Sail Number: NY 1
New York 30 “Alera” Specifications:
LOA: 43′9″ / 13.33m – LWL: 30′0″ / 9.14m – Beam 8′9″ / 2.66m – Draft 6′4″ / 1.93m – Sail Area: 1,085sq ft / 100.8sq m – Hull Number: 626 – Designer: N.G. Herreshoff – Design Number: 626-1 – Original Owner: Alphonse H. Alker – Current Ownet: Private, Rockport, ME – Built: 1904
Historical
NY-1 Alera, built for the Alker brothers of Manhasset Bay, she was the first completed yacht in the series of eighteen NY30’s and left the roles of the NYYC in the early 1920’s.
MIT Museum – Many yachting historians consider the NYYC 30s to be the most successful one-design class of all time. Twelve of the 18 still exist and most are still sailing, including Alera.
The production speed of this class of 18 boats was astonishing. Alera was built in 35 days and each of the following 17 were completed in succeeding one week intervals. This speed was made possible by the HMCo system, evolved years earlier, of designing interchangeable parts that could fit on future boats, especially one-design boats. In this case, HMCo had three hulls being built over molds while other components, such as deckhouses, spars, hardware and sails, were being fabricated by other craftsmen.
Within ten years of their first one-design, HMCo had honed a system of design and construction that was approaching mass-production, in an industry dominated by custom work. This speedy construction is especially amazing when considering that HMCo was simultaneously building at least six other significantly larger vessels that were mostly custom designs. In a little over one year, about 300 workers completed 27 boats from 43′ to 111′.
A lost treasure until 2004, when she was rediscovered in Hamilton, Ontario, purchased and shipped to Samples Shipyard in Boothbay, Maine where her new owners completed a full restoration for the 2005 100th Anniversary Season.
Provenance (The Wall of Remembrance – The Owners, Crew & Notable Guest):
Owner/Guardian: (1904) – Alphonse H. Alker
Owner/Guardian: Private, Rockport, ME
Salvatore Salvia
Here’s an excellent video about Alera sailing in Maine.
https://youtu.be/IWJ8TzeQxhc
CSO will soon release a short video on NY30 Banzai, Sail No. 15.