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Racing sailing yacht Vigilant; two photos showing details; Vigilant with the Royal Yacht Britannia; Vigilant slipped and in dry dock
Jeff Cole continues to delight with his collection of photos from The Yachtsman and elsewhere. Today, I thought we should have some shots relating to the ever-controversial America’s Cup series of races.
The photos above show:
Vigilant, the 1893 defender of the Auld Mug or America’s Cup. there’s no information about who took the photo, but it’s a Photomezzotype. The detail photos show deck layout, wheel, crew placement, other gear including ships boat, and the skipper in a dark uniform, officer’s cap and beard looking astern.
Vigilant and Royal Yacht Britannia becalmed at the Royal Clyde YC Regatta, July 9, 1894. The photo appeared in a supplement to The Yachtsman no 191, December 1894. This is a Photomezzotype by the London Stereoscopic Co, and the photo was taken by Mclure & Macdonald. Three steam yachts, other sailing craft and even rowing boats can be seen in the background.
Vigilant in dry dock. The shot is listed as photo 8589 by West & Sons of Southsea, and Jeff believes it probably appeared in Yachting World. It shows a clear view of the hull and keel, rudder, boom horse, wheel, binnacle, companionway, lifting gear on gaff, skylights and ship’s boat. There are two gentlemen on the dock, one in top hat, tails and walking stick. The other with full white beard, bum-freezer jacket and cap and what looks like an umbrella…
Vigilant and unknown smaller yacht passing the finishing mark at the Clyde Corinthian YC Regatta, July 10, 1894. There’s nothing to say where the image came from, but it might be another London Stereoscopic Co Photomezzotype. In the background there are steam yachts and several small craft.
Shamrock and Reliance racing for the America’s Cup, and Mrs William Henry Henn relaxing on board the Galatea
Shamrock and Reliance in a photo captioned ‘First race for the America’s Cup’. It appeared in a supplement to Yachting World, Sept 3, 1903, and was taken by The Pictorial News Co of New York.Charming photo of Mrs William Henry Penn on boatd the Galatea, which was an America’s Cup challenger in 1886. There’s nothing to say where the photo appeared, but Jeff says hat it’s a Photomezzotype. Mrs Penn is clearly young, dressed in tartan and sitting in a cane chair, and a she’s accompanied by a curly retriever dog, an elaborate silver fox fur (on skylight, says Jeff) and there’s a named fender at base of the davit. There’s also a pinrail between the davits. In the background, is that a barge or hulk?
Amazon has this fabulous book about another America’s Cup contender of long ago:
Reliance
There’s also this book by legendary America’s Cup skipper Ted Turner:
Ted Turner book on the early America’s Cup
And this analysis of how far contenders are prepared to go to win and how shamefully unsportsmanlike they can be as a consequence:
Keelhauled: Unsportsmanlike Conduct and the America’s Cup
