With a freshening breeze Columbia rounds the Windward mark.

Goddard Cup

Oil on canvas 36x48 inches

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Rounding the Windward mark with her huge spinnaker towering high above us bulging to the building breeze Columbia races downwind to win the Goddard Cup and confirm her selection to defend the 1899 America’s Cup against Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock.

It was during one of my photo shoots when I was following the classic 1909 19m yacht Mariquita that I got the inspiration for this painting. As Mariquita glided close by I looked up and marvelled at the curve and size of the spinnaker and imagined what a yacht like Columbia which was so much larger would have looked like from such an angle. Fortunately, I quickly became aware of just how close I had drifted when I saw Mariquita’s spinnaker pole guys hanging in loose bights close to the water ready to hook my boat. A quick push of the throttle and I was safely clear, but I made a mental note of just how close I came.

Columbia was the 3rd yacht designed my Nat Herreshoff to defend the America’s Cup. During the season she had decisively proven her superiority over the old defender “Defender” seen rounding the mark behind Columbia and was selected to defend the America’s Cup against Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock.

Columbia with Charlie Barr at the helm went on to successfully defend the Cup against Lipton’s first Shamrock and then Lipton’s second Cup challenge of 1901. She was again involved in Lipton’s third challenge of 1903 but was out matched in the selection trials by Herreshoff’s new masterpiece, Reliance sailed by her old skipper Charlie Barr.

Columbia was regarded as the most beautiful and graceful of all Herreshoff’s Cup boats.

Defender had been the second of Nat Herreshoff cup boats, remarkable in her construction and her lines being more English than the Challenger. She successfully defended the 1895 America’s Cup after which she was laid up.In 1899 she was refitted at great expense by J P Morgan and W Butler Duncan to compete against the new Columbia for the right to defend the 1899 America’s Cup. Although well sailed all season by Capt Urias Rhodes she was out matched by Columbia.

Unfortunately due to her revolutionary use of metals in her hull construction her hull quickly deteriorated due to electrolytic corrosion and she was broken up in 1901.

Specifications

Columbia

Keel sloop owned by J.P Morgan, C. Oliver Iselin syndicate. Designed by Nat Herreshoff and built by the Herreshoff Company, Bristol, Rhode Island 1899

Specifications

Length, over-all…………………………………………………..…………..131ft

Length, waterline……………………………………………………..89ft 8 inch

Beam…………………………………………………………………………………24ft.

Draft…………………………………………………………….………….19ft. 3 inch

Displacement………………………………………………..………..102.13 tons

Mast…………………………………………………………………………..……….74ft

Topmast……………………………………………………………………..64ft 6inch

Boom …………………………………………………………………….………….106ft

Sail Area…………………………………………………………………..13,135sq.ft.

Construction: Steel plating above the waterline, Tobin bronze below. wooden deck over steel frames.

Columbia vs Defender 1899

Goddard Cup