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Historical:

The International 210 was drawn by Fenwick Williams, under the guidance of C. Raymond Hunt. Designed to be a bigger drier boat than the 110s. Mr Hunt built a prototype in the Spring of 1946, which was presented to the clubs of Massachusetts Bay for consideration as the selected boat for inter-club racing. The requirements of the clubs were that they wanted a new one design boat that was affordable, pleasant for day sailing as well as racing, a boat that will always be uniform so that it cannot be out-built. ‘Fourth a boat that is modern and can be kept so. At the next meeting, the selection committee announced that Ray Hunt’s proposed “210″ was more boat than any other that the clubs could find for the money, so they adopted it, and with it a new era in yachting was ushered in.

True to the 210s origins through good price, comfort, and exceptional racing abilities, the class took off with some of the sports top sailor’s campaigning boats throughout Massachusetts Bay. Soon fleets were formed throughout the Midwest, Maine, Hawaii and beyond.

Governed by strict one design class rules, to keep boat costs down, but allowing for nominal changes to keep up with the times, a successful concept for the development of the class, yet challenging at times.

Historical:

The Puritan was built by the Electric Boat Company in 1930. The plans for the schooner were originally presented to Edward W. Brown by John Alden in 1929. The ship was completed in 1931 and was the only pleasure boat build by the Electric Boat Company during that period due to the beginning of the Great Depression. The ship was christened in 1931 and made its maiden voyage from New London, Connecticut to Oyster Bay.

The Puritan was put up for sale in 1932 after the death of Edward Brown. It was purchased in 1933 by Harry Bauer, the president of Southern California Edison, for $35,000. He sailed the ship from the eastern United States to California by way of the Panama Canal. Sterling Hayden, only seventeen at the time, was a passenger on the journey and would later write about it in his 1963 biography, Wanderer. Bauer sold the Puritan for $1 to the United States Navy on December 7th, 1941, the day of the Attack on Pearl Harbor.

Bauer owned the Puritan up until his death in 1961. In 1957, he allowed the American Museum of Natural History in New York to use the Puritan as a base of operations for an expedition. The expedition focused on the gulf of California and logged more than 4,000 miles while collecting specimens and studying the region. Members of the expedition included Oakes Plimpton, Richard Van Gelder, and Richard G. Zweifel and led to the discovery of Van Gelder’s bat, among other finds. In 1963, the boat was purchased at auction for $90,300 by Doyle D.W. Downey after sitting in mooring for two years after Bauer’s death.

Downey had previously purchased the Satartia (later known as Southwind) from Bauer, another schooner designed by John Alden. Downey used the Puritan in the charter trade in the Virgin Islands. In 1967, he ended up selling the Puritan to Mariano Prado-Sosa for $120,000. Mariano was a member of a wealthy Peruvian family that included Mariano Ignacio Prado, former president of Peru. Mariano refurbished the schooner and begins using it as a charter between Miami, Florida and the Virgin Islands. The boat was seized by the Mexican government on a charter to Acapulco. It was seized on behalf of the Peruvian government who blamed the Prado family for inequalities in Peru.

In 1971, the Puritan was towed from Acapulco to Costa Rica and then brought back to Miami. At the time, the schooner was in poor shape in that nothing on the boat was operative except for the main engine. The toilets were plugged, batteries dead, and it could not travel more than four knots due to the condition of the hull. It was purchased by Bill and Patsy Bolling in 1972, who spent seven months restoring the schooner. They returned the Puritan to charter in the Caribbean and also took part in schooner races, winning the Mystic Seaport Invitational Schooner Race in 1973.

The Puritan was sold to Oscar Schmidt in 1978. Schmidt sailed the Puritan to Newport, Rhode Island in 1980 for the America’s Cup races. While there, he entered it into the Classic Yacht Regatta where it won first in class. The schooner spends the next decade sailing the world, visiting places such as Bermuda and France. In 1989, it was sold again, this time to Arturo Ferruzzi who keeps it in Antibes until it is sold to the current owner in 2015. It underwent a full refit and was put into service as a charter vessel with The Classic Yacht Experience.

WWII service

Beginning active duty with the U.S. Navy, commissioned as USS Puritan (IX-69), Puritan was assigned to the Western Sea Frontier, 11th Naval District, San Diego. Fear of Japanese attack had reached a zenith on the west coast by 1942. Puritan operated on the San Diego Coastal Patrol throughout her Naval career, guarding against such an attack. Puritan had but a brief tour with the U.S. Navy and was placed out of service at San Diego, California, on 27 September 1943. She was struck from the Navy Register on 28 June 1944 and transferred to the War Shipping Administration for return to her former owner on 18 November 1944.

Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Notable Guest, and Reunion Information):

Owner/Guardian: (1915) – Edward W. Brown
Owner/Guardian: (1933-1941) – Harry Bauer, Newport Harbor Yacht Club member.(Homeport Balboa from 1933 to 1961)
Owner/Guardian: (1941-1944) – War Service
Owner/Guardian: (1944-1961) – Harry Bauer
Owner/Guardian: (1963-1967) – Doyle D.W. Downey
Owner/Guardian: (1967-seized by the Mexican government) – Mariano Prado-Sosa
Owner/Guardian: (1972-1978) – Bill and Patsy Bolling
Owner/Guardian: (1978-1989) – Oscar Schmidt
Owner/Guardian: (1989-2015) – Arturo Ferruzzi
Owner/Guardian: (2015-current) – Private
Captain: (2019) – Simon/PANDOLFI

References

This Historical information incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

• Carrick, Robert W.; Henderson, Richard (1995). John G. Alden and His Yacht Designs. Mc Graw-Hill. ISBN 9780070282544.
• Serafini, Flavio (2002). Vele allo specchio (Interni, particolari e restauri di scafi d’epoca). ISBN 9788879061865.
• Oristano, Victor (December 1973). “A Queen Is Reborn” (in Italian). Motor Boating.
• “Shipping News”. Los Angeles Times. 20 June 1933.
• Hayden, Sterling (1998). Wanderer. Sheridan House. ISBN 9781574090482.
• “Expedition to Hunt for Coast Animal Specimens”. Los Angeles Times. 3 March 1957.
• Template:Plimpton, Oakes A., ”1957 Expeditions Journal: Baja California American Museum of Natural
• History Expedition Journal Spring 1957 Huautla Mexico Seeking The Sacred Mushroom With Gordon Wasson Summer 1957” (2016)
• Ames, Walter (17 June 1963). “Owner of Two Yachts Buys 3rd in Southland”. Los Angeles Times.
• Devlin, John C. (23 September 1973). “Schooners Rule for a Day at Mystic”. The New York Times.
• “Puritan, 1931” (in Italian). Nautica Report.
• Pozzo, Fabio (2 July 2017). “L’ingegnere aerospaziale che riporta in vita le principesse del mare” (in Italian). La Saampa Mare.

Historical:

Americas First War Ship

The Continental Sloop Providence is an accurate replica of Americas first war ship.

The Providence was built in 1768 by the Brown family of Providence RI. She was the first vessel purchased by the Continental Navy and was John Paul Jones’ first command. He went on to fame aboard the Bonhomme Richard and then became the father of the US Navy after the revolution.

Historical:

Class winner of the 1989 Marion-Bermuda Race, is one of eleven S&S Nevins-40 “Type A” centerboard yawls built by the master yacht builder Henry B. Nevins in City Island. S&S modeled the series after Carlton Mitchell’s Finisterre, the only three time Bermuda Race winner (1954, ‘56, ’58), considered by some as the perfect combination of a fast racer and a comfortable cruiser.

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

Owner: (1956-1977)
Owner: 1977-1985) – Anthony A. Cooper
Owner: (1986)- David Puchkoff