William Gardner VICTORY CLASS

Type: Victory Class

Victory Class Specifications:

LOA: 31’8″ / 9.69m – LWL: 20’8″ / 6.33m – Beam: 7’0″ / 2.13m – Draft: 4’10” / 1.24m – Hull Number: – Designer: William Gardner – Boat 1 – Original Owner: Sherman Hoyt – Current Owner: – Year Designed: 1918 – Year Built: 1920 – Built By: Henry B. Nevins Yacht Builders, City Island N.Y – Hull Material: Steam bent, oak frames with cedar planking – Displacement: 2,900 lb / 1,315 kg – Sail Number: – Rig: Marconi Rigged-Sloop – Photo: Mongolia

 

Historical:

Junius Spencer Morgan III, of West Island, Glen Cove, New York, the son of J. P. Morgan, the renowned financier, was instrumental in forming the Victory Class the year after World War I in the fall of 1919. Mr. Morgan did the seemingly impossible feat of inducing twenty yachtsman to come forward and build Victory Class boats. Henry B. Nevins was commissioned to construct the vessels at his Shipyard in City Island N.Y. Launched in May of 1920, the raised fore-deck marconi rigged sloop proved to be a very fast dry capable yacht.

The class was formed to revive the sport of yachting after World War I with an affordable one-design class. They were named Victory-class in tribute to the yachtsmen who participated in World War I. Each boat was originally named after a phase of or reference to the war.

 

Victory Class Sloop (Original 20)

1. *Ace – Adrian Iselin Jr (World War I flying aces)
2. Alerte – Robert W. Martin (the sound of sirens during air raids) Status lost in Galveston Bay during a storm and was scrapped during Word War II.
3. Blue Devil – Howard Whitney (The 88th Infantry Division was a unit of the United States Army in World War I) Won the 1941 Larchmont Race Week
4. Buddy – Carroll B. Alker
5. Spad – Ex; Dragon – Harold I. Pratt (named in honor of a World War I bi-plane) Was last known to be sailing in Galveston Bay well into the 1970’s.
6. Soixante-Quinze – Swan & Stewart (field gun used in World War I by the American Expeditionary Forces, French for 75) – ex; Avanti
7. Blue Jacket – James B. Ford (The Bluejacket’s Manual is the basic handbook for United States Navy personnel.)
8. Nieuport – R.A. Brown (French bi-plane fighter)
9. A. E. F. E. G. – Potter
10. Otranto – R. B. Meyer (the 1917 Battle of the Strait of Otranto)
11. Arethusa – C. D. Norton (HMS Arethusa was the name ship of her class of eight light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the 1910s. She saw a considerable amount of action during the early years of the First World War, participating in the Battle of Heligoland Bight and the Battle of Dogger Bank.)
12. Naviator – F. Trubee Davison
13. Bois de Belleau – F. R. Mayer (the battle of Belleau Wood, June 1918, the most important battle fought by US forces since the US Civil War.)
14. Mongolia (Mongolia) – H. M. Curtis (December 29, 1911 the Mongols declared their independence from the collapsing Qing dynasty following the Xinhai Revolution.) Last known (2019) to be for sale in Portsmouth, RI (Yacht World YW#: 1877-3500670
15. Cantigny – Dr. C. I. Atkinson (The Battle of Cantigny, fought 28–31 May 1918, was the first American battle and offensive of World War I.
16. Black Jack – H. S. Morgan (John Joseph “Black Jack” Pershing (September 13, 1860 – July 15, 1948) was the general in the United States Army who led the American Expeditionary Forces to victory over Germany in World War I, 1917–18.)
17. Mary Rose – Rear Commodore, J. S. Morgan, Jr (HMS Mary Rose, launched on 8 October 1915, was an Admiralty M-class destroyer . sunk on 17 October 1917 approximately 70 miles east of Lerwick while escorting a convoy of 12 merchant ships from Norway.) ex; Flapper
18. Gopher – F. W. Hine
19. Carry-On – Wm. H. Appleton
20. Briquette – John T. Pratt (The compaction of loose combustible material for fuel making purposes, used commonly during World War I.) Status lost in Galveston Bay during a storm and was scrapped during Word War II.

* Ace was originally built for Sherman Hoyt, but Mr. Hoyt was on board Vanitie, so was sold to Mr. Howard L. Curry for his son Gordon Curry

The Victory Class was governed by strict rules, Four persons allowed, but no paid hands. The boats were allowed to be hauled, but once in three-weeks, and not more than 48 hours. One suit of sails a season, and a detailed list of equipment must be carried, and no changes to lead ballast, and spar dimensions.

 

 

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

 

Alerte (Number 2)

Owner/Guardian: (1932) – Commodore Will E. Hamilton, Houston Yacht Club (1937 Chronicle Trophy Winner)
Skipper: Ivan Rader

Spad (Number 5)

Owner/Guardian: (1955) – Lew Mickley (vessel name Dragon)

Mongolia; ex Blue Streak (Number 14)

Owner/Guardian: (1946) – Member of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, Port Washington, N.Y.
Owner/Guardian: (1950s) – Michael Hausman Family

Black Jack (Number 16)

Owner/Guardian: (1946) Commodore R.W. Fraser, Manhasset Bay Yacht Club, Port Washington, N.Y.

Mary Rose, ex; Flapper (Number 17)

Owner/Guardian: (1945) – Bayard S. Litchfield (New York Yacht Club)
Owner/Guardian: (1946) – W.L. Bosworth (Stratford, CT)

Victory (Number ) 1951

Owner/Guardian: (1951) – Dom Genitempo (Galveston Bay, TX)

Mongolia (Number 14)

Owner/Guardian: Thorpe Leeson
Owner/Guardian: (1984 to 2008) – Lynton Gardiner

Carry -On (Number 19)

Owner/Guardian: W.H. Appleton, N.Y.
Owner/Guardian: H.S. Shonnard, N.Y.Y.C.

Briquette (Number 20)

Skipper: Tommy Lee
Crew: Bob Creech, Slue Robertson, Tommy Lee, Howard Lee, Kirwin Derden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

 

William Hamilton – August 30, 2015

Anyone know any more about the WWI yachtsmen who were honored by the naming of the 20 yachts? Who were they and why were they honored? My grandfather was the 2nd owner of the Alerte.

 

Admin – September 1, 2015

Victory Class Sloop (Original 20)
*Ace – Adrian Iselin Jr
. A. E. F. E. G. – Potter
Alerte – Robert W. Martin
 Arethusa – C. D. Norton
 Black Jack – H. S. Morgan
 Blue Devil – Howard Whitney
 Blue Jacket – James B. Ford 
Bois de Belleau – F. R. Mayer
 Buddy – Carroll B. Alker
 Briquette – John T. Pratt
 Cantigney – Dr. C. I. Atkinson
 Carry On – Wm. H. Appleton
 Gopher – F. W. Hine
 Mary Rose – J. S. Morgan, Jr
. Mongolia – H. M. Curtis
 Naviator – F. Trubee Davison
 Nieuport – R.A. Brown
 Otranto – R. B. Meyer
 Soixante-Quinze = Swan & Stewart
 Spad – Harold I. Pratt

* Ace was originally built for Sherman Hoyt, but Mr. Hoyt was on board Vanitie, so was sold to Mr. Howard L. Curry for his son Gordon Curry.

 

Michael Hausman – July 7, 2017

My family owned blue Streak and raced it in Manhasset Bay in the 1950’s
. Are any still sailing?

 

Roger Klein – January 15, 2018

I sailed aboard Arethusa in the early 50s on Manhasset Bay She was owned by a Mr. (?) Probst of Great Neck at the time.

 

Michael Hausman – March 21, 2018

Roger, 
Just saw your response
…Are any of these still afloat in manhasset Bay or up near boston.
they were a great boat.

 

Tim Hampton – February 12, 2019

Michael,
My great-grandfather owned “Blue Streak” in 1946. I have his 3rd place race trophy while he was a member of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club. I also have two photos of “Blue Streak” (V14). I can email you scans if you are interested.
Thanks!

 

Lynton Gardiner – April 24, 2019

Nice to see this site dedicated to the Victory class sloop.
I owned Mongolia (hull #14, not #15 as indicated on the site) from 1984 to 2008.
I also owned the hulk of Nike, hull #13, for a very brief time in the late 1990s. Nike suffered from serious rot and was too far gone to restore, but I was able to use her excellent original Douglas fir mast, sails, original hardware and other accessories in the restoration of Mongolia.

Over a period of several years Mongolia was fully restored on City Island and she was finally relaunched in 2000. Nat Wilson up in Maine made beautiful new sails and I kept her in Oyster Bay, NY and later in Westport, CT.
With her low freeboard and powerful mailsail, she was a delight to sail especially on a reach. I never tired of her beautiful lines and still miss those happy days of sailing in Long Island Sound.

 

Lynton Gardiner – April 27, 2019

Thank you classicsailboats for posting the fine update
 on the Victory class. The vintage pictures of Victories under sail are terrific, with
 many views I’d never seen. It’s a special pleasure to see Mongolia
 being enjoyed by previous owners who clearly shared my enthusiasm for her. For any who have interest, I’m happy to share my Victory class experiences and look forward to visiting this site often.

Fair winds,

Lynton Gardiner
, Miami Beach

 

Alan Butler – December 16, 2019

Hi
, I am trying to find out any information about a “victory’ class sail boat called “Kathleen” once owned by the Governor of Tasmania (Australia) Hugh Binney. Also where would I get a set of class rules, any help would be greatly appreciated.


Regards

Alan