Sail Number: 449

Type: Marconi Ketch

LOA: 90’80” / 27.70m – LOD: 72.83 / 22.20m – LWL: 50.91′ / 15.52m – Beam: 15.25′ / 4.65m – Draft: 10.66′ / 3.25m – Displacement: 50 tons – Sail Area: 3,239 sq.ft / 301m2 – Built: William Fife & Son, Fairlie Scotland – Hull: Teak planking / steel frames – Year Built: 1937 – Original owner: James V. & Robert W. Fulton, Greenock – Current owner: Officine Panerai – Owners Website: www.eilean.it – Location: Marine Traffic

Historical:

So it was that in 1937 a boat was launched into the sea from the Fife boatyard in Fairlie, a 22-metre yacht called Eilean, which in the Scottish means “little island”. The boat, design number 822, was conceived by the then eighty-year-old William Fife III, alongside his nephew Robert Balderton Fife who had only recently joined the family business. According to the Lloyds Register of 1938, both names appeared among the designers of the boat. Also specified in the Register, apart from the main dimensions, were the Bermudian ketch sail-plan, which remains unchanged up to the present day, the presence of a 4-cylinder paraffin engine and a sail set made by sail-makers Ratsey of the Isle of Wight.

Eilean, narrow at the waterline and with a mainsail located towards the rear, featured waterlines resulting from a study of J-Class boats, used in the Thirties to compete in the America’s Cup. The boat’s first owners were brothers James V. and Robert W. Fulton of Greenock, members of the Royal Gourock Yacht Club. The family were already owners of the ketch Belle Aventure, another Fife from 1929 originally with an auric sail-plan, converted to a Bermudian ketch in 1937, again following a Fife design. Belle Aventure is still sailing today and takes part in classic yacht meetings. It appears that the new vessel was used by the Fultons to cross the strait separating the residence in which they lived from their place of work. Not being regatta competitors, James and Robert did not take part in major yacht races, in contrast to Eilean’s near twin, Latifa which, designed and launched by Fife in 1936, would distinguish herself by taking part in important regattas such as the Fastnet. Further proof, if proof was needed, of the validity of the type of hull and the design developed by William III.

Eilean was purchased in 2007 by the Florentine fine watchmaker Officine Panerai, with roots going back to 1860 and today the main sponsor of the circuit of regattas known as the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge. The first Panerai watch prototype was created in 1936, in the same year of Eilean’s birth.

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

Owner/Guardian: (1937) James V. & Robert W. Fulton, Greenock
Owner/Guardian: (2007-current) Officine Panerai

Sail Number:

Type: Sharpie

LOA: 28’2” / 8.60m – LOD: – LWL: 22’8” / 6.90m – Beam: 7’2” / 2.20m – Draft: Board up 1’0” / .30m – Board down 3’6” / 1.06m – Designer: Ralph Middleton Munroe – Design Number: – Current Name: – Original Owner: Ralph Middleton Munroe – Current Owner: – Year Built: 1886 – Built by: A.C. Brown & Son, Tottenville, S.I., NY – Hull material: Wood – Displacement: 4,058 lbs – Engine: Oars

Historical:

During the ninetieth century in South Florida there were far more people in Key West (about 15,000) than the rest of the Keys and modern day Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties combined (about 550) While Miami became officially incorporated on July 8th, 1896, most were dependent upon Biscayne Bay for survival as agriculture was limited.

During this time the Seminoles were forced south and into the Everglades by the U.S. military during the Seminole wars from 1835 to 1842. The Seminoles frequently traveled through the river of grass and down the subtropical spring fed estuaries, characterized by clear water, dominated by diverse and productive bottom communities of sea grasses, corals and sponges. They eventually reached a beautiful expansive lagoon, where they camped along the banks. This great body of water became know to them as “Sweet Water,” symbolic for the crystal clear water, proliferation of birds, and bountiful aquatic life that resided there.

This tropical frontier was not an easy place to reach. It was a time before the railroad, where most northern settlers coming to Biscayne Bay had to steam south first on the Mallory Line to Tift’s wharf in Key West. Then onto a small schooner for a two – three day sail up east to a virtually uninhabited Biscayne Bay. Munroe described the last leg of the trip as “shoal clear water through which coral reefs and bottom growths were visible, the warmth of the breeze, the sparkle and brilliance of the sun, in the clear air, all made a beautiful setting for a novel scene in which one after another, the low green mysterious islands rose, passed and disappeared astern.”

In 1886 Ralph Middleton Munroe bought land, built a homestead, married, raised a family, formed a yacht club (earning his title of Commodore)… while his family would go on to see this last American Frontier become a teeming Metropolis….read more

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

• Owner/Guardian: (1886) – Ralph Middleton Munroe

Resources

• HistoryMiami Museum – HistoryMiami.Org (Michele Reese and Vanessa Cambrelen.
• University of Miami Libraries Special Collections. (Ralph M. Munroe Family Papers, ASM0015.)
• The Forgotten Frontier – Arva Moore Parks
• Historic Preservation Miami (the Coconut Grove Library)
• The Commodore ‘s Story – by Ralph Middleton Munroe and and Vincent Gilpin
• Peacock Inn in Coconut Grove in 1896. Courtesy of Florida Memory.
• Coconut Grove (Images of America) Paperback – Illustrated, September 20, 2010 (by Arva Moore Parks (Author), Bo Bennett (Author)
• Good Little Ship – by Vincent Gilpin
• The Commodore’s Story Paperback – January 1, 1974 – by Vincent Munroe, Ralph Middleton and Vincent Gilpin
• The “Egret” – by Phil Capen – Lithograph 16×21

Sail Number: 225/1

Type: Lawley 225

LOA: 35’6″ / 10.85m – LOD: 35’6″ / 10.85m – LWL: 26′ 0″ – Beam: 5’11 / 1.55m – Draft: 5′ 00 / 1.52m – Ballast: 1,000 lbs – Displacement: – Original Sail Area: 225 – Yard Number: Prototype – Hull material: – Weldwood Construction – Rig: Sloop – Designer: C. Raymond Hunt – Built by: George Lawley & Son, Neponset, Massachusetts – Year First Built: 1936 – Contract Cost: $1,000

Historical:

In 1936 Raymond Hunt along with engineers Bror Tamm and Gordon Munro decided to build a 36’0″ prototype at the Lawley Yard in Neponset, Masachusetts. Although there were doubts about her potential sailing abilities, she quickly proved doubters wrong. But, at the time, no one seemed to like the prototype, she was too peculiar, and slab-sided for her size.

In 1939 The Corinthian Yacht Club members, of Marblehead, Massachusetts, were looking for a spirited one-design club boat for Massachusetts Bay, having searched for a low cost, low maintenance solution they decided on and sponsored the Lawley 225. Further evolved and improved by C. Raymond Hunt and Frank C. Paine, “Egeria” was the first of the 225 class boats, known as 225/1. “Egeria” proved to be very fast, beating most of the class boats in Marblehead except the 30-Square-Metres.

“Edlu” Specifications:

ex, Wynfred, ex, Roban, current Orion

LOA: 56′ 2″ / 17.11m – LWL: 40′ 0″ / 12.19m – Beam: 13′ 0″ / 3.96m – Draft: 7′ 10″ / 2.38m – Design Number: 35 – Rig: Origin Cutter – Displacement: 47,100 lbs – Sail Area: 1,449 sq ft – Designer: Sparkman & Stephens – Built By: Henry B. Nevins, City Island, NY – Original Owner: Rudolph J. Schaefer – Current Owner: – Current Name: Orion – Launched: 1934 – Contract Cost: $25,000 – Sail Number:

Historical:

Edlu, named after daughters Edmee and Lucy, was designed and built for Rudolph J. Schaefer, Commodore of the Larchmont Yacht Club. A proven race winner, she won the 1934 New London-Bermuda race (660 miles) in her first year, three-weeks after being launched.

Although a proven winner, in 1936 she was re-rigged as a yawl, including a five-foot new bowsprit with extended headstay. The main mast remained the same height, although the boom was shortened, reducing the sail area. A new mizzen mast was added along with a bumpkin. In all, sail area was increased from 1,449 to 1,729 sq ft. To compensate for the additional sail area, 1,600 lbs of lead was added to her recasted keel. With the new additions Edlu now rated higher, the designers figured that she would be much faster, warranting the change.

Sail Number: US 18

Type: 12 Metre (Third Rule AC)

LOA: 65’5″ / 19.94m – LOD: 65’5″ / 19.94m – LWL: 47’1″ / 14.35m – Beam: 12’0″ / 3.66m – Draft: 9’1″ / 2.79m – Displacement: 27.8 tons – Sail Area: 1,926.74 sq ft / 179 sq.m.) – Original Owner: Easterner Syndicate (Syndicate head Chandler (Buss) Hovey, Jr) – Original Homeport: Eastern YC, Marblehead, MA – Current Owner: Scott Bernard – Current Homeport: Annapolis, MD – Year Launched: June 27, 1958 – Designed by: C. Raymond Hunt, Assoc. – Built by: Graves Yacht Yard, Marblehead, MA – Hull Material: Wood

Historical:

Built by Graves Yacht Yard, Marblehead, Massachusetts for the Chandler (Buss) Hovey, Jr family (partners at the New York investment banking firm White, Weld & Company and past owners of the J Class Rainbow and Weetamoe), she entered in the 1958, 1962 and 1964 defender trials for the America’s Cup.

Bee Hovey “We were all New Englanders, we were all Yankees, and we were all Easterners. We grew up around Boston and Marblehead, Mass., so we named our cup yacht Easterner.” Although the boat had good potential, being considered the fastest of the 1958 Twelves, she arrived late on the scene with not enough practice time to sort things out. She competed unsuccessfully being eliminated in the first round of the defender trials.

Easterner was drawn by Fenwick Williams, under the guidance of C. Raymond Hunt for the 1958 America’s Cup races. The 1958 race represented a 21 year absence of Americas Cup racing. Seeking a more affordable alternative to the immensely expensive Universal Rule J Class vessels and to regenerate interest in the Americas Cup races a new smaller class was formed, the IYRU 12mR. Four contenders were built, Columbia (US-16), Vim (US-15), Weatherly (US-17) and Easterner (US-18). Easterner was noticeable different than the other four contenders for the 1958 America’s Cup races, where hull dimensions were separated by fractions. She was shorter overall by a four feet and longer in waterline by a foot, and was considered to be the most appealing 12 of the fleet.

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

Owner/Guardian: 1958 – 1966 Easterner Syndicate (Syndicate head Chandler (Buss) Hovey, Jr)
Owner/Guardian: 1967 – 1968 John K. Baillie & Phyllis D. Baillie – Marblehead, MA / Los Angeles, CA (USA).
Owner/Guardian: 1968 – 1995 John K. Baillie – new name: Newsboy – Newport Beach, CA (USA).
Owner/Guardian: 1995 – 2008 SASA Charters, Inc. (Arthur Schlossmann) Jamestown, RI (USA)
Owner/Guardian: 2008 – 2014 Shake-A-Leg – Newport, RI (USA).
Owner/Guardian: 2014 – 2018 Thorpe Leeson – Newport, RI (U.S.A.)
Owner/Guardian: 2018 – Present Scott Bernard – Annapolis, MD.
Owner/Guardian: 2020 – Easterner Foundation, Scott Bernard establishes and donates vessel.

Comments

Bill Stocker – August 16, 2022

I was 14 years old and was present at launching of Easterner, my favorite 12 meter of all time. Now I am 78, in good condition, living in Sarasota, FL. My bucket list includes crewing on Easterner, specifically the upcoming world regatta in Newport. Any chance of this happening?

Steve Hopkins – January 2, 2023

EASTERNER is on the hard at Yacht Maintenance in Cambridge, MD. Looking a bit forlorn but festive with Christmas lights strung in her rig.

Steve Hopkins – January 2, 2023

EASTERNER is on the hard in Cambridge, MD.