The 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:...

 Ranger successfully defended the 1937 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...

, defeating the British challenger Endeavour II 4-0 at Newport, Rhode Island

Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...

. It was the last time J-class 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...

s would race for the America's Cup.

Construction

Harold Stirling Vanderbilt

Harold Stirling Vanderbilt

Harold Stirling Vanderbilt was an American railroad executive, a champion yachtsman, a champion bridge player and a member of the Vanderbilt family.-Background:...

 funded construction of Ranger, and she was launched on May 11, 1937. She was designed by Starling Burgess and Olin Stephens

Olin Stephens

Olin James Stephens II was an American yacht designer of the 20th century. Stephens was born in New York, but spent his summers with his brother Rod, learning to sail on the New England coast. He also attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a term.Stephens' name had a long history...

, and constructed by Bath Iron Works

Bath Iron Works

Bath Iron Works is a major American shipyard located on the Kennebec River in Bath, Maine, United States. Since its founding in 1884 , BIW has built private, commercial and military vessels, most of which have been ordered by the United States Navy...

. Stephens would credit Burgess with actually designing Ranger, but the radical departure from conventional J-class design was more likely attributable to Stephens himself. Geerd Hendel

Geerd Hendel

Geerd Niels Hendel was a naval architect and native of Germany. He found success in the United States becoming a prominent yacht designer who had a hand in an America's Cup victory in 1937...

, Burgess's chief draftsman, also had a hand in drawing many of the plans.

Ranger was constructed according to the Universal Rule

Universal Rule

The Universal Rule determined a yachts eligibility to race in the America's Cup from 1914 to 1937. Ships built according to the rule reached their peak in the large J-class yachts....

 that constrained the various dimensions of racing yachts, such as sail area and length. Often referred to as the "super J", Ranger received a rating of 76, the maximum allowed while still adhering to the Universal Rule.

Ranger was scrapped by 1941 or 1946 - sources differ.

Specifications

• Overall length: 135 in 2 in (41.2 m)
• Length at water line: 87 feet (26.5 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...
  
  : 20 in 10 in (6.35 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...
  
  : 15 feet (4.6 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...
  
  : 166 tons

Comparison of 87 – America's Cup contenders:

	Year	LOA	LWL	Sail Area	Mast height	Displacement
Reliance Reliance (yacht) Reliance was the 1903 America's Cup defender, the fourth America's Cup defender from the famous designer Nat Herreshoff, and reportedly the largest gaff-rigged cutter ever built....	1903	43.89 m (144 ft)	27.43 m (90 ft)	1501 m² (16,156.6 sq ft)	67.05 m (220 ft)	189 tons
Ranger	1937	41.15 m (135 ft)	26.51 m (87 ft)	701 m² (7,545.5 sq ft)	46.98 m (154.1 ft)	166 tons
KZ1	1988 1988 America's Cup The 1988 America's Cup was the twenty-eighth running of the America's Cup regatta, and was contested between the defender, San Diego Yacht Club represented by Stars & Stripes, and the challenger, the Mercury Bay Boating Club represented by KZ-1...	36.57 m (120 ft)	27.43 m (90 ft)	627 m² (6,749 sq ft)	46.78 m (153.5 ft)	39 tons
USA-17	2010	34.5 m (113.2 ft)	27.43 m (90 ft)	1270 m² (13,670.2 sq ft)	68 m (223.1 ft)	18 tons

Replica

Construction of a replica of Ranger was started at Danish Yacht Boatyard in early 2002 and was completed in late December 2003. The original designs were used as the basis for the new boat but were updated to conform to the latest safety regulations and the requirement of the owner to cross oceans in comfort.