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Historical:

Star of India was built in 1863 at Ramsey in the Isle of Man as Euterpe, a full-rigged iron windjammer ship. After a full career sailing from Great Britain to India and New Zealand, she became a salmon hauler on the Alaska to California route. Retired in 1926, she was not restored until 1962–63 and is now a seaworthy museum ship home-ported at the Maritime Museum of San Diego in San Diego, California. She is the oldest ship still sailing regularly and also the oldest iron-hulled merchant ship still floating. The ship is both a California Historical Landmark and United States National Historic Landmark.

Named for Euterpe, the muse of music, she was a full-rigged ship (a ship that is square-rigged on all three masts), built of iron in 1863 by Gibson, McDonald & Arnold, of Ramsey, Isle of Man, for the Indian jute trade of Wakefield Nash & Company of Liverpool. She was launched on 14 November 1863, and assigned British Registration No.47617 and signal VPJK.

Euterpe’s career had a rough beginning. She sailed for Calcutta from Liverpool on 9 January 1864, under the command of Captain William John Storry. A collision with an unlighted Spanish brig off the coast of Wales carried away the jib-boom and damaged other rigging. The crew became mutinous, refusing to continue, and she returned to Anglesey to repair; 17 of the crew were confined to the Beaumaris Jail at hard labor. Then, in 1865, Euterpe was forced to cut away her masts in a gale in the Bay of Bengal off Madras and limped to Trincomalee and Calcutta for repair. Captain Storry died during the return voyage to England and was buried at sea.

After her near-disastrous first two voyages Euterpe was sold, first in 1871 to David Brown of London for whom she made four more relatively uneventful voyages to India, then again (displaced by steamers after the opening of the Suez Canal) in 1871 to Shaw, Savill and Company of London (which in 1882 became the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line). In late 1871 she began twenty-five years of carrying passengers and freight in the New Zealand emigrant trade, each voyage going eastward around the world before returning to England. The fastest of her 21 passages to New Zealand took 100 days, the longest 143 days. She also made ports of call in Australia, California, and Chile. A baby was born on one of those trips en route to New Zealand, and was given the middle name Euterpe.

In 1897, after 21 round-the-world trips, Euterpe was sold, first to Hawaiian owners, then in 1899 to the Pacific Colonial Ship Company of San Francisco, California and from 1898 to 1901 made four voyages between the Pacific Northwest, Australia and Hawaii carrying primarily lumber, coal and sugar. She was registered in the United States on 30 October 1900.

In 1901, Euterpe was sold to the Alaska Packers’ Association of San Francisco, who re-rigged her as a barque (converting the square-rigged aftermost mast to fore-and-aft) and in 1902 began carrying fishermen, cannery workers, coal and canning supplies each spring from Oakland, California to Nushagak in the Bering Sea, returning each fall with holds full of canned salmon. In 1906, the Association changed her name to be consistent with the rest of their fleet, and she became Star of India. She was laid up in 1923 after 22 Alaskan voyages; by that time, steam ruled the seas.

In 1926, Star of India was sold to the Zoological Society of San Diego, California, to be the centerpiece of a planned museum and aquarium. The Great Depression and World War II caused that plan to be canceled, and it was not until 1957 that restoration began. Alan Villiers, a windjammer captain and author, came to San Diego on a lecture tour. Seeing Star of India decaying in the harbor, he publicized the situation and inspired a group of citizens to form the “Star of India Auxiliary” in 1959 to support the restoration of the ship. Progress was still slow, but in 1976, Star of India finally put to sea again. She houses exhibits for the Maritime Museum of San Diego, is kept fully seaworthy, and sails at least once a year. With the many other ships now in the Museum, she hosts frequent docent-led school tours for over 6,000 children a year, as well as a Living History Program in which students “step back in time” and are immersed in history and teamwork activities during overnight visits.

The 1863 Star of India is the fourth oldest ship afloat in the United States, after the 1797 USS Constitution, the 1841 Charles W. Morgan, and 1854 USS Constellation, and is the second oldest ship in the world that still sails regularly. Unlike many preserved or restored vessels, her hull, cabins and equipment are nearly 100% original.

Star of India is home-ported at the San Diego Maritime Museum, just south of Lindbergh Field (San Diego International Airport), on the west side of North Harbor Drive at approximately Ash Street – all within the Port of San Diego tidelands. This location is slightly west of downtown San Diego, California. The other ships belonging to the Maritime Museum are always docked to the north of Star of India. Her nearest neighbor – since 2007 – is the HMS Surprise (a.k.a. HMS Rose), a replica of a British frigate.

When she sails, Star of India often remains within sight of the coast of San Diego County, and usually returns to her dock within a day. She is sailed by a skilled volunteer crew of Maritime Museum members, who train all year. She has become one of the landmark ships in San Diego’s Harbor. – Source: Museum Ships
 

• Launched five days before Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address
• Sailed twenty-one times around the world
• Never fitted with auxiliary power
• Went aground in Hawaii
• Became an “American” ship by Act of Congress
• Trapped in ice in Alaska
• Still sails by a volunteer crew

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: Wakefield Nash & Company of Liverpool. (1863-)
Owner/Guardian: David Brown, London (1871-)
Owner/Guardian: The Pacific Colonial Ship Company of San Francisco, California (1899-)
Owner/Guardian: Alaska Packers’ Association of San Francisco (1901-1926)
Owner/Guardian: Zoological Society of San Diego, California (1926-)
Owner/Guardian: Star of India Auxiliary (1959-)
Owner/Guardian: Maritime Museum Association
Captain: William John Storry
Born Onboard: John William Philips Palmer

Historical:

Stanley Norman is significant as being one of the 35 surviving traditional Chesapeake Bay skipjacks and a member of the last commercial sailing fleet in the United States. Out of a fleet of hundreds of skipjacks that worked Bay waters in the early years of this century today only this small number remain to carry on the tradition of working sail. STANLEY NORMAN is of interest as being one of the older skipjacks still dredging in the Chesapeake fleet. She was built in 1902 in Salisbury, Maryland, following traditional Bay-area design and construction methods. The vessel is one of the 19 surviving working skipjacks to have been built previous to 1912 and, like most of the skipjacks, has been extensively rebuilt, a process that extended over four years from 1976-1980, and was well documented by the owner and restorer, Ed Farley of Bozman, Maryland. The vessel is particularly finely finished and is used for summer charters as well as for winter dredging. She is an example of how an older vessel, near abandonment, can be restored to useful working life–a process common to wooden vessels of all eras, but particularly well documented in this case. STANLEY NORMAN was sold to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation in 1990, and moved to Annapolis as a teaching vessel. Although damaged by fire on December 9, 2003, the fire was contained in the cabin and the vessel did not sustain major damage.

Description: – This vessel is a 47.5′ long, two-sail bateau, or V-bottomed deadrise type of centerboard sloop, commonly referred to as a skipjack. She has a beam of 16′, a depth of 4′ at the stern with the centerboard up, and a registered tonnage of 7 tons. She was built in Bay style using cross-planked construction in 1902 in Salisbury, Maryland, for the oyster dredging fleet. The vessel’s keel is original and of yellow pine but between 1976 and 1980 much of the vessel was rebuilt, a process which was extremely well documented. She carries a typical skipjack rig–a jib-headed mainsail laced to the boom and carried on hoops at the 65′ spruce mast, and a single, large, self-tending jib with a club on its foot. The vessel is painted white. In shape, the vessel has a longhead bow and square stern. She has a straight stem, with an extra brace flying from the end of the longhead to the bow planking. Her square transom stern is “tucked” underwater–in other words, the chine meets the waterline, causing some drag. This is an unusual feature, as most skipjacks have a high tuck where the chine meets the transom. The rudder is hung outboard on pintles mounted on the flat, raking transom and on the skeg. The hull is of cross-planked construction, with some atypical features resulting from her recent rebuilding. These include the addition of two strongbacks and knees added amidships to strengthen the hull. Rebuilding also saw the addition of new mast partners, a new bow, and enlarged cabin and hatches, but the basic deck layout remains the same as the original. The hull is sheathed with metal–annealed yellow brass–at the waterline. Decks are of oak and there are metal-sho rub-rails on the sides of the hull beneath the sheer. The hull is painted white, as are the decks. The spars are bright and there are bright and gray accents on the cabin. Topsides are gray with the name STANLEY NORMAN in black applied letters on the sheer plank at the bows. The vessel is flush-decked. Deck structures (in their original layout) from the stern forward include: a trunk cabin with a slide, providing access to the main cabin; a small deck hatch; a plywood box over the winders; a cargo hatch in two sections, with a high coaming; and a forward cuddy with a slide, giving access to the head and to storage space below. Fittings for oystering include rollers, winders, a winder engine, dredges, and pushboat suspended on davits over the stern. A pinrail surrounds the decks, 16″ high aft, 10″ height forward, but open at the dredge rollers. There is an additional pipe rail around the stern quarter, extending forward as far as the rigging except for the work area. The main cabin, which is particularly finely finished is equipped with lanterns; a barometer and chronometer; two horseshoe lockers for sitting; bunks; a stove; table; and miscellaneous supplies and equipment. The mast has considerable rake and is set up with double shrouds of steel cable with turnbuckles and chain rather than the more traditional deadeyes. Other-rigging includes a forestay, jibstay, topping lift, and lazyjacks. The bowsprit is set up with a double chain bobstay and two bowsprit shrouds as well as its extra wooden flying brace. The long boom is jawed to the mast. The jib is made self-tending with a horse of 1 1/2″ pipe set across the foredeck.

The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest:

Owner/Guardian: Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Historical:

Nat Herreshoff designed the 12½ footer in 1914. It has been in continuous production since then, and is nearly universally acclaimed as one of the finest small boats of all time. He was 66 years old by then, and had all the experience from a full and legendary career of designing and building yachts. He had already accumulated 5 of the never-matched record of 6 consecutive America’s Cup defenses, and 6 consecutive victories.

Squaw recent winner (12½) of the 2017 Herreshoff Classic Yacht Regatta

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1920) G. Adams
Owner/Guardian: Robert Bartro

Historical:

SPIRIT was designed by John G. Alden for R.W. Everest and built and launched in 1934 by Hodgdon Brothers, East Boothbay ME.

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1934) R.W. Everest
Owner/Guardian: – Reynolds family
Owner/Guardian: – Rene & Elinor Miller
Owner/Guardian: – (1987) Lars Forsberg
Owner/Guardian: – John & Susan Senning

Comments

Kimo Bailey – April 15, 2021

II sailed this boat as crew 1971-1974 for Rene & Elinor Miller and every summer until 1986 as friend. She lay in Boothbay Harbor 1936-1986 and was sailed by the Millers between Boothbay and N.E. Harbor every summer. The boat was thought to be the most beautiful sailboat on the coast of Maine in those years . I have very fond memories of this period and miss the Miller family very much., David the son died tragically and the boat left the family after the parents died. If you know this boat and want to talk, my number is xxx.xxx.xxxx. 4/15/21 , My name is Kimo Bailey

Lars Forsberg – August 9, 2021

I own SPIRIT (formerly VELA)
I bought her from Rene Miller in October of 1987.
Lars Forsberg
xxx.xxx.xxxx

Historical:

Åbo Båtvarf – In the spring of 2019, the 8mR class yacht Sphinx, built in 1928 at Åbo Båtvarf (Turku Boatyard), joined the growing fleet of classic vessels at the Ruissalo shipyard. In early 2019, Antti Toukolehto and Joakim Håkans founded a ship-owning company named Rederi Ab Sphinx. The intention is that Sphinx will participate in regattas for classical yachts under the flag of Airisto Segelsällskap. The boat’s home port is the Ruissalo shipyard.

Although the eight-metre yachts are designed individually to a rating rule, the Turku boatyard in 1928 built three identical yachts to the same drawings by Gustaf Estlander. The length of the boats was 15.15 meters, the waterline was 9.3 meters and the width was 2.56 meters. The sail area was 80 square meters and the displacement exceeded 8 tons. The boats were built of 23.5 mm thick Honduras mahogany. The lead keel weighing approximately 5,000 kilograms was attached to the frame by 12 bronze bolts.

The three clients were experienced yachtsmen from Helsinki. Curt Mattson’s yacht was named Isabel, while Lempo II was ordered by Leuto Pajunen. The third, namely Sphinx, was built for architect Sigurd Frosterus, who reputedly paid for his order by means of his design fee for the Stockmann department store.

In her first years, Sphinx actively competed in Finland and Sweden. In 1940, however, Frosterus had to give up his yacht due to illness. The new owner Åke af Forselles continued to compete with Sphinx, winning the important Sinebrychoff trophy on two occasions. The next time Sphinx changed ownership was in 1967, when Kari Toukolahti took over. In the 1960s and 1970s, Sphinx was one of the few classical yachts still kept in racing mode, unlike many other vintage yachts that were adapted for added comfort while cruising.

From 1988 onwards, Kari Toukolehto’s son Antti continued as skipper of the boat. At the end of the 1990s, the boat underwent a complete renovation, including the replacement of all frames, the bottom planking and most of the topsides. The boat was also updated with a modern aluminium rig. The renovation continued according to plan during the 2000s, when the deck beams and the decking were renewed.

Sphinx has always been one of the most active boats in its class in Finland. In the 21st century, it has participated in the World Cup nine times, at venues such as Switzerland, Denmark and France. Often the yacht has been sailed on its own keel to the competition venue. Sphinx, who has presently returned to the Turku boatyard, has played an important role in the recovery of classic boat racing, thus supporting the rise of Finland to one of the top nations of classic boat sailing in Europe.

Second International Rule 1919-1933

International 8 Metre Association – As early as 1914, forums were held to find solutions to secure the future of the Rule but before anything could happen, priorities changed as the Great War intervened. In between 1917 and 1919 the Yacht Racing Union headed by Heckstall-Smith worked on developing the formula to something that would produce more wholesome yachts. This would result in the most radical change in the history of the rule as the beam would be discarded from the formula and replaced by a minimum of one foot per metre rating. (A pretty unique combination of the metric and imperial measurement systems as the minimum beam for an 8-Metre would be 8 feet, a 12-Metre, 12ft and so on.) Girth penalties were raised significantly and sail area was penalised much more severely. As the rule was young and only few boats had been built, the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp competed in two groups, the old and the new rule boats. The development in the first four years was again frantic with ideas tested to the extreme. The 1924 Olympics in Le Havre displayed the earliest wholesome 8-Metres the most successful being, Bera by Johan Anker, Emily by William Fife and BlueRed by Charles Nicholson. The shapes developed further with more emphasis on length and less on sail area with more draft and displacement to the shapes of the famous Aile VI and Hollandia who were the best boats at the 1928 Olympics. Naval architects now seeked their advantage in the extreme ends as boats were stretched to gain sail area by reducing bow and stern girth measurements. The rigs developed, mast scantlings were developed and the maximum hoist of the jib was fixed at 82.5% of rig height. In 1927 the overlapping genoa was introduced taking full advantage of the unmeasured thus free headsail area aft of the mast. The rule was good and produced exceedingly fine boats and enjoyed tremendous popularity. The only agreed serious flaw remaining was the 1/4G measurement which resulted in insufficient keel depth and tender boats. Johan Anker’s Silja and William Fife’s Saskia are the best examples of how that was addressed by designing boats with more beam thus adding more form stability. In 1928 North America finally accepted the International Rule for the small classes, i.e. 6, 8, 12-Metres while Europe adopted the Universal Rule J-Class for the largest of all classes.

Despite the great success of the Rule it was still felt that improvements could be made and at it’s expiration in 1933 this was addressed.

Restoration

The refurbishment was done by M-Yachts Loviisassa. Nine lower ribs were replaced. With the exception of the stern and the bow, the oak frames were also replaced. The steel frames were removed and rebuilt. All old repairs were demolished and new ones replaced. Over time, for example, new frames had been made to replace broken ones.
The renovation of Sphinx was based on the criterion of repairing the boat in the same way as before. Non-glued seams were not glued. Bronze was used where it was bronze and galvanized where it was galvanized. Material thicknesses are the same as in the original boat. Nothing was compromised.

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):

Owner/Guardian: (1928-1940) – Sigurd Frosterus,
Owner/Guardian: (1940-1967) – Åke af Forselles
Owner/Guardian: (1967) – Kari Toukolahti
Owner/Guardian: (2019) – Rederi Ab Sphinx (Antti Toukolehto, Joakim Håkans)
Helm: Yngve Pacius
Helm: Gustav Estlander

Resources

International 8 Metre Association
8mR s/y Sphinx
Puuvene .fi/
Åbo Båtvarf (Ruissalon Telakka)