The yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

 Mischief was the victorious American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 defender of the fourth 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...

 race in 1881 against Canadian challenger Atalanta.

Design

The centerboard compromise sloop

Sloop

A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....

 Mischief was designed by Archibald Cary Smith and built by Harlan & Hollingsworth of Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington, Delaware

Wilmington is the largest city in the state of Delaware, United States, and is located at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek, near where the Christina flows into the Delaware River. It is the county seat of New Castle County and one of the major cities in the Delaware Valley...

 in 1879 for English owner Joseph Richard Busk of the New York Yacht Club

New York Yacht Club

The New York Yacht Club is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. The organization has over 3,000 members as of 2011. ...

. She was built of iron construction, the second all-metal yacht

Yacht

A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...

 to be built in the United States.

Career

Nicknamed "The Iron Pot", the Mischief was the victorious defender of the fourth America's Cup challenge in 1881. She was skippered by Nathanael 'Than' Clock during the race.

The Mischief was seized in 1904 for suspected smuggling between the United States and Canada, and stripped of its yacht registration. She was bought in 1906 by the Mayflower Oil Company and used as a barge. In 1929 she was towed offshore and sunk.

Specifications

• Overall length: 20.57 m
• Length at water line: 18.59 m
• Beam
  Beam (nautical)
  The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
  
   (width): 6.00 m
• Draft
  Draft (hull)
  The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
  
  : 1.62 m
• Displacement
  Displacement (fluid)
  In fluid mechanics, displacement occurs when an object is immersed in a fluid, pushing it out of the way and taking its place. The volume of the fluid displaced can then be measured, as in the illustration, and from this the volume of the immersed object can be deduced .An object that sinks...
  
  : 79.2 tons
• Sail area: 487m²