Historical:

Alexander Smith Cochran was born on February 28, 1874, to William Francis Cochran and Eva Smith. His grandfather was Alexander Smith, founder of the Alexander Smith Carpet Company.

Cochran inherited his wealth from his parents and his maternal uncle Warren B. Smith who left Cochran the bulk of an estate estimated to be worth $40 million in 1902. Cochran was the inheritor and principal owner of Alexander Smith & Sons Carpet mills of Yonkers, which by 1929 was the largest carpet manufacturer in the world.

Cochran was a member of the New York Yacht Club. Initially not an enthusiastic yachtsman, he owned and raced the sloop Avenger in 1909 and won the Astor Cup. Cochran decided to build a schooner that could make the Atlantic crossing and compete well in Europe, and ordered the Westward built between 1909 and 1910 by Nathanael Herreshoff of the Herreschoff Manufacturing Company of Rhode Island. The Westward was a 96-foot-waterline steel schooner and was the largest sailboat the Herreshoff Company had made at the time. Cochran raced the yacht off England and Europe in 1910 with Charlie Barr as the skipper.

The season was a stunning success. Westward won every race in German waters and eight of nine in England. Cochran sold Westward to a German syndicate in 1911, having become interested in larger yachts. He was already having a large three-masted schooner Sett Call designed for him by William Gardner. Cochran decided to become an America’s Cup contender and asked Gardner to also work on an America’s Cup prospect for him. Vanitie was the result. Both Vanitie and Sett Call were built by the George Lawley and Sons Corporation of Boston.

In 1912 she sailed across the Atlantic to join the German fleet of steel schooners. Once there she continued to earn win first place finishes, but her time there was cut short by the Outbreak of World War I in 1914.

In 1919, after the war and pandemic, Westward was purchased as a war-prize by the flamboyant London financier Clarence Hatry, who restored her original name. Hatry had begun his rise to success by transporting Eastern European emigrants to the United States and Canada. He subsequently enriched his vast fortune with investments in photographic supplies, vending machines, and loan offices.

Unfortunately he had been only able to race Westward for one season, the Summer of 1919. In the economic downturn that followed the war, his empire had become increasingly shaky, and he had be forced to turn his attention away from Westward, as he found himself in dire circumstances. By the time he sold her in 1924, she had spent four years in retirement, mostly in a mud berth near Southampton.

In 1924 Westward’s new owner, London businessman Warwick Brookes, a keen yachtsman, known for racing Six- metres. He also owned and raced a famous Fife schooner, and other yachtsman were hopeful that he would be racing Westward. Instead she moved on to her fifth owner the same year.

Under TB Davis Stewardship

Davis was to go on to make his fortune in stevedoring in South Africa but his career was nearly cut short on his first voyage when the ship ran aground in heavy weather off the coast of Norfolk and he was carried away from the vessel when a rope snapped casting him adrift in a dinghy with the ship’s papers and valuables. He drifted for some time before being picked up by a Norwegian vessel, by which time the Satellite had refloated and returned to Southampton, to report him missing, presumed drowned. It has been recorded by historians, most notably George Balleine, in his Biographical Dictionary of Jersey, that he made it back to Jersey just in time to catch the end of his memorial service in St Luke’s church, much to the astonishment of the congregation, and his mother, who reportedly fainted. (somewhat fanciful version of events)

His passion was yacht racing, and in 1924 he bought the schooner Westward, wanting a vessel at least the equal of the Royal Yacht of his friend King George V. He raced Westward in European waters for ten years and developed a fierce and friendly rivalry with the King.

Following the death of the King in 1936 Davis more or less gave up racing. He had two Ailsa Craig 48-60 hp six-cylinder diesel engines fitted in, as well as other accoutrements designed to enhance comfort. Davis continued to cruise, including a trip to Norway and Sweden, until Westward was laid up in Dartmouth for the duration of the Second World War. Davis had moved back to South Africa, and died in Durban in 1942 at the age of 75. His will specified that if a new owner with sufficient means to maintain Westward could not be found, she should be sunk. Sadly no member of his family felt capable of looking after Westward, and after she had also been offered unsuccessfully to three different sail-trading establishments, the final clause of Davis’s will came into play. On July 15, 1947, stripped of all hardware, equipment and interior fittings she was towed out to the Hurd Deep, off Jersey, the Channel Islands. At 12:45 pm., the dynamite was ignited and Westward sank some 60 miles from her old friend Britannia.

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

(1910-1911) – Alexander Smith Cochran, manufacturer, sportsman, philanthropist, and Commander of the Order of the British Empire.
(1911-1919) – German Syndicate – Norddeutscher Regatta Verien (vessel renamed Hamburg II.)
(1919-1924) – London Financier Clarence Hatry (renamed vessel Westward) purchased as a war price.
(1924-1924) – London Businessman Warwick Brookes
(1924-1942) – Thomas Benjamin Frederick Davis, businessman, yachtsman and philanthropist. (Royal Cape Yacht Club of Cape Town, SA )
(1942-1947) – Estate of T.B. Davis – In accordance with T.B. Davis’ will Westward was offered to three sea training schools but they all declined, unable to maintain her on 15 July 1947 she was taken out into the English Channel where she was scuttled in the Hurd Deep.

Resources

Photo credit: Frank William Beken, 1910.
Tim Thompson – Schooner Yacht WESTWARD off Dover Cliffs
Oil (29″ x 37″)
Herreshoff Info
The Racing Schooner Westward
Herreshoff Museum

Type: Big Class

Eleonora Specifications:

LOA: 162’5″ / 49.50m – LOD: 136’2″ / 41.50m – LWL: – Beam: 26’8″ / 8.12m – Draft: 17’1” / 5.20m – Hull Number: 692 – Hull material: Steel – Designer: N.G. Herreshoff – Current Owner: Private – Year Launched: March 31, 2000 – Built By: Van der Graaf, NL – Gross Displacement: 214 tons – Engine: Baudouin 6R 124SR 460 HP – Flag: United Kingdom (GB) – Location: Marine Traffic

Historical:

Peras Limited – Eleonora is an exact replica of the schooner Westward. Westward was launched on March 31, 1910 (exactly 90 years to the day after Westward was launched) as hull number 692 at the Herreshoff Manufacturing Co. in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA. She was arguably one of the most famous and best known racing schooners in the world. She was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, the ‘Wizard of Bristol’, the designer of the America’s Cup defenders which turned back all six challenges from 1893 to 1920. Westward was undoubtedly the fastest schooner in the world in 1910 and in the following years. With Captain Charlie Barr, who was one of the finest racing skippers in the world at her helm, she sailed successfully against racing yachts like Britannia, Lulworth, Meteor II, and won numerous trophies. For thirty seven years, Westward had graced the yachting scene and represented all that was best in yacht design and workmanship. Eleonora not only follows Westward’s heritage of big schooners racing but she also offers with her comfort and space unforgettable cruising and relaxation experience.

Painstakingly planned and meticulously executed, this stunning reincarnation was the vision of Dutch entrepreneurs and connoisseurs of classic vessels who is dedicated to bringing back to life the grande dames of the Golden Age of yachting. With the assistance of the Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collection at the MIT Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Eleonora designers and builders were able to pay close attention to the original Herreshoff Manufacturing Company drawings every step of the way. Truly a replica of Westward, Eleonora has exactly the same lines as the original, and was constructed using the same materials.

The passion of Eleonora’s current owner is to perpetuate the spirit of Westward and to bring to twenty-first-century admirers the amazing experience of seeing, sailing, and racing on such an exquisite 160-foot schooner. Since building her, his ongoing mission has been to make Eleonora even more faithful to Westward. Through careful study of Herreshoff’s plans and original Beken of Cowes photos of Westward, he has made alternations to the sailplan, including installing a new jackyards topsail, some new forsails, and a spinnaker pole based on Westward’s. New deck fittings and a classic tender have been added, and the dimensions of new spars have been adjusted.

Eleonora was built at the Van der Graaf shipyard in Holland and was launched in March 2000. Since then, she has successfully participated in a number of classic sailing regattas and hosted on board a number of high profile guests during her charter activities. Eleonora shows astonishing beauty under sail, her slender hull cutting a pathway through the sea, an elegant combination of beauty and power.

After almost hundred years after the launch of Westward, we are again able to appreciate the awesome majesty and grandeur of this superb classic sailing yacht underway, sails filled as she surges forward, her white wake streaming behind.

With no sacrifice to luxurious standards of comfort, her staterooms and the entire interior display the ambience and elegance of another age.

Interior

Eleonora’s interior is traditional, following N.G. Herreshoff’s plans, fully panelled in mahogany. She sleeps eight guests in three spacious double cabins and one twin cabin. The bathrooms are fitted out in marble. Air conditioning and heating is individually controlled in each cabin.

Owner’s Stateroom – Accessible via the companionway from the deck it occupies the full width of the yacht’s aft and is well illuminated by portholes and a large skylight. Spacious and light, this stateroom is fitted with large double berth, fitted wardrobes, dressing table and seating area with an office desk.
The adjoining luxurious bathroom includes a bathtub with a shower.

Port Double Stateroom – On the port side with access from the companionway, this cabin comprises a large double berth, office desk, wardrobe, bedside cabinet drawers and en suite bathroom with shower, basin and toilet.

Starboard Stateroom – Amidships with access from the companionway, with two single berths, wardrobe, drawers, bedside cabinet and desk, and en suite bathroom with shower, basin and toilet.

Port Stateroom – Amidships with access from the companionway with large double berth, wardrobe, chest of drawers, bureau and settee, and en suite bathroom with shower, basin and toilet.

Saloon – Amidships with access from the companionway. The saloon spans the full beam of the yacht, is well illuminated by a large skylight and portholes, and has mahogany dining table seating up to eight guests.
On starboard side are card tables, settee and state of the art entertainment system. At the entrance is a bar with refrigerator.

Captain’s Cabin – On the starboard side, opposite the owner’s stateroom, it comprises a single berth, wardrobe and chest of drawers, en suite bathroom with basin, shower and toilet. The captain’s cabin is located next to the navigation station equipped with state of the art instruments and technology.

Galley – Forward of the saloon, accessible from the crew companionway. Eleonora’s large all stainless steel galley is fully equipped with modern appliances including a large oven, microwave, grill, coffee machine, ice maker, extractor, dishwasher, refrigeration equipment, and ample storage space.

Crew Accommodation – Eight crew berths in three cabins forward, all accessible through a separate crew companionway, with two bathrooms with basin, shower and toilet. A crew mess with television is situated in the crew area as well as the laundry and storage space.

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

Owner/Guardian: (2000) – Ed Kastelein
Owner/Guardian: Zbynek Zak

Resources

Peras Limited
Marine Traffic
The Francis Russell Hart Nautical Collection
Tom Cunliffe – Yachts and Yarns

Sail Number: A/9

Type: A Class Racing Schooner

LOA: 180′ 5″ / 55.00m – LOD: 136’ 6” /41.60m – LWL: 96′ 0″ / 29.60m – Beam: 26’ 8” / 8.14m – Draft: 17′ 0″ / 5.20m – Yard Number: #706/Y103 – Displacement: 215 tons – Sail Area Upwind: 1.180 m2 – Air Draft: Main mast is 42 m above waterline – Designer: Nathanael G. Herreshoff Replica / ACUBENS Naval Architects Madrid
Interior Design: Steve McLaren – Built By: Factoria Naval de Marin, Galicia, Spain – Hull: AH36 High Tensile Steel – Flag: United Kingdom [GB] – Launched: 2009 – Club: YCM (Yacht Club de Monaco) – Marine Trafic

Historical:

April 24, 1911, the New York Times recorded Elena’s launch: “The new steel racing yacht Elena, built for former Commodore Morton F Plant of the New York Yacht Club, went down the marine railway at the Herreshoff works to water today to the accompaniment of strains of orchestral music and the cheers of a score of the owner’s personal friends from New York. The Elena is named for Queen Helena of Italy. She is 135ft long overall and 96ft on the waterline, with a beam of 27ft 6in and 17ft draft.”

In the fall of 1910 Morton Plant placed an order with the Herreshoff Construction Company for a new yacht. Plant’s design request was simple, “Build me a schooner that can win!” and so the choice was made to copy, and where possible, improve upon the design of the S/Y Westward that Herreshoff had built the year before. The Westward was another benchmark yacht that swept the field at every race she took part in her first year racing and, with continued success, became one of the most famous and successful racing schooners of all time.

Above the waterline, Elena and Westward were identical. However, below the waterline, Elena was given a slightly fuller keel that lowered her center of ballast and improved her windward ability.

Elena was launched the following season (1911) and soon thereafter both yachts were going head-to-head in racing up and down the blustery Eastern Coast of the United States. Like her sister the year before, Elena immediately began winning the majority of her races against the best of the American schooner fleet, several of which included competing against the Westward.

After a successful 17 year racing season and cruising in American waters with distinguished owners such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and William B. Bell, it wasn’t until 1928 when Elena’s greatest moment of glory came during the King’s Cup Trans-Atlantic Race from New York to Santander, Spain. Elena won the race outright.

The Rebirth

To resurrect this maritime legend, today’s engineers and designers not only had hundreds of hand-drawn plans donated by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Boston, MA. but were also provided with the resources of Herreshoff Design Office located in Bristol, RI which is overseen by Halsey Herreshoff, the grandson of Nathaniel Greene Herreshoff ’s.

In addition to the information provided by MIT and the Herreshoff Design Office, historic images of Elena were painstakingly studied to ensure that every detail was replicated to near perfection. These details include her towering wooden masts and sail plan identical in dimensions to the original. Her beautiful classic styled interior will be like a journey back in time.

Elena’s Rig

Elena’s original rigging plan, as drawn by Herreshoff in 1911, has been tested through a purpose-made computer program, for Brasker masts and spars. Surprisingly the results confirmed that despite nearly 100 years of developments in rigging design the Wizard of Bristol’s original concept could not be improved upon in both strength and lightness. After calculating hundreds of situations in every conceivable weather circumstance and applying those circumstances to every possible sail combination, the modeling results could only substantiate but not improve on his calculations. Therefore all the spars will be built to Herreshoff ’s original specifications.

Elena’s lower spars and booms will be constructed of carefully selected Oregon Pine. Her upper masts, gaff ’s, jackyards and spinnaker boom will be constructed of the finest quality Alaskan Sitka Spruce. New to Elena will be the booms that will be constructed of 16 staves instead of the more customary eight, giving a much stiffer and lighter boom despite thinner wall thicknesses. Given today’s modern technology to improve upon past designs, Herreshoff ’s original design specifications truly stand the test of time.

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

Owner/Guardian: (2009) – Private
Skipper: (2019) – Stephen McLaren

Resources

Super Yacht Times
The New York Time (April 24, 1911)

Sail Number:

Type: Schooner (centerboard)

LOA: 180′ 5″ / 54.99m – LOD: 136′ 6″ / 41.61m – LWL: 96′ 0″ / 29.26m – Beam: 26′ 8″ / 8.13m – Draft: 16′ 11″ / 5.16m – Displacement: 234.2 short tons – Sail Area Upwind: 1.180 m2 – Yard Number: 706/Y103 – Hull material: Steel – Designer: N.G. Herreshoff – Built by: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company – Year Launched: 4-24-1911 – Current Name: Elena – Original Owner: Morton F Plant – Current Owner: – Status: 1954 (sold for scrap)

Historical:

April 24, 1911, the New York Times recorded Elena’s launch: “The new steel racing yacht Elena, built for former Commodore Morton F Plant of the New York Yacht Club, went down the marine railway at the Herreshoff works to water today to the accompaniment of strains of orchestral music and the cheers of a score of the owner’s personal friends from New York. The Elena is named for Queen Helena of Italy. She is 135ft long overall and 96ft on the waterline, with a beam of 27ft 6in and 17ft draft.”

In the fall of 1910 Morton Plant placed an order with the Herreshoff Construction Company for a new yacht. Plant’s design request was simple, “Build me a schooner that can win!” and so the choice was made to copy, and where possible, improve upon the design of the S/Y Westward that Herreshoff had built the year before. The Westward was another benchmark yacht that swept the field at every race she took part in her first year racing and, with continued success, became one of the most famous and successful racing schooners of all time.

Above the waterline, Elena and Westward were identical. However, below the waterline, Elena was given a slightly fuller keel that lowered her center of ballast and improved her windward ability.

Elena was launched the following season (1911) and soon thereafter both yachts were going head-to-head in racing up and down the blustery Eastern Coast of the United States. Like her sister the year before, Elena immediately began winning the majority of her races against the best of the American schooner fleet, several of which included competing against the Westward.

After a successful 17 year racing season and cruising in American waters with distinguished owners such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and William B. Bell, it wasn’t until 1928 when Elena’s greatest moment of glory came during the King’s Cup Trans-Atlantic Race from New York to Santander, Spain. Elena won the race outright.

The Replica

A replica of the 1911 Herreshoff schooner Elena has been built in Galicia in northwest Spain, July 2009.

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

Owner/Guardian: (1911) – Morton F Plant
Owner/Guardian: (1917-1923) – Cornelius Vanderbilt
Owner/Guardian: (1928) – William B. Bell, New York, N.Y., chemical engineer, president of American Cyanamid Company from 1922 until his death in 1950
Skipper: (1928) – John Barr, nephew of Charlie Barr

Resources

Super Yacht Times
The New York Times (April 24, 1911)
The Herreshoff Registry

Sail Number: Elbe 5

Vessel Type: Pilot schooner (Lotsenschoner)

LOA: 121′ 5″ / 37.00m – LOD: 83′ 1″ / 25.32m – LWL: – Beam: 19′ 6″ / 5.95m – Draft: 12′ 0″ / 3.66m – Displacement: 138 tons – Built By: H.C. Stülcken & Sohn shipyard in Hamburg, GER – Sail Area: 5295.84 ft² / 492 m² – Designed by: Gustav Junge – Original Name: Elbe – Launched: August 9, 1883 – Hull Material: Oak, copperplated below waterline. – Engine: General Motors 471 Diesel – Home port: Sandtorkai Museum Harbour, Hamburg – Flag: Germany – Location: Marine Traffic

Historical:

Elbe 5 was designed by Gustav Junge, built and launched in 1883 as a pilot schooner by H.C. Stülcken & Sohn shipyard in Hamburg, GER.

Retired from pilot service in 1924 and purchased by author Warwick Tompkins in 1928, in 1929 commissioned as cruising yacht and sail training vessel, renamed the “Wander Bird”.

Made a total of 13 trans-Atlantic crossings during this period, in 1936 Tompkins sailed her around Cape Horn to San Francisco Bay, after a voyage to Tahiti, Tompkins laid the schooner up in Sausalito, California in 1941 where she became a houseboat for his ex-wife.

In 1969 Elbe 5 was purchased by Harold and Anna Sommers, and restoration began by installing her first engine, sailed for the first time in June, 1981.

Was not used much by the Sommers and was offered for sale in 1992, after some unsuccessful trials to sail her back to Germany she departed Sausalito for Seattle in October 1998, the new owners Jim Flury and David Cook intended to offer charter cruises in Mexican waters but instead chartered her to a non-profit group in Seattle to serve as a sail training ship and goodwill ambassador for the city, this program never got started but the schooner remained in Seattle.

On initiative of the “Stiftung Hamburg Maritim” the ship returned to Hamburg on October 7, 2002 where an overhaul of electrical equipment began and the rigging and deck will be checked, all necessary work is done in the context of the project “Jugend in Arbeit Hamburg e.V.”

Since 2004 used as charter ship for day trips and longer voyages.

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

Owner: (1883 – 1924) – The Imperial German Government Fleet of Pilot Schooners, Elbe River/North Sea
Owner: (1924 – 1941) – Warwick and Gwen Tompkins, renamed the “Wander Bird” Purchased for $1,500. Sailed the Wander Bird around Cape Horn — going the “wrong way” from east to west. He wrote a book about the passage titled, “50 degrees (degrees) South to 50 degrees (degrees) North.”
Owner: (1941 – 1969) – Used as a houseboat by Gwen Tompkins
Owner: (1969 – 1992) – Harold (tugboat captain for Crowley Marine) and Annaliese Sommers acquired Wander Bird for $10,000 and moved onboard. A 12 year amateur restoration ensued, fitted out her first engine, and sailed for the first time in June, 1981.
Actor: Sterling Walter Hayden
Captain: Billy Carber
Chief engineer: John Bostick
Boatswain: Wayne “Boats” Bishoff
Owner: (1992 2002) – Jim Flury and David Cook (gallery owners) chartered her to a non-profit group in Seattle as a sail training ship
Owner: (2002) – Stiftung Hamburg Maritim, transported 9,000 miles across the Atlantic from Seattle to Hamburg on the weather deck of Rickmers Line’s 23,239grt heavy-lift RTW cargo ship Rickmers Tianjin. Operates as a charter ship for day trips and longer voyages. Recently commissioned a 8 month restoration by Hvide Sande Shipyard, Denmark.

On June 8th Elbe 5 was rammed by a container ship and later sunk in the shallow waters…for more information read article https://classicsailboats.org/pilot-schooner-elbe-5-struck-by-container-ship/