History of the j class project

Finally making a start on my next project which is to tell the history of the j class through a series of paintings. I’ve decided to start from the very beginning and the meeting between The 1920 Americas Cup winner Resolute now converted to the Bermudan rig and the brand new J Class yacht Enterprise one of 4 new boats built to defend the America’s Cup against Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock V. This first meeting was looked upon with great interests many believed the new heavier j class with their reduced sail area would not be able to hold their own against the older lighter boat.

As this initial meeting proved on May 10th 1930 the new boat was a great improvement on the old boat.

As is the case with most of my work I follow the race with small models positioning the sun in the exact position for the time of day. This allows me to look for interesting angles and compositions, I’ve attached a few of my initial sketches.