ATALANTA yacht 1881

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aukepalmhof
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ATALANTA yacht 1881

Post by aukepalmhof » Wed Oct 15, 2014 7:09 pm

ATALANTA built as a wooden hulled centreboard sloop at the Flint & Holton lumber yard, Belleville, Ontario, Canada by and for Captain Alexander Cuthbert, as a challenger for the America Cup. Cuthbert was a member of the Bay of Quinte Yacht Club, Canada,
Designed also by Captain Cuthbert.
Early spring 1881 keel laid down.
17 September 1881 launched as the ATALANTA, named after a daughter of a mythical Greek King, she had promised to marry any man who could sprint faster than herself but to put to dead all those who tried and failed.
Gross register tons 46.65, displacement 44.7 tons, dim. 21.34 x 5.79 x 5.03m. (draught), length on waterline 19.50m.
Sail area 289.67m².

She was late in the season almost completed and to be at time in New York she was forced to pass via the inland route to New York, entering the Erie Canal at Oswego.
30 October 1881 arrived at New York harbour.
The first race under skipper Alexander Cuthbert against the defender the MISCHIEF on 08 November was cancelled due to light winds and fog.
09 November the first race over a distance of 32.6 mile off New York was won by the MISCHIEF and also the second race on 10 November was won by the MISCHIEF and the cup stayed in the hands of the New York Yacht Club.
1882 The ATALANTA sailed on Lake Ontario.
1883 Took part in the Fisher Cup at Chicago, she was leading but broke her spinnaker boom and lost against the yacht CORA, at that time the ATALANTA was owned by the Gifford Syndicate of Cobury, Canada.
After repairs were made she raced again in a private match on the same course, and in this race she beat the CORA by 16 minutes.
The ATALANTA kept the Fisher Cup until 1886.
1896 She got on fire and was partly burned. Sold and taken to Chicago for repairs, she was rebuilt with higher topsides and flush deck.
1900 Was she seen in New Orleans, where after she disappears, fate unknown.
More info is given on:
http://america-scoop.com/index.php?opti ... 57&lang=en

Grenadines of Grenada 1992 15c sg1578, scott1475. (she is the yacht in the background of the stamp.)

Source The Story of the America Cup 1851-2003 by Ranulf Rayner. http://navalmarinearchive.com/research/atalanta.html
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