Sail Number: 3
Type: J Class
LOA: 130’0” / 39.62m – LOD: 130’0” / 39.62m – LWL: 86’0” / 26.21m – Beam: 21’8” / 6.60m – Draft: 15’6” / 4.72m – Displacement: 158 tons – Ballast: – Hull material: Mahogany planking / steel frames. – Sail Area: 7335 sq. ft. – Designer: L. Francis Herreshoff – Built by: George Lawley & Son, Neponset, MA – Year Launched: May 7, 1930 – Current Name: – Original Owner: Whirlwind Syndicate: Landon K. Thorne, Alfred Loomis, Paul Hammond, George M. Pynchon, Elihu Root, and Marshall Field.
Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection
Historical:
“Whirlwind” was designed by L. Francis Herreshoff, and was built of composite construction at George Lawley & Son in Neponset, MA for syndicate members Landon K. Thorne, Alfred Loomis, Paul Hammond, George M. Pynchon, Elihu Root, and Marshall Field, in response to Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton’s fifth challenge for the America’s Cup in 1930. A total of four defenders, Enterprise, Yankee, Weetamoe and Whirlwind were built within a month of each other; Weetamoe and Enterprise from the Herreshoff yard in Bristol, and Yankee and Whirlwind from Lawley & Son’s yard in Neponset.
Enterprise was launched first on April 14th, allowing her more time to be tuned, which may have been a factor in her becoming the successful boat to defend the Cup. Whirlwind, launched May 7th…the second J, was the most revolutionary of the four. She was skippered by Paul Hammond with John Muir as his sailing master, while Landon K. Thorne managed the boat. Her launching was delayed due to Lloyd’s inspectors who insisted she should have an entire new set of lower scantlings, which had to be rushed through and fitted.
Once all were commissioned the yachts were thoroughly tuned, then an intense trial period began against one another.
The mutual cooperation, and sportsmanship amongst the defenders were unheard of before the 1930 Cup Races. All four potential defenders were on display at the New York Yacht Club and secrecy was abandoned.
During this time Francis L Herreshoff had moved away from conventional yachts to design a vessel which took the new rating rule to its extreme.
Whirlwind, a name derived from a previous vessel that head of the syndicate Landon Thorne once owned, combined many new ideas and Herreshoff experimented with hull shape and rig. She was the longest of the early J’s at 86ft on the waterline and remained so until Ranger and Endeavour II were built in 1937. She was built of semi-composite construction (the other three American Js were built out of the highly expensive Tobin bronze), was double-ended and had a permanent backstay.
L. F. Herreshoff “although there is little variation possible in the complete and complicated rule under which these boats are built, I believe that Whirlwind embodies more of the recent developments in small boats, such as those in the R and Q Classes, than the other three boats in the class. I have therefore tried to make Whirlwind appear longer, lower and racier than the type of boat normally expected under the Universal Rule, with its present requirements of freeboard.”
Time Magazine, Sport: Launchings “Mrs. Edwin Thorne, mother of Landon Ketchum Thorne, Manhattan banker, broke the bottle, and the America’s Cup contender in which her son owns the biggest share tilted easily down its ways in the shipyard of George Lawley & Son at Neponset, Mass. Head up, like a horse freed in pasture, the Whirlwind checked up off Squantum Island, her waterline standing out between her white topsides and the green paint on her mahogany underbody.”
Uffa Fox “Very pleasing to the eye, the stem sweeping down to the keel in a very sweet line, and to a man who, like myself, believes that a pointed stern is a logical ending for all vessels, her stern is a joy to behold.” He predicted, “If the Yacht Racing Rules govern well and wisely, we shall see Whirlwind racing 50 years hence. If they do not she will probably be cruising then.”
Paul Hammond “We changed the position of the mast six times and that was time lost when we should have been racing.” “She was a bitch to steer. I used to start her and then Landon Thorne would take over and within half an hour he was worn out.”
New York Times March 1930 “there has been much mystery about her”
In a letter from N. G. Herreshoff to Paul Hammond he advised not to have her ‘cut up,’ asserting that she was the right length and only her steering gear needed altering, unfortunately no one tried to put matters right, not even her new owner Mr. Pynchon, the owner of Istalena
Whirlwind met an early demise, she was often out-performed when close hauled, her steering gear making her difficult to steer.
She was eventually scrapped along with Enterprise in 1935. However, her unusual double-headsail rig was later adopted by the rest of the Js.
Provenance
Owner/Guardian: (1930-1935) – Syndicate: Landon Thorne, Alfred Loomis, Paul Hammond.
Owner/Guardian: George M. Pynchon
Resources
Enterprise to Endeavour: The J Class Yachts, Ian Dear
America-Scoop.com – Yves GARY – great grandson of Landon Thorne.
Tuxedo Park: A Wall Street Tycoon and the Secret Palace of Science That Changed the Course of World War II
Photo credits: Courtesy of the Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection
