Yachting History

By Tom Darling In Part I of this article (windcheckmagazine.com/article/alerion-past-present-and-future-part-1-whats-an-alerion-1913-1977-perfect/), we detailed the design and early history of Alerion III, Capt. Nathanael Herreshoff’s favorite of dozens of personal boats. When we left Captain Nat in the 1920s, he had retired to Florida in an Alerion derivative named Pleasure and spent his eighties going into the Great Depression. He was on the sidelines for the rise of the mighty J Boats, designed by new blood like Burgess and…

By Dave Easterbrooks and Chip Hawkins In February of 1938, twelve sailors representing yachts clubs from around Narragansett Bay gathered at Rhode Island Yacht Club. RIYC was a fitting gathering place, as it was the oldest yacht club in Rhode Island – chartered in 1875 as the Providence Yacht Club and renamed the Rhode Island Yacht Club in 1887. The 1887 name change coincided with the construction of an impressive clubhouse on Great Rock at Stillhouse Cove…

By Ron Breault Editor’s note: Ron Breault of Old Lyme, CT has owned and successfully campaigned his Sparkman & Stephens Dolphin 24 Marionette for a quarter century. He’s written a book about his custodianship of this lovely classic, Voyaging with Marionette, soon to be released by Whaler Books.   The book will contain the historical record of how finding, buying, restoring, maintaining, and using a ‘classic’ small sailboat opens doors – not just to enjoying sailing in…

By Tom Darling Imagine, if you would, if there were a television game show called “Herreshoff Jeopardy.” You know, the one where you begin your answer with “What is…?” Here, the category is “American Daysailers of the 20th Century.” The game goes like this: “The category is Herreshoff daysailing boats. For $100, this 26-footer was launched in 1913 and sailed for a dozen years, spawning numerous offshoots such as the Newport 29, the Buzzards Bay 25, and…