Hoek Design comments – The first fruits of our lengthy research into the J-class, Lionheart was unveiled in early 2010. In 2011 she became the first Hoek-designed J to hit the race course, starting with the Superyacht Cup in Palma. Lionheart benefits from ideas developed for other large classic yachts, including the privacy concept with an aft owner’s cabin, deckhouse and cockpit.
Specific velocity prediction software was developed by our office to determine the exact performance of specific J-class hull shapes. Tank testing data for a six-metre J-class model as well as wind tunnel data were used to calibrate this software. All existing and potential J-class designs were run through this software to determine the effects of different hull shapes on performance. The five best models were subsequently also analysed by Computational Fluid Dynamics software. Various yachts are under construction thanks to this successful research.
Lionheart’s original hull design was one of the lines plans made for the Ranger syndicate in 1936. Although never built, our research showed that this design was very promising. The yacht has been extensively optimised by our office with VPP software for racing under handicap and line honours. She was outfitted by Claasen Jachtbouw and features a retro-styled interior in teak.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
LOA: 43′ 6″ / 13.20m – LWL: 30′ 0″ / 9.42m – Beam: 8′ 7″ / 2.67m – Draft: 6′ 3″ / 1.92m – Displacement: 8 Tons – Hull Number: 636 – Documentation No.: 201871 – Sail Area: 1,085 ft² / 100.80 m² – Designer: N.G. Herreshoff – Built by: Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. – Original Owner: Amos Tuck French – Current Owner: Patrizio Bertelli – Year Built: 1905 – Location: Porto San Stefano, Italy
Historical:
William Cannell Boatbuilding notes “When the NYYC 30 LINNET was built, Mr. Herreshoff re-designed the NYYC 30 spars to be hollow. For this, he increased the diameter slightly and changed the material of the mast and boom to (Sitka) spruce.”
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner: (1905) – Amos Tuck French Owner: (1916-1930+) – Mr. & Mrs. Charles H. Talcott, Nova Scotia. Owner: Federico Nardi, director and partner of Cantiere Navale dell’Argentario di Porto Santo Stefano Owner: Patrizio Bertelli, chief executive office of Prada, and husband to Miuccia Prada (granddaughter of Mario Prada, founder of the Prada brand)
Comments
Dominick – June 6, 2016
Hi there… Is the NY30 Linnet is for sale? Thanks for your reply Rgds
Admin – June 6, 2016
As far as we can find out Linnet is not currently for sale, but Oriole is https://classicsailboats.org/?portfolio=n-g-herreshoff-new-york-30-oriole
Charlotte Liana (Hynes) Heaney – February 2, 2017
Hello – if you look at the following site: http://classicyachtinfo.com/yachts/linnet/, I submitted the comments with regard to my parents when they owned Linnet. We sailed her out of Nova Scotia in the late 50s early 60s, and it’s so wonderful to know that she has been refurbished to her original condition, and sailing the seas under the ownership of the CEO of Prada, Patrizio Bertelli.
LOA: 19″0″ / 5.79m – LWL: 16’0″ / 4.87m – Beam: 6’6″ / 1.98m – Draft: 4’11” / 1.49m – Current Owner: Kevin Raymond – Home Port: – Year Launched: 1938 – Design Number: Design 265 – Hull Number: 66 -Hull Material: wood – Displacement: 700 lbs – Ballast: – Sail Area: 177 – Ship Plan Location: Lightning Class Association
Historical:
At an Americas Cup fund-raiser at the Columbia Rope Company, in neighboring Auburn, New York, John and George Barnes, owners of the Skaneateles Boats Company, had met naval architects Rod and Olin Stephens, of Sparkman and Stephens, and discussed the idea of a completely new boat. This boat would be 19′ long, providing room for a family; it would incorporate the hard chine of the Comet, allowing simplified construction; and it would provide the high performance required of a one-design class racer.
By late 1935, Olin Stephens II had completed the plans for the Lightning. Over the next two years, the Skaneateles and Sparkman & Stephens teams consulted with each other on the construction of the boat that would become the Lightning. Hull #1 was launched in October 1938 at the Skaneateles Country Club and used as a test bed for the Lightning development program. In the winter of 1938, the Barnes’ took Lightning #1 to the New York City boat show, and were rewarded with numerous orders. It looked like the Barnes¹ had a successful design on their hands.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
When shipped to North America in 1925 by her Norwegian builders Anker & Jensen, LEONORE’s design and build provenance added Scandinavian finesse to the American Universal Rule of Measurement – the same rule the larger J-Class yachts were and kind of still are built to. Along with build sister SALLY XIII, LEONORE and her commissioning owner, Robert Amory of Boston, joined a Marblehead Q-Class fleet that would peak at 14 boats by 1929; 14 thoroughbred 50-footers coming to the start line would have been quite something. They weren’t the only Universal Rule boats designed in Europe for sailing in US waters; around the same time, for example, Scotland’s William Fife and England’s Charles Nicholson joined Anker in having R-Class designs racing successfully on the West and East Coasts, some built by American yards. LEONORE was born into a fascinating period of truly international yacht design intrigue set around very sporty boats.
In 1931 she moved to the other side of Cape Cod and the perfect, breezy sailing waters of Buzzards Bay where, as PALOMA, she became Champion boat and won the Block Island Race during James Jackson’s short period of ownership. She then became the second of Walter Wheeler’s famous COTTON BLOSSOMS, winning the Astor Cup in 1938 (a later COTTON BLOSSOM would be the 75ft William Fife designed 1926 Fastnet Race winner HALLOWE’EN). Once a thoroughbred, always a thoroughbred: by 1940 she had moved inland to Chicago as SCIMITAR with continued handicap racing success in the hands of William Faurot and Charles Deere Wiman, in particular coming 3rd in the 1941 Mackinac Race, and 2nd in 1942 and 1943.
By 1949 she found herself on the US west coast in the ownership (as a gift) of Deere Wiman’s daughter Mary Jane Wiman Brinton and regained the name COTTON BLOSSOM II, which she would retain through a succession of west coast owners for over 60 years. These included: Ted Halton, winning line-honours in the 1959 Swiftsure; Ed Turner, who retrieved the prestigious San Diego Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Cup for the owning club in 1965; the Cole family, with Doug Cole meticulously recording and sharing her history online, for which we are indebted, and, from 2003, America’s Cup legend Dennis Conner who gave her a new lease of life through an outstanding restoration. We deal with that elsewhere here, but shouldn’t leave California without mentioning that Dennis Conner’s link with COTTON BLOSSOM II went back much further than 2003: he was one of the 1965 Lipton Cup-winning crew.
COTTON BLOSSOM II’s re-christening took place at San Diego YC on 14 October 2004; a remarkable gathering of past owners. Conner shipped her to the Mediterranean in 2006 to join its thriving circuit of classic regattas, where she has enjoyed outstanding success under his and subsequent ownership, racing among more Universal Rule and other American designs than would be possible in their original home waters.
In 2007, the taller rig installed by Conner was cut back by Cantiere Navale dell’Argentario to a more authentic length, resulting in the improved stronger winds performance that has helped her recent enviable winning ways, continued under present ownership since 2013
Known Racing History:
2012 – Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge Med Circuit Vintage Class Winner 1965 – The San Diego Lipton Cup Winner 1964 – The “Rumsey High Point” Winner 1963 – The “Rumsey High Point” Winner 1963 – SDYC “Boat of the Year” 1959 – Swiftsure Race, First to Finish 1938 – Astor Cup 1932 – Block Island Race Winner 1931 – Puritan Cup Winner 1926 – Puritan Cup Winner
Known Restoration History:
2004 – Dennis Conner, 17 month restoration, completely rebuilt. “Each frame was replaced at the rate of two to four each day. With each new frame came new fastenings. About 80% of the original mahogany planking remained in place. The floor timbers were replaced and some wood was replaced on both stem and horn timber. At the same time early photos were analyzed as well as the one set of original line drawings in order to determine how to restore her to her original looks. New spruce spars were built and new bronze pieces were designed and custom made.”
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner: (1925) – Robert Amory, Boston Owner: James Jackson Owner: Walter Wheeler Owner: William Faurot and Charles Deere Wiman Owner: Mary Jane Wiman Brinton Owner: Ted Halton Owner: Ed Turner Owner: Doug Cole Owner: Dennis Conner Owner: Brad Swain
LOA: 100’0″ / 30.50mm – LOD: 80’0″ / 24.40m – LWL: 68’3″ / 20.80m – Beam: 19’4″ / 5.90m – Draft: 9’10” / 3.00m – Displacement: 110 tons / 100 tonnes – Ballast: 16.5 tons / 15 tonnes – Sail Area: 2390 sq ft / 222 sq m – Original Name: – Original Owner: – Designed by: – Launched: 1892 – Built by: W. A. Gibbs’ yard, Galmpton, River Dart, Devon – Hull Material: Wood – Location: – Flag: Brixham, United Kingdom
Historical:
Leader was one of the largest of the Brixham sailing trawlers, known, despite their Ketch rigs, as the ‘Big Sloops’.
At 105 feet in length and with a displacement of 110 tonnes, Leader is the largest and oldest boat in the Trinity Sailing Foundation fleet, carrying a total 3,150 square feet of sail on a gaff ketch rig. Built in Devon in 1892, Leader originally fished in UK waters until 1907 when she was sold to new owners to operate off Sweden’s west coast. In 1970 Leader changed ownership again, becoming a sail training vessel for the Swedish Cruising Club.
In 1985 she began offering sailing holidays and charter opportunities off the west coast of Scotland under the name of ‘Lorne Leader’. In 1996 she was brought home to South Devon to operate out of Dartmouth before officially becoming a part of the Trinity fleet in 1999 at her new home port of Brixham. With help from the Heritage Lottery Fund she was then restored and modernised during the ‘Leader Project’ which featured as a part of the Channel 4 series ‘How Britain Worked’.
Leader now operates with a modern navigation system, accommodation for twelve guests and five crew, a large saloon area, modern galley, two heads and two hot showers. Her programme throughout the year sees her offer anything from charter to RYA courses, Sail Training and even DofE Gold Residential voyages with no prior experience required to get on board. You’ll also regularly see her attending many key tall ships events across the UK.
The Leader Project (2011-2012)
The Trinity Sailing Foundation – It had become apparent that whilst Leader’s hull and rig were in excellent condition, her main deck and the bulwarks and stanchions that surround it were in need of replacement, having last been renewed in the 1960’s.
Leader’s deck is 80 feet in length and 19 feet wide, with 36 planks at the point of maximum beam. It is made of two-inch thick Douglas Fir planking, resting on massive oak beams, which in turn are supported by an oak beam shelf that runs round the inside of the hull.
The stanchions and the high bulwarks that are attached to them are one of the things that make ‘Leader’ and her sister ships safe and stable working platforms, ideal for their sail training role. The stanchions are made of six-inch square oak, and in addition to the part which projects above the deck they continue for several feet below deck level, where they are fastened to the main frames of the ship. There are 25 stanchions on each side of the ship. The planking of the bulwarks is in Douglas Fir, and is capped by a substantial oak rail.
Over the years the loads exerted by the rigging had caused the vessel’s sheer – the smooth curve of the deck from bow to stern – to become distorted, or “hogged”, to a certain degree, and therefore Trinity also wanted to take the opportunity to correct that.
Because of the high costs involved with replacing the deck, bulwarks and stanchions, (which could not be met through our day to day work) Trinity approached the Heritage Lottery Fund for funding to support this vital project. After being awarded an initial Development grant and nearly two years after first approaching the Heritage Lottery Fund South-West, in November 2011 Trinity received the fantastic news it had been awarded a grant of £170,000 towards restoring Leader.
The project had three main objectives:
The replacement of the 40-year-old main weather-deck bulwarks and stanchions, replacement of some deck beams and the elimination of “hogging” that had deformed the originally smooth lines of the vessel’s sheer.
To attract and educate the public, provide opportunities for volunteers to participate and learn skills, and opportunities to train professional crew in Shipwright’s skills.
To develop heritage information and exhibitions, and work with schools and colleges to produce education resources and provide opportunities for hands-on experiences.
An overview of the key results from the project:
* Restoration & capital works: The work to Leader was completed in May 2012. During that time local shipwrights, Trinity staff and volunteers worked to replace the deck, bulwarks and stanchions and eliminate the “hogging”. Both the MCA surveyor and the HLF appointed Project Monitor commented on the high quality of the workmanship that had been undertaken. We have also had great feedback from the crew and clients who have sailed on her since.
Promoting our maritime heritage:
Trinity established a public viewing platform and exhibition in Brixham harbour. Leader was brought alongside the inner harbour wall so that visitors could view the restoration work first-hand. A porta-cabin was located next to the vessel where we held an exhibition about the project and the history of fishing and how it was integral to the development of Brixham.
The project featured on national television in the Lottery Draw Live, and formed part of the Channel 4 series ‘How Britain Worked’ with the presenter Guy Martin (click HERE to see the episode). News items and features were carried in UK press and numerous websites.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner: (1970) – Swedish Cruising Club Owner: (1999) – The Trinity Sailing Foundation
