Volunteer (yacht)

"Volunteer" turning Sandy Hook Lightship during the America's Cup race on Sept. 27, 1887. Photograph by John S. Johnston.

"Volunteer" was the victorious American defender of the seventh America's Cup race in 1887 against Scottish challenger "Thistle".

Design

"Volunteer," a centerboard compromise sloop, was designed by Edward Burgess and built by Pusey & Jones Shipbuilding Company at Wilmington, Delaware in 1887 for owner General Charles J. Paine of the New York Yacht Club.

"Volunteer" had an all-steel frame and hull, with a deck of white pine.

Career

"Volunteer" easily beat the 1886 America's Cup defender "Mayflower" during the trials, and won both Cup races on September 27 and 30, 1887, against "Thistle." It was skippered by Captain Hank Haff with the assistance of Captains Terry, Berry and L. Jeffreys.

Soon after the Cup races, "Volunteer" was bought by John Malcolm Forbes (who also owned "Puritan") and was altered as a schooner in 1891. It was broken up at a New York junkyard in 1910.

Specifications

• Overall length: 32.91 m
• Length at water line: 26.10 m
• Beam (width): 7.06 m
• Draft: 3.04 m
• Displacement: 130 tons
• Sail area: 834.40m²

References and external links

• America's Cup's Ac-clopaedia
• The 19th Century Yacht Photography of J.S. Johnston