 |
Purely artistic license,
Hanuman salutes Nat Herreshoff with a sail by
the
historic yard in Bristol |
The J Class has
its roots in the oldest sporting race in the world, The America’s
Cup. This International Event was born from an annual race around
the Isle of Wight, hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron and called the
‘100 Guinea Cup’. In 1851, an overseas yacht was allowed to
participate for the first time. The yacht “America” was built that
year to an innovative new design and had sailed to the Solent in
search of racing. Initially excluded from racing against British
yachts, she was finally allowed to enter the Round The Island Race
for the ‘100 Guinea Cup’.
With the complex tides and shallow areas of the Solent it was
natural for ‘America’ to hire the services of a Pilot and in due
course Robert Underwood was employed to guide them through the very
tricky waters off the Island. Although the race programme was
advertised as rounding the Nab Buoy and then the Isle of Wight,
leaving all to Starboard, this was not what was printed by the RYS
on the instruction cards and whilst the four leaders tacked away to
round the Nab lightship, Underwood directed “America’s” Skipper to
press on through the shallow area, missing the Nab Buoy and saving a
very considerable distance. Naturally “America” took the lead and
held it to win the race, although the nearest British boat closed to
just a few minutes behind ‘America’ at the finish.
The Trophy became known as the “America’s Cup” and was taken back to
the USA. Yachts were able to challenge to win back the cup and a
series of larger and larger yachts were designed to compete.
Before the J yachts came into existence, yachts were designed to be
bigger and bigger. The towering rigs of the Big Boat Class such as
‘Lulworth’ and ‘Britannia’ dwarfed all other yachts. Clearly yacht
design was out of control and the late 1920s heralded discussion and
agreement of the Universal Rule. This new formula controlled the
size and displacement of the new yachts, enabling them to be raced
as evenly as possible. Almost immediately, designs were being
commissioned for the new, massive ‘Bermudan rigs, with no bowsprits!
The rule was based on ideas proposed by Nat Herreshoff allowing
waterline length to be increased without sail area being restricted,
as it had been under the International Rule. This was compensated by
a larger displacement and so draught was limited to 15ft. |
|
