The Eastern Yacht Club: A History By Joseph E. Garland 1st Edition Marblehead MA

$150.00
sold out
Among the oldest and most distinguished in America, the
Eastern Yacht Club embodies the very essence of Marblehead, the old harbor on the North Shore of Massachusetts
Bay cherished by sailors as the Rose Bowl of this sport. In
the glory days of racing and cruising along the New England coast, the wooden sailboat achieved a blend of pure
beauty, speed and frequently grandeur not since equalled.
No proper yachtsman gave a thought then to the cost, and
for the Proper Bostonian, the burgee of the Eastern at his
masthead was close enough to heaven, for this life anyway.
As "Boston" as its amiable rival of almost 120 years is
"New York," the Eastern was founded in 1870 by a conclave of leading sailing men "of wealth and high character" for the purpose—not quite as solemn as it sounds—
"of encouraging yacht building and naval architecture,
and the cultivation of nautical science."
And that it did, with such unparalleled success that in
short order the Club had wrested the defense of the America's Cup from the astonished New Yorkers with three
successive sloops designed by its own Edward Burgess.
Fifty years later his son, W. Starling Burgess, with equal
artistry and equally as influential in the Eastern, conceived the three towering J-sloops that retained the Cup
before World War II put an end to yachting in the grand
style.
Throughout, other greats of American yacht design—
Nathanael and L. Francis Herreshoff, Frank Paine, B. B.
Crowninshield, John Alden, Carl Alberg, Ray Hunt, Aage
Nielsen, Ted Hood and others—tested their innovative
ideas in the proving waters of the Eastern. And the Club
took a large part in the formation of racing rules, interna -
tional small-boat competition as early as 1904, the emergence of the one-designs, the popularization of sailing, the
opening-up of the Maine coast to cruising, the beginning
of ocean racing, and the modern transition to synthetic
materials and high technology.
North Shore writer, historian and sailor Joe Garland has
blended past and present to evoke in this sumptuously illustrated volume a procession of extraordinary personalities and boats, from Black Ben Forbes to Navy Secretary
Charles Francis Adams, and from the lowliest Brutal
Beast to the stellar Queen of the Eastern fleet, the stunning, 130-foot schooner Constellation.
Among the oldest and most distinguished in America, the
Eastern Yacht Club embodies the very essence of Marblehead, the old harbor on the North Shore of Massachusetts
Bay cherished by sailors as the Rose Bowl of this sport. In
the glory days of racing and cruising along the New England coast, the wooden sailboat achieved a blend of pure
beauty, speed and frequently grandeur not since equalled.
No proper yachtsman gave a thought then to the cost, and
for the Proper Bostonian, the burgee of the Eastern at his
masthead was close enough to heaven, for this life anyway.
As "Boston" as its amiable rival of almost 120 years is
"New York," the Eastern was founded in 1870 by a conclave of leading sailing men "of wealth and high character" for the purpose—not quite as solemn as it sounds—
"of encouraging yacht building and naval architecture,
and the cultivation of nautical science."
And that it did, with such unparalleled success that in
short order the Club had wrested the defense of the America's Cup from the astonished New Yorkers with three
successive sloops designed by its own Edward Burgess.
Fifty years later his son, W. Starling Burgess, with equal
artistry and equally as influential in the Eastern, conceived the three towering J-sloops that retained the Cup
before World War II put an end to yachting in the grand
style.
Throughout, other greats of American yacht design—
Nathanael and L. Francis Herreshoff, Frank Paine, B. B.
Crowninshield, John Alden, Carl Alberg, Ray Hunt, Aage
Nielsen, Ted Hood and others—tested their innovative
ideas in the proving waters of the Eastern. And the Club
took a large part in the formation of racing rules, interna -
tional small-boat competition as early as 1904, the emergence of the one-designs, the popularization of sailing, the
opening-up of the Maine coast to cruising, the beginning
of ocean racing, and the modern transition to synthetic
materials and high technology.
North Shore writer, historian and sailor Joe Garland has
blended past and present to evoke in this sumptuously illustrated volume a procession of extraordinary personalities and boats, from Black Ben Forbes to Navy Secretary
Charles Francis Adams, and from the lowliest Brutal
Beast to the stellar Queen of the Eastern fleet, the stunning, 130-foot schooner Constellation.