Richard Firth
(British, born 1954)
AMERICAN YACHT YANKEE JOINS THE BIG CLASS ON BRITISH WATERS, 1935 - BRITANNIA, WESTWARD, YANKEE
$30,000. - 40,000.
Oil on canvas, 30" x 50"
Signed
$30,000. - 40,000.
In 1930 Yankee was launched as one of four J-Class yachts built
to defend the America's Cup. Designed by Frank Paine and
launched from Lawley & Sons yard in Bristol, Connecticut,
the Yankee was regarded as the best all-rounder of the four. Not
quite as fine-tuned as the others, she lost out, and with slight
modifications came back to compete for the defender spot again
in 1934. Losing again, she was sold by her original ownership
syndicate, which included former Secretary of the Navy and
America's Cup Hall of Fame member Charles Francis Adams
III, to Gerald Lambert. Lambert took her across the Atlantic to
race in England where she became the only American J-Class
yacht to do so. In 32 races in England she had eight first-place
finishes before being scrapped in 1941 with proceeds going to
the war effort.
Britannia was built for King Edward VII and then served for
King George V. Launched in 1893, she had perhaps the most
successful racing yacht career of all time. In 635 starts, she
won 231 first prizes and 129 other prizes before being scuttled
in 1936 in accordance with George V's dying wish for her to
follow him to his grave.
Launched in 1910, Westward was a superstar of the golden age
of big-class racing. The largest Class-A racing schooner of her
time, Westward was hailed by author Peter Heaton as "perhaps
the most famous of all racing schooners." She met Britannia no
fewer than 174 times and George V was once heard to declare
"Whatever we do to Britannia, we must beat that damned
schooner," referring to Westward