racing season of 1895, the ''Niagara'' participated in roughly fifty races of the leading yacht clubs of

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. Her skipper was John Barr, the former commander of the ''Thistle'', and a crew, which included sailors from the United States and Norway. She won twenty-nine first prizes, nine second prizes, and one third prize. She was in the twenty-rating class and sailed the

Royal Thames Yacht Club The Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) is the oldest continuously operating yacht club in the world, and the oldest yacht club in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are located at 60 Knightsbridge, London, England, overlooking Hyde Park. The club ...

regatta in the Channel, and the Royal Harwich Yacht Club regatta at Harwich. Among the awards won were Lord Dunraven's Castle Yacht Club Challenge Cup, a silver tea set and tray from Robert Cross for the Royal Western Yacht Club (in Paisley), silver punch bowls from the Clyde Yacht Club (at

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

Royal Corinthian Yacht Club The Royal Corinthian Yacht Club is a watersports organisation based at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex. History Early history The club was founded at Erith, Kent in 1872 and moved to Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex in 1892. The Club provided the crew for ...

(at Burnham-on-Crouch), and Royal Albert Yacht Club (in

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); silver loving cups from the Royal Western Yacht Club of England (in Plymouth) and the West of Scotland Yacht Club in addition to the Maitland Kersey Cup (from the Castle Yacht Club). Captain Barr returned to America in October 1895, leaving the ''Niagara'' at Fay's yards in

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for the winter. Gould returned to America the following month in November 1895 aboard the American liner SS ''St. Louis''. The following year in 1896, she again competed in the English races and won twenty of forty races she participated in, and second at others. After the 1896 season, Gould returned to America in November 1896 again aboard the SS ''St. Louis''. Although the ''Niagara'' did well, Gould swore he would never race in the British regattas again (due to issues with the Yacht Racing Association), instead favoring the Kiel and Baltic regattas instead. In 1960, she was broken up in England.

References

External links

HMCo #451s Niagara
at Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné {{authority control 1895 ships Ships built in Bristol, Rhode Island Individual sailing vessels

Construction

Racing history

See also

References

External links