Endeavour (Yacht)
Encyclopedia
Endeavour is a 130 feet (39.6 m) J-class yacht
J-class yacht
The J-Class serves as a rating for large sailing yachts designed between 1930 and 1937. Reserved for a wealthy elite of yachtsmen, these boats were used to compete with the best sailing talents in three races of the America's Cup.-The 1930s:...
built for the 1934 America's Cup
America's Cup
The America’s Cup is a trophy awarded to the winner of the America's Cup match races between two yachts. One yacht, known as the defender, represents the yacht club that currently holds the America's Cup and the second yacht, known as the challenger, represents the yacht club that is challenging...
by Camper and Nicholson in Gosport
Gosport
Gosport is a town, district and borough situated on the south coast of England, within the county of Hampshire. It has approximately 80,000 permanent residents with a further 5,000-10,000 during the summer months...
, Portsmouth Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour
Portsmouth Harbour is a large natural harbour in Hampshire, England. Geographically it is a ria: formerly it was the valley of a stream flowing from Portsdown into the Solent River. The city of Portsmouth lies to the east on Portsea Island, and Gosport to the west on the mainland...
, England. She was built for Thomas Sopwith
Thomas Sopwith
Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith, CBE, Hon FRAeS was an English aviation pioneer and yachtsman.-Early life:...
who used his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day with a steel hull and mast. She was launched in 1934 and won many races in her first season including against the J's Velsheda and Shamrock V. She failed in her America's Cup challenge against the American defender Rainbow but came closer than any other until Australia II
Australia II
Australia II is the Australian 12-metre-class challenge racing yacht that was launched in 1982 and won the 1983 America's Cup for the Royal Perth Yacht Club...
succeeded in 1983.
America's Cup
Endeavour pioneered the Quadrilateral genoaGenoa (sail)
The genoa or jenny was originally referred to as the 'overlapping jib' or the Genoa jib, being named after the city of Genoa as explained below. It is a type of large jib or staysail used on bermuda rigged craft that overlaps the main sail, sometimes eliminating it. It is used on single-masted...
a twin clewed headsail offering great sail area and consequent power. This design is still in use in the J's today. The boat also featured a larger and improved spinnaker
Spinnaker
A spinnaker is a special type of sail that is designed specifically for sailing off the wind from a reaching course to a downwind, i.e. with the wind 90°–180° off the bow. The spinnaker fills with wind and balloons out in front of the boat when it is deployed, called flying. It is constructed of...
. However the campaign was blighted by a strike of Sopwith's professional crew prior to departing for the USA. Forced to rely mainly on keen amateurs who lacked the necessary experience, the campaign failed. This was one of the most contentious of the America's cup battles and prompted the headline:"Britannia rules the waves and America waives the rules"
History
Following the America's Cup she dominated the British sailing scene until whilst being towed across the Atlantic to Britain in September 1937 she broke loose from her tow and was feared lost. She was however eventually found and returned to England where she was laid up. For 46 years Endeavour languished through a variety of owners, she was sold for scrap in 1947 being saved only a few hours before her demolition was due. In the 1970s she sank in the River MedinaRiver Medina
The River Medina is the main river of the Isle of Wight, rising at St Catherine's Down in the south of the Island and through the capital Newport, towards the Solent at Cowes. The river is a navigable tidal estuary from Newport northwards where it takes the form of a ria . The Medina is 17km long...
, Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, she was rescued having been purchased for ten pounds and patched up to refloat her. Until the mid 1980s she was on shore at Calshot Spit
Calshot Spit
Calshot Spit is a one-mile long sand and shingle bank, located on the southern bank of the open end of Southampton Water, on the south coast of England....
an ex seaplane base on the edge of the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
, Southern England. By this time she was in a desperate state, with only the hull remaining, lacking rudder, mast and keel.
Rebuild
She was bought by Elizabeth MeyerElizabeth Meyer
Elizabeth E Meyer, was born in Baltimore in 1953. She was instrumental in the restoration of the J Class Yachts beginning with Endeavour in the mid 1980s. She is married to Michael McCaffrey.-Life:...
in 1984 who undertook a five year project to rebuild her. The initial work having to be undertaken where she lay to ensure the hull was seaworthy to be towed to the Royal Huisman
Royal Huisman
Royal Huisman, founded in 1884 is a family-owned builder of unique custom sailing and motor yachts, classic or modern, between 26 and 90 meters. The yard was awarded the Royal seal by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands in 1984...
shipyard, Holland. They designed and installed a new rig, engine, generator and mechanical systems and fitted the interior to a very high standard. Endeavour sailed again, on 22 June 1989, for the first time in 52 years.
Elizabeth Meyer sold her to L. Dennis Kozlowski for $15m in 2000; She was again sold in 2006 for a reputed $13m to Hawaii resident Cassio Antunes.
After her rebuild she cruised extensively and in 1999 joined the rebuilt Velsheda and Shamrock V to compete in the Antigua Classics Regatta.