Your historian recently sailed on the Schooner America, a replica of the first America's Cup boat, from the port of Rochester to Detroit. This is an account of that voyage, and some historical background on the original boat and its reproduction.

Background

The original America was designed by George Steers and built by New York ship builder William H. Brown in 1851as a speculation to challenge English racing yachts in their own waters. If she proved faster than U. S. competition, a syndicate from the New York Yacht Club would buy her for $30,000, and Brown would buy her back if she lost in England. Quite a different deal than today, when it takes about four million dollars to mount an America's Cup challenge, and the syndicate puts up the money. America did lose its trials, but the syndicate offered $20,000 and sailed her away to glory in England.

She was sold in England after winning that famous cup, and in 1861 was bought by the Confederacy to run the the Union blockade. After being scuttled in the St. John's River in Florida, the Union Army salvaged her to chase Confederate ships. She competed again in the first challenge for America's Cup in 1870 placing fourth to centerboard sloop Magic in a fleet of 24 boats, but beat the challenging English schooner Cambria. She also raced unofficially in the next America's Cup challenge of 1876 by the Royal Canadian Yacht Club, beating the Countess of Dufferin by 19 minutes though starting 4 minutes later. The winner was Madeleine by 27 minutes over Countess. She continued to race under owner General Benjamin Butler and his heir Butler Ames till 1901 when she retired to a slow process of deterioration in Boston Harbor. Eventually, other owners bought and donated her to the Naval Academy in 1921. The shed that she was stored in collapsed in 1942, leading to her final destruction by the Navy in 1945. Her rudder is now a historical exhibit at Mystic Seaport, Conn., along with the original 1844 clubhouse of the New York Yacht Club.

The Replica

This replica was built in Albany in 1995 by Ray Giovannoni, an Alexandria Va. restaurant owner who wanted to do something patriotic and decided on this as a good-will vehicle to tour the world. He died in May 1998. It is as authentic as possible, considering that it is also a luxurious cruising yacht. Construction cost was supposedly 4 or 5 million dollars and was a labor of love, with Hood sails made to look like the original, and wooden Harken blocks. Winches are modern, but all manual, as is the steering. Some details are perhaps too authentic, such as the use of hemp rope to secure the mast shrouds to the hull which shows signs of fraying where they pass through a metal deadeye. The two 56 foot laminated wood masts creak noticeably down below in a sea. Sculptured wood posts and ropes apparently were added as an after- thought as a safety rail, but were held with screws instead of through- bolts. I discovered this when the screws pulled out after I leaned against a post with only mild force, and this wasn't the only one. It was disconcerting to find a safety feature that was more decorative than functional. Repairs were made on these posts underway as the need arose. She is 105 feet long on deck, with 90 foot waterline, 25 foot beam, 10 foot draft, and 120 gross tons. Crew size is 7, and it takes everyone to handle the 6400 square feet of sails, rigged as a gaff schooner, with jib , forestaysail, foresail, and mainsail. The original carried 5263 square feet of sail as a gaff rigged pilot schooner with a single jib. She does 13 to 18 knots under sail and 10 knots with twin 220 HP engines. The air- conditioned state rooms carry 8 passengers. Mine had two beds, marble sink tops, with what appeared to be gold- plated basins and fixtures, and a private toilet and shower with hot and cold running water. My Thistle has more head room, though. A complete galley and chef supplies meals in the air-conditioned dining salon with its magnificent teak table.

The Voyage

We left Rochester Monday June 29 at 4:30 p.m. in beautiful sunshine and a northwest breeze of 10 to 12 knots. All sails were up with one reef in the mainsail, but the engines were kept running till early evening to maintain a close- hauled course to the Welland Canal. She is well balanced with a long keel and steers easily without hydraulic assistance. We made the canal at 5:30 a.m. and took 9 hours to pass through, 2 hours less than average. There was no traffic going our way, and only two freighters passing opposite. Many hands pushed the rough concrete canal walls from our beautiful unscratched black hull, but in fact the ship's fenders did the the job,flattening almost in half. After all, this vessel is 240,000 pounds. Two of our 8 passengers left at the canal. In Lake Erie all sails went up again with a reefed main and a northwest breeze forecast to increase to 15-20 knots. A storm warning came over the weather radio in late afternoon telling all boats to get off the water immediately because of an approaching storm with violent wind and hail. I put on a life preserver, which I asked for when I first got on board, as a matter of personal policy. I was the only one to do so, and as this storm developed, perhaps others on deck should have. At no time since boarding was there any verbal explanation of safety procedures, location of preservers, or how to put them on. There was a written procedure for crew action in case of fire posted in the gang way which was of no use to a casual passenger. The bulk of the storm appeared to be passing us a few miles away as it traveled from northwest to southeast off our starboard side. However, its darkness masked a squall racing towards us at its edge, and it hit suddenly with the wind velocity increasing to about 45 knots. Because of the shallow depth of Lake Erie ( 50 feet) waves are steep and close together. As a result, 2 feet of solid water came over the bow as the ship plunged down one wave head on into another. Anybody standing near the bow would get tossed into the air from this action, and the decorative rail did not extend forward of amidship. The captain was at the wheel with the engines running and headed up into the wind, but the sails were so tight that the large foresail tore. The usually taciturn captain was shouting to just drop the sails without furling as the crew usually does, but it was difficult in the high wind with the boom and gaff flogging violently and the sail hoops jamming on the mast. And the rain was pelting down. Fortunately, it got done with only sail damage and no human injury. We kept heading into the waves through the night, with terrific pitching but no rolling. I got seasick along with others including the crew and didn't eat for 20 hours. Wednesday turned into a beautiful day with no waves as we approached the western end of Lake Erie navigating the lighthouses marking the channel leading to the Detroit River. We motored at 8 to 10 knots with only the jib and forestaysail up; no foresail or mainsail. Our destination was changed to the Bay View Yacht Club which offered a free berth vs $500 a day asked by the city of Detroit. We arrived at 6:30 p.m. greeted by a fleet of Flying Scots, a fitting ending to a 50 hour voyage. I told the captain, "As in the Chinese proverb, it was an interesting voyage."

Leo Balandis, August 12, 1998