DSK wrote:
Joe wrote:

wasent Endeavour, the lovely J-class yacht that had been built in 1934
as an America's Cup contender made of steel?


You're right, Joe. I was wrong.

Jeff Morris wrote:

Yes, is. And I think Endeavor II was steel, also.


You should say "Endeavor II *is* steel" although none her hull is original.

I thought the Endeavor II was scrapped shortly after its defeat in '37.
It was the first Endeavor that was rebuilt at great cost.


... Perhaps DSK should have said "no steel yacht won the America's Cup."


Having thought about it for a minute or so, IIRC Ranger was also built
of steel. Herreshoff had been building boats with steel frames and
lighter material for decades before, but I think the then-new technique
of welding hull plating allowed lighter all-steel construction.

About 38 years ago a group of us young fools checked out a Starling
Burgess designed, Herreshoff built (1926?) M-class yacht, Prestige, that
was for sale for under $2000. It was in sad shape - stripped out
completely. The lead keel was long gone (melted for bullets in WWII)
and replaced with concrete. The mast, once the worlds tallest aluminum
mast, was replaced with two telephone poles. We hauled it for a survey,
but the report was that too many of the steel frames were rusted out,
and it would have cost a fortune to make her seaworthy. Fortunately, we
had the sense to pass on the deal!

Some years later, I met a couple who had bought her and were living
aboard. They had dreams of long distance cruising but were realizing
the impossibility of resurrecting the old beauty. About 5 years after
that (1979?) I found the yacht aground on Spectacle Island in Boston
Harbor. It laid there, abandoned, for a season.

The M-Class is a variation on the J-class, though somewhat smaller. It
was used as a "club racer" in the late 20's through the 50's.


Parameter M-Class 12-Metre
LOA 83'0" 67'0"
DWL 54'7" 45'0"
Beam 14'0" 12'0"
Draft 10'6" 8'11"
Displ. 96,000 lbs. 55,000 lbs.
Sail (rated) 3100 sq. ft. 1900 sq. ft.
Rig Height 104' 82'
Sail : Displ 4.88 4.59
Displ : length 264 269


There's a description of the M-class here. There's a picture of the
Prestige is about a third of the way down.
http://www.universalrule.com/page1/body.html