''Reliance'' was the 1903 America's Cup defender designed by Nat Herreshoff. ''Reliance'' was funded by a nine member syndicate of members of the

New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...

headed by

Cornelius Vanderbilt III Brigadier General Cornelius "Neily" Vanderbilt III (September 5, 1873 – March 1, 1942) was an American military officer, inventor, engineer, and yachtsman. He was a member of the Vanderbilt family. Early life Born in New York City to Cornelius ...

. ''Reliance'' was designed to take full advantage of the

Seawanhaka The Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club is one of the older yacht clubs in the Western Hemisphere, ranking 18th after the Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron, New York Yacht Club, Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Mobile Yacht Club, Pass Christian Yacht Cl ...

'90-foot' rating rule and was suitable only for use in certain conditions. The 1903 America's Cup was the last to be raced according to the Seawanhaka rule.

Design

The design took advantage of a loophole in the Seawanhaka '90-foot' rating rule, to produce a racing

yacht A yacht is a sailing or power vessel used for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a , as opposed to a , such a pleasu ...

with long overhangs at each end, so that when heeled over, her

waterline The waterline is the line where the hull of a ship meets the surface of the water. Specifically, it is also the name of a special marking, also known as an international load line, Plimsoll line and water line (positioned amidships), that indi ...

length (and therefore her speed) increased dramatically (see image at left). To save weight, she was completely unfinished below deck, with exposed frames. Reliance was the first racing boat to be fitted with

winch A winch is a mechanical device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) or otherwise adjust the tension of a rope or wire rope (also called "cable" or "wire cable"). In its simplest form, it consists of a spool (or drum) attach ...

es below decks, in an era when her competitors relied on sheer man-power. Despite this a crew of 64 was required for racing due to the large sail plan. From the tip of her

bowsprit The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. The bowsprit is typically held down by a bobstay A bobstay is a part of the rigging of a sailing boat or ship. Its purpose is to counteract the upward tensio ...

to the end of her boom, ''Reliance'' measured , and the tip of her mast was above the water (the height of a 20-story building). Everything else was to an equally gargantuan scale; her

spinnaker pole A spinnaker pole is a spar used in sailboats (both dinghys and yachts) to help support and control a variety of headsails, particularly the spinnaker. However, it is also used with other sails, such as genoas and jibs, when sailing downwind ...

was long, and her total sail area of was the equivalent of eight 12 meter class yachts. ''Reliance'' was built for one purpose: to successfully defend the America's Cup.

Career

Her racing career was extraordinarily brief – and undefeated. She bested her America's Cup challenger, Sir Thomas Lipton's '' Shamrock III'', designed by

William Fife William Fife Jr. (15 June 1857 – 11 August 1944), also known as William Fife III, was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders. In his time, William Fife designed around 600 yachts, including two contende ...

, in all three races, with ''Shamrock III'' losing by such a margin in the third that she was forced to retire. ''Reliance''s designer, Nathanael Herreshoff, immediately proposed the Universal rating rule to avoid such extreme, dangerous and expensive vessels, which made ''Reliance'' an inadequate contestant in subsequent races. There was much speculation as to whether ''Reliance''s victory was due to the design of the yacht or the skill of Charlie Barr in sailing her. Lipton himself proposed to allow the two boats to swap crew after the race to decide the matter, but the offer was refused by the owners of ''Reliance''. Her very successful career was short-lived, and she was sold for scrap in 1913.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reliance (Yacht) America's Cup defenders Individual sailing vessels Yachts of New York Yacht Club members 1903 ships Sailboat type designs by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff

Design

Career

References

Further reading

External links