The yacht Gracie.
Yacht club New York Yacht Club
Nation United States
Designer(s)Abraham A. Schank
BuilderJames E. Smith
LaunchedJuly 1868
Owner(s)Charles Ranlett Flint, Joseph P. Earle
FateSold
Racing career
SkippersJoseph P. Earle
Notable victories1868, 1878, 1881
America's Cup1881
Specifications
TypeCenterboard sloop
Displacement776 T
Length58 ft 6 in (17.83 m) (LOA)
81 ft 1.5 in (24.727 m) (LWL)
Beam18 ft 9 in (5.72 m)
Draft5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Sail area5,400 sq ft (500 m2)

The Gracie was a 19th-century racing sloop yacht built in 1868 by James E. Smith shipyard at Nyack, New York. She raced the America's Cup defender Mischief in the trails off Sandy Hook in 1881. Gracie raced at the New York Yacht Club, Atlantic Yacht Club and other eastern yacht clubs. After a 42-year career in racing, she was sold in 1909 and converted to a freight boat sailing from Milton Point, off Long Island to New York.

Construction and service

The yacht Gracie was launched in July 1868, modeled and built at James E. Smith shipyard at Nyack, New York, by builder A. G. Polhemus, from a model by Abraham A. Schank, for Commodore William Voorhis. Her building was supervised by Voorhis. The yacht was 58.6 feet long, 18.9 breadth, 6.6 depth, 5.6 draft and 40-tons.[1]

On September 25, 1868, Gracie raced for the Atlantic Yacht Club with William Voorhis in command. She won in the first class sloop class.[2]

She raced at the New York Yacht Club (1872-1874, 1880, 1882); Sea Cliff Boating Club (1875); Queens Country Club (1876); and the Atlantic Yacht Club (1868, 1881).

Sappho Leads Gracie and Dauntless at the Cape May Race by James E. Buttersworth.

On July 5, 1871, Sappho won the citizens prize for schooners in the 1871 Cape May race. The Gracie won the citizens prize for sloops. The Columbia and Dauntless were also in the race.[3]

On July 18, 1876, yacht Gracie, from the N.Y.Y.C, with Mr. Halsey, was towed from the Herald telegraph station to New York.[4]

On October 23, 1878, yacht Gracie raced in a match with the sloop yacht Vision starting at the Sandy Hook Light and sailing twenty miles and back to the lightship. The Gracie won a $250 silver Cup.[5]

In 1878, she was rebuilt by David Carll at City Island. Her dimensions were increased to 69 feet long, 21.6 breadth, 6.8 depth and 6.6 draft.[1]

In 1880, yacht Gracie was sold to Charles Ranlett Flint and Joseph P. Earle from the New York Yacht Club. Flint was an avid sportsman and yachtsman.[1] He was a member of the syndicate that built the yacht Vigilant, that was the U.S. defender of the eight America's Cup.[6][7]

Trial races for the America's Cup

The Race for America's Cup.
Yachtsman Charles Ranlett Flint.

Gracie raced the America's Cup defender Mischief in trails off Sandy Hook in early 1881.[8][7] On August 5, 1881, Gracie beat the Mischief for the Spirit of the Times Cup in New Bedford regatta of New York and Eastern Clubs for two $500 cups. The Gracie claimed to have won the race.[9][7]

On October 20, 1881, the Gracie won in a trial yacht race between the yachts Mischief and Pocahontas. The expectation was that the Gracie would be selected to sail against the Atlanta for the America's Cup.[10]

On November 11, 1881, the Gracie was the principal competitor of the Mischief for the honor of defending the America's Cup. The Mischief was selected over the Gracie, who came in second, but some felt that the Gracie should have been selected on account of her sailing qualities as an American yacht.[11] The selection of the Mischief over the Gracie was criticized because her owner was an Englishman, and not a naturalized citizen of the United States, and the Gracie was believed to be the better boat. The owners were Joseph Pitnam Earle and Charles R. Flint.[12] After the Mischief was selected, the Gracie sailed a leeward race on the first day against the challenger and defender, the Canadian yacht Atlanta, and the Gracie won.[13][14]

In October 1883, there were two races. The first was the Goelet Cup regatta, sponsored by Ogden Goelet, for the New York Yacht Club at Newport, Rhode Island on August 6, 1883. The course was from Brenton Reef Lightship around Sow & Pigs Lightship (now Vineyard Sound) and return home. The Montauk, owned by Samuel R. Platt, won the $1,000 cup for schooners and the Gracie, owned by Flint & Earles, won the Goelet prize for sloops.[15] The second race was on October 11, 1883, between the sloop yacht Gracie and Fanny, of New York. They started from Sandy Hook. The Gracie came in second[16]

On April 20, 1884, Joseph P. Earle purchased the Gracie from shares that Charles R. Flint owned. He was in the process of fitting out the yacht for commission in the upcoming May races.[17]

On August 23, 1885, the trial race between the Priscilla, Puritan, Gracie, and Genesta. The Gracie came in third place. The Puritan was selected to sail in the America's Cup against the Genesta.[18]

On May 23, 1886, Earle's sloop yacht Gracie from the New York Yacht Club, had repairs done at the Henry Piepgras' shipyard in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. She raced in 1887, against the Dauntless, Montauk, and Fanny. On April 12, 1889, the sloop Gracie was fitted out at City Island.[19]

March 24, 1895, the yacht Gracie, and Joseph P. Earle of the N.Y.Y.C, were at Nyack, New York, was given a new rig for a commission to sail at the upcoming regattas. Sails were provided by Sawyer & Son.[20]

End of service

After a 42-year career in racing, she was sold in 1909 and converted to a freight boat sailing from Milton Point, off Long Island to New York.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "The Yachtsman's Magazine". MotorBoating. 1944. p. 50. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  2. ↑ "Boats And Pastimes. Yachting". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 25 Sep 1868. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  3. ↑ "The Cape May Yacht Race". The Baltimore Sun. Baltimore, Maryland. 6 Jul 1871. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  4. ↑ "Yachting Notes". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 18 Jul 1876. p. 6. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  5. ↑ "Yachting. Match Between The Sloop Yachts Gracie and Vision. The Gracie Wins the Silver Cup by 12m. 46s". New York Daily Herald. New York, New York. 23 Oct 1878. p. 4. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  6. ↑ "Charles R. Flint Head Of Trusts, Dies In Capital". Times Union. Brooklyn, New York. 14 Feb 1934. p. 8. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  7. 1 2 3 "Charles R. Flint Secured By Chamber Of Commerce". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. 27 Dec 1903. p. 19. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  8. ↑ "Descendants of Famous Skipper". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 26 Aug 1935. p. 10. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  9. ↑ "Jolly Yachtsmen of the New York and Eastern Clubs". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 6 Aug 1881. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  10. ↑ "Yacht Race". Boston Post. Boston, Massachusetts. 20 Oct 1881. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-05-03.
  11. ↑ "Second And Final Victory. The Mischief Beats the Yacht Atlanta By At Least Five Miles". The New York Times. New York, New York. 11 Nov 1881. p. 5. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  12. ↑ "How The Cup Has Been Defended". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. 15 Sep 1901. p. 12. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  13. ↑ "Funeral of J. P. Earle". The New York Times. New York, New York. 7 Mar 1905. p. 9. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  14. ↑ "Daily News". New York, New York. 16 Dec 1923. p. 136. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  15. ↑ "New York Yacht Club Regatta". Fall River Daily Evening News. Fall River, Massachusetts. 7 Aug 1883. p. 3. Retrieved 2021-05-06.
  16. ↑ "Variety". Greensboro North State]. Greensboro, North Carolina. 11 Oct 1883. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  17. ↑ "Sails And Spars". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 20 Apr 1884. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  18. ↑ "The Priscilla Defeats the Puritan in the See End Race Preparatory to the Geneista Match". Buffalo Morning Express and Illustrated Buffalo Express. Buffalo, New York. 23 Aug 1885. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
  19. ↑ "The Yacht Gracie Remodeled. Launched Yesterday Afternoon at Piepgras' Yard". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, New York. 23 May 1886. p. 16. Retrieved 2021-05-05.
  20. ↑ "Yachts and Yachtsmen". The Boston Globe. Boston, Massachusetts. 24 Mar 1885. p. 24. Retrieved 2021-05-04.
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