J-Boat RELIANCE Ghosting to Newport, RI

oil on canvas, 24 1/8" x 36 1/4"

SOLD

In 1903 ten members of the New York Yacht Club, including William Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt, and C. Oliver Iselin, formed a syndicate and commissioned the ‘Wizard of Bristol,’ Nathaniel Herrshoff to design and build a yacht to defend the America's Cup on behalf of the club, that yacht was RELIANCE. When launched, she became the largest single masted vessel in the world, her length overall was 144 feet, and she measured 90 feet on the water line, her 154-foot-high mast carried 16,840 feet of sail.

To earn the right to defend for the Cup, elimination races were held off Newport, Rhode Island. In this stunning painting, RELIANCE is seen with her giant rig on full display in June, off Brenton Point, leading her competitors back into Newport, with COLUMBIA and CONSTITUTION in the distance, after a day's ocean racing. Some of the spectator yachts can be seen to the left of RELIANCE in the painting.

On July 27, 1903, RELIANCE was designated the New York Yacht Club’s official defender. She went on to sweep Thomas Lipton’s SHAMROCK III who was challenging on behalf of the Royal Ulster Yacht Club in three races.