reliance yacht 1903

Vessel summary

Description

Reliance was designed and built to defend the America's Cup in 1903. She defeated Shamrock III in three straight races to defend the Cup. Shamrock III was designed by William Fife, Jr. for her owner, Sir Thomas Lipton. Reliance was commmissioned by a syndicate of ten New York Yacht Club members that included titans of business and finance such as William Rockefeller, Cornelius Vanderbilt and C. Oliver Iselin. Reliance was the fourth vessel in a row designed by Nathanael Herreshoff and built by HMCo, under his supervision, to defend their fifth consecutive America's Cup (his earlier Columbia defended the Cup in both 1899 and 1901). Reliance is considered the most extreme of the eight consecutive defenders of the America's Cup built by HMCo from 1893 - 1934. Reliance was the largest single masted vessel in the world at the time of her launching in 1903. Overall length on deck was just under 144' with a waterline length of 90' allowed for enourmous overhangs that provided a greatly extended waterline length when in racing trim. Reliance displaced just under 190 tons that was substantially concentrated in her massive lead keel. The keel and light strong hull structure was required to support 16,840 sq. ft. of sail area or just over 1/3 of a football playing field. The sails towered over 154' above deck. The structural engineering of Reliance's hull and sailing rig are examples of N. G. Herreshoff's brilliant engineering mind. To create the lightest and strongest hull and mast, NGH used strong nickle steel for the hull and mast framing and Tobin Bronze for hull and mast plating. Aluminium was also used on deck to save weight. He reduced interior structural weight by using strong web frames and longitudinal framing, much like the construction of metal aircraft fuselages years later. The combination of materials and specific structual engineering was focused on concentrating weight down low in the keel to support the massive sail area to drive this huge sailing vessel as fast as possible. This extreme America's Cup winner also caused major changes in thinking about the rule around which such extreme yachts could come into existence. After Reliance's victory, the New York Yacht Club issued requests for new more rational yacht rating formulas and NGH offered a new formula that was accepted and became known as the Universal Rule. The rule attempted to provide a better framework for designing more practical and seaworthy classes of racing boats from 16' to the new J-class, used in the America's Cup starting in 1930. Herreshoff's New York 30 of 1905 was the first HMCo one-design class built to his new rule.

Related people

Herreshoff, Nathanael Greene

Owen, George

Related organizations.

Herreshoff Manufacturing Co.

L.C. Ledyard Syn

Commissioned by

Related objects

2001.002.007

America's Cup winner Reliance - May 21 1903

Reliance, N. G. Herreshoff's America's Cup winner of 1903

Reliance heeling heavily to starboard

Reliance & Shamrock - before start

Reliance - at finish

Related vessels.

Constitution

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"They tell me I have a beautiful boat. I don't want a beautiful boat. What I want is a boat to lift the Cup - a Reliance. Give me a homely boat, the homeliest boat that was ever designed, if she is as fast as Reliance," Sir Thomas Lipton explained after the failure of his Shamrock III, designed by William Fife III, Jr. "I want a Reliance." 

These were the kind of compliments towards what has become one of the most celebrated boats in the history of the America's Cup, and its designer, Nathanael Greene Herreshoff. 

But the massive scale of the 1903 Defender frightened the America's Cup establishment which would adopt, ten years later, a more conservative approach to the design and building of America's Cup yachts. 

In 1903, the rule imposed only one major constraint on Herreshoff: the load waterline length of the boat couldn't exceed 27.43 meters. The designer modeled a flat and modestly deep hull, similar to that of a scow. The biggest surprise came from the long overhangs: 6.70 meters forward and 7.92 meters aft. Sailing close hauled, in seven or eight knots of breeze, the effective waterline length would stretch out from 27.43 meters to nearly 40-metres...a tremendous source of speed. 

The keel, shaped like a fin, came down very deep. The boat would settle into a comfortable, fast, heel very easily, possible because Herreshoff managed to exploit the most improbably enormous sail area ever seen to that point on a single mast: a massive 1 501 square meters of canvas, approximately 186 square meters more than Shamrock III . 

Due to the scale of the boat, and the loads on it, Nathanael fitted Reliance with uncountable innovations: Bronze Tobin hull, steel welded mast with a telescopic topmast sliding into the mainmast, two-speed winches, sheets and runners laid under an aluminum bridge covered with cork, a hollow rudder which could be filled or emptied of water depending on the point of sail. It would take all the effort and nautical wisdom of the incredible Charlie Barr to safely skipper Reliance through the Cup, along with a crew of 64. 

The simple fact that Reliance was built and sailed is, on its own, an exceptional event in the history of the America's Cup. Behind the fantastic 1903 Defender , there was a gallery of great men; among them, Nathanael Greene Herreshoff, perhaps the best yacht designer of all time, Charlie Barr, among the most talented skippers in yachting history, and then there were the money men behind the project, such as J.P. Morgan and John Rockefeller who spent countless dollars to repel Sir Thomas Lipton's assault on the Cup. Reliance remains a singular symbol. Better than any other boat, Reliance expresses the logic of the all-or-nothing contest, sailed with intensity without equal, between two great rivals, Great Britain and America. 

During the third and final race of the America's Cup Match, sailed on September 3rd, 1903, on a 20-mile windward - leeward course from the Sandy Hook lightship, a thick fog enveloped the race course. Reliance had just turned, well ahead, when both boats disappeared from sight. Foghorns began a sinister concert, dominated by the siren on the lightship, which rang to indicate to the racers where the finish line might be found. The wait was long, and each spectator scrutinized the fog, until the flapping of a sail in the wind could be heard and Reliance appeared out of the mist like a ghost from the beyond. She crossed the finishing line to the acclaim of the crowd at 17:30 in the afternoon as the crew hauled in the enormous spinnaker in a superb display of seamanship. Shamrock III lost its bearings in the fog that afternoon and eventually sailed directly to its mooring. 

In the evening of its victory, just 146 days after its christening, Reliance was laid up in dry-dock. In an ironic twist, "Lem Miller" the skipper of Columbia who was beaten by Barr and Reliance during the NYYC Defender Trials, led the 1903 winner to Robins Yard, in South Brooklyn, in 1913, where it was scrapped. 

Source:www.americascup.com 7/2/2007

Cup(s) Sailed: 1903 (won)

Crew: 64 

Owners: J. Pierpont Morgan and John D. Rockefeller

Year Built: 1903

Launched: April 12, 1903 

Type: Fin Keel Sloop

Designer: Nathanael Greene Herreshoff

Builder: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company

Construction

Frames: Steel

Planking Top: Steel — Supplied by Lukens

Planking Bottom: N/A

Mast: Steel

Spinnaker Pole: N/A

Keel Ballast: N/A

Length Overall: 143.7 ft. / 43.79 m

Length Waterline: 89.6 ft. / 27.32 m 

Beam: 25.9 ft. / 7.88 m

Draft with Keel Lowered: N/A 

Displacement: 175 tons

Tonnage: N/A

Mast: 104.9 ft. / 31.98 m

Bowsprit: N/A

Top Mast: N/A

Source:www.americascup.com 5/2/2007

Published on December 21st, 2020 | by Assoc Editor

Reliance: America’s Cup Beautiful Freak

Published on December 21st, 2020 by Assoc Editor -->

The beautiful behemoth Reliance handily defended the America’s Cup in 1903, but her freakishly large size caused the contest’s rules on design to change after the race. British tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton for the America’s Cup that year issued the challenge. He had already challenged America twice since 1899 for the Cup, and he would challenge twice again until 1930.

The New York Yacht Club, defender of the Cup, enlisted America’s best yacht designer, and one of the most innovative in history, Nathaniel Greene Herreshoff, or Captain Nat, born March 18, 1848. He and his brother J.B. founded the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. They earned worldwide renown for their fast steam yachts, innovative torpedo boats and superbly crafted sailboats.

Captain Nat, then in his 50s, didn’t want to design the 1903 America’s Cup defender. His wife Clara was ill and he suffered from rheumatism. He also hadn’t gotten over the failure of his yacht Constitution to beat Columbia in the 1901 Cup trials. But the New York Yacht Club persisted. Captain Nat gave in. He would enjoy another 10 years of the ‘Herreshoff Era’ of racing, from 1890 to 1920.

Herreshoff launched Reliance at Bristol on April 12, 1903. She was the largest single-masted sailboat ever, at 143’, 9” with 16,160 sq. ft. of sails, weighing four tons. Her mast was as tall as a 20-story building. Her spinnaker pole was 84 feet long. It took a crew of 66 to sail her. And yet she was built for speed, so she was light and unstable.

The Reliance was a freak. A sailing freak. Like all racing yachts, she had one purpose and one purpose alone: to win the America’s Cup. Yachtsman Cornelius Vanderbilt defended the Reliance from its critics, “Call the boat a freak, anything you like, but we cannot handicap ourselves, even if our boat is only fit for the junk heap the day after the race.”

The challenge featured a series of five races in New York Harbor. Hundreds of thousands of spectators streamed into New York for the races, buying tickets on a fleet of excursion steamers. The race was more than a race. It was a matter of national pride.

Reliance won the first three races, the third so decisively that Shamrock III retired. Lipton, as always, lost graciously. Immediately after Reliance won the race, Herreshoff proposed the Universal rating rule to avoid such extreme, dangerous and expensive sailboats. The rule was then accepted.

Reliance went to the scrap heap in 1913. The Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, built a one-sixth model of the Reliance.

Source: New England Historical Society

Tags: America's Cup , Herreshoff , history , Nathaniel Greene Herreshoff , Reliance

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World’s coolest yachts: Reliance

• August 3, 2022

We ask top sailors and marine industry gurus to choose the coolest and most innovative yachts of our times. Andre Hoek nominates Reliance

My choice would be the yacht Reliance of 1903 designed by the famous Nat Herreshoff. I read the book Temple to the Wind a long time ago and could not put it down. That yacht was, for its day, such an extreme design and engineering feat, without computers and all designed and built in a short time. Herreshoff was the master in those days.

The yacht measured over 200ft overall with just 90ft of waterline [the huge overhangs were to take advantage of the rating rule when heeled], it displaced 189 tons and had a sail area of 1,500m2 (16,000ft2)! It was massive and with wooden masts that tipped 200ft above the water, an 84ft long wooden spinnaker pole and cotton sails.

Photo: Alpha Stock/Alamy

She was the first yacht with winches below decks and despite that still had a crew of 64 to handle the gigantic sailplan.

Reliance won the America’s Cup against Shamrock III , a beautiful yacht designed by William Fife. Those were the days of extreme but beautiful yachts!

Reliance stats rating:

Top speed: 20 knots LOA: 61.3m/201ft Launched: 1903 Berths: 0 Price: $175,000 Adrenalin factor: 80%

Over the last four decades Andre Hoek has designed or optimised more classic style yachts than perhaps anyone, from traditional Dutch leeboarders to his highly successful Truly Classic and Pilot Classic ranges, through to stunning superyachts such as Adele and Elfje – plus of course his work on three of today’s latest J Class yachts .

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• by Jeanny Muyco
• Jun 30, 2021
• The beautiful freak Reliance (1903-13) - From Sailing Anarchy
• Sailing News

“ Reliance , the 1903 America’s Cup defender designed by Nat Herreshoff, was funded by a nine-member syndicate of the New York Yacht Club headed by Cornelius Vanderbilt III. The design took advantage of a loophole in the Seawanhaka ‘90-foot LWL’ rating rule to produce a yacht with long overhangs so that when heeled over, her waterline length (and therefore her speed) increased dramatically.

Reliance  was the first racing boat to be fitted with winches below decks, in an era when her competitors relied on sheer manpower. Despite this, a crew of 64 was required for racing due to the large sail plan. From the tip of her bowsprit to the end of her 108-foot boom,  Reliance   measured 201 feet. Her spinnaker pole was 84 feet long, and her total sail area of 16,160 sq ft was the equivalent of eight 12 meter class yachts.”

–   Various sources  – The beautiful freak  Reliance  (1903-13)

(Vanderbilt said “Call the boat a freak, anything you like, but we cannot handicap ourselves even if our boat is only fit for the junk heap the day after the race.” Herreshoff’s extreme design defeated  Shamrock III  in three straight races but her career was cut short by the introduction of the Universal Rating Rule.  Reliance  was sold for scrap in 1913.)

Source: Sailing Anarchy

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Pure Genius: Nathanael Herreshoff

• By Robert Stephens
• Updated: December 29, 2015

Unpredictable. Profound. Radical. These were among the characterizations of ­captain and naval architect Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (or “Capt. Nat”) at the turn of the 20th century. Only one nickname, though, has stood the test of time for the man who brought us high-performance sailing yachts: “The Wizard of Bristol,” Rhode Island.

The descriptive comments, some of them bordering on ridicule, were directed not so much at the man as they were at his out-of-the-box boat designs. Some examples:

• Capt. Nat’s 33-foot catamaran, one of the first seen in the United States, was considered “odd” when participants saw it at a regatta in 1876. They didn’t take the architectural piece of work seriously until it embarrassed all the large racing yachts. From that point forward, cats were barred from conventional yacht races.

• Critics called his sailing yacht Reliance “a freak” when she showed up for the ­America’s Cup in 1903. She was the largest single-masted sailboat ever, with that mast towering 20 stories high and carrying more than 16,000 square feet of cloth that weighed four tons. The sails looked cartoonishly large from a distance … as the boat dominated the Cup races so completely that the rules were tightened immediately after the event to avoid another mismatch. (The restrictions didn’t stop Capt. Nat from designing hulls that, in total, defended six Cups during a 27-year stretch.)

• Capt. Nat stirred things up again when he designed Westward seven years later, in 1910. Suspiciously termed “a wonder,” the 132-foot schooner left every type of vessel bobbing in her wake for three decades.

These were the more conspicuous ideas from the man who sketched out his thoughts in privacy. His visions for speed were used to create torpedo boats for the U.S. Navy, power yachts and even 8-foot tenders. Documents exist for 2,600 of his designs, and he was so far ahead of the rule books that some of those Herreshoffs are still winning races today. Many historians consider Capt. Nat the most accomplished yacht designer ever. Perhaps only one word really fits the man and his work all along: genius.

Herreshoff is just one of five creative thinkers that Yachting profiled in its December, Spirit of Innovation, issue. You can read the other four here:

Rybovich Family

Giuseppe Carnevali

Ole Evinrude

Frank Pembroke Huckins

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Reliance (yacht)

"Reliance" was the successful defending yacht of the 1903 America's Cup , representing the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). She was designed by Nathanael Herreshoff for a syndicate of NYYC members managed by C. Oliver Iselin , and was the fourth America's Cup winner to be designed by Herreshoff.

Reliance was designed according to the Seawanhaka rule which allowed yachts of different designs to race together by rating their performance based on various measurements, and imposing a maximum waterline length. Herreshoff exploited this rule to create a yacht with long overhangs whose overall length was considerably greater than her waterline length, creating the effect of a much longer yacht when heeled over. She employed many innovations as well as the largest sail-plan ever seen on a single masted vessel at that time.

Her challenger for the 1903 America's Cup was Shamrock III , entered by Sir Thomas Lipton through the Royal Ulster Yacht Club . Reliance won all races during the Cup under the command of Captain Charlie Barr , Captain Barrs third America's Cup win.

Reliance raced successfully from her creation in 1903 until her desctruction in 1913, when she was broken up for scrap. Following the 1903 America's cup the Seawanhaka rule was abandoned and Reliance is still known as one of the most extreme Cup contenders of all time.

In August 1902 the RUYC, on behalf of Sir Thomas Lipton, issued a challenge for the America's Cup, held by the NYYC since 1851, to take place the following year. Soon after a committee to oversee the defense of the Cup was appointed by the NYYC consisting of eight of the wealthiest members of the club who would be required to finance the operation, including William Rockefeller of Standard Oil , Cornelius Vanderbilt , Elbert Gary of the United States Steel Corporation , Clement Griscom of the International Mercantile Marine Co. , Peter Widener , and James Hill of the Great Northern Railway .

Although Lipton had advocated for a change in the regulations to permit more modestly priced vessels to be used in America's Cup races there would be no change for the 1903 race and as the list of millionaires shows the NYYC were ready to meet Lipton, himself a multi-millionaire, head on. An order was placed with Nathanael Herreshoff, known as 'the Wizard of Bristol' for his success in building race winning yachts, with the Herreshoff-designed Defender and Colombia having won the previous three America's Cup races.

Herreshoff, like Lipton, was an advocate of a different system of regulations to encourage more moderately priced yachts to compete for the America's Cup, and had previously stated his intention to retire from America's Cup yacht building. Nevertheless Herreshoff agreed to design the latest defender and in October 1902 Reliance began as Design 605 with the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company .

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Closed for the Winter Season | Donate to the Museum

March 20, 2020

From the Vault: the RELIANCE wheel (Part I)

A chance discovery leads to a very exciting acquisition for HMM!

When you work at a museum...

            ... you get used to receiving a certain kind of call. It’s the kind that increases in frequency after someone finds a Dali print at a thrift store , and the script is always the same: our caller has found an antique item of great value in the estate of their great-great-aunt, and would love to give us the first opportunity to make an offer to purchase said item. And while we’re at it, could we tell them how much we think it is worth…?

            Unfortunately, our response is usually disappointing to our callers. First we have to tell them that museum professionals cannot, as a rule , appraise artifacts. Even if we could, the answer would probably be “less than you think,” sadly. Moreover, the item in question is often not related to our collecting mission so even if they wanted to donate it (for free!), we might gently have to let them know we are probably not the best recipient for great-great-aunt’s antique bicycle, and please do not leave it on our doorstep.

            Even so, we are always happy to receive these kinds of calls. They are usually interesting, and part of our job is to help members with research - and maybe we happen know the historical society next door wants great-great-aunt’s bicycle. Sometimes these enquiries do lead to smaller donations that end up being great additions to our collection (please do still offer us your antique HMCo. postcards! We’d love to have them!). But another reason we take every single one of these calls seriously is that in extremely rare cases, an “over the transom” phone call or email results in one of those truly significant, once-in-a-career discoveries, our own version of a thrift-store-Dalí.

An Unexpected Email

         Last October, a member of a social club in Yonkers, NY sent us an email explaining that his club had recently purchased a restaurant for their new clubhouse. They bought the building with all of its contents, from fully stocked bar to stuffed freezers. As they were reorganizing and cleaning, they found a ship’s wheel in the basement. The wheel was large, heavy, and dirty, with one broken spoke and a small hand-lettered plate reading “Donated to the Engineers Club by William H. Todd” fastened to the felloe. And, engraved on the hub in an elegant serifed font, the words: “RELIANCE 1903”.

            As soon as we could clear our schedules, Registrar / Archivist / Librarian Norene Rickson and I headed down the coast of Connecticut to see this wheel for ourselves. Was it really possible that this thing sitting on the floor of the liquor closet in the basement of a restaurant in Yonkers was one of two original 42” diameter wheels from the great rule-breaking monster and 1903 America’s Cup Defender, HMCo. #605, RELIANCE ? And if so, how did it get there?

Authenticating the Yonkers Wheel

            Before a museum can responsibly consider spending donor funds on an artifact, they must establish the authenticity of the artifact in question. So where do we start when attempting to authenticate a find like this? We are very lucky that we have a treasure trove of historic documentation relating to HMCo. available to us today from a number of collections. For this project, we referenced our own historic photo and archival collections , the Haffenreffer-Herreshoff collection of HMCo. plans at the MIT Museum, and the photographic archives and artifact collections at the Mystic Seaport Museum. Finding connections between all three collections was greatly assisted by the Herreshoff Catalogue Raisonné .

            We started by looking at historic photos of RELIANCE and her double-wheeled helm. As described in Herreshoff of Bristol , “Reliance was built with two steering wheels on a common shaft so that four persons could lend their strength in keeping the boat on course. According to NGH, however, Reliance steered easily and never required more than a single helmsman.” Did historic photos showing both of RELIANCE's wheels more or less resemble the wheel in Yonkers? Yes, with one obvious difference: the RELIANCE historic photos did not show an engraved hub (more on this later). But this wasn’t so strange - it could easily enough have been engraved after the fact.

            Next, we looked for the original RELIANCE drawings in the collection at MIT. While no drawings of the wheel alone exist from that period in the MIT collection we did find later HMCo. wheel drawings and advertisements that resembled the Yonkers wheel in construction and styling. And we did have drawings for RELIANCE showing the steering stand and gear . The scantlings on those drawings and the casting number (#7053) for the hub noted on RELIANCE plans at MIT matched the hub and scantlings on the Yonkers wheel.

            As it happens, the original wooden casting pattern #7053 for RELIANCE’s hub is in the collection of the Mystic Seaport Museum, and we were able to compare the physical casting pattern with the Yonkers wheel’s hub. Unfortunately, the plate casting pattern (#7072 - the part that is now engraved) may be lost and no drawing was made for it according to the original list of RELIANCE’s castings (see below) from MIT. However, a 1914 drawing for a 6” diameter hub for a 42” Herreshoff wheel shows a similar plate profile as the Yonkers wheel.

            Encouragingly, the evidence at The Mystic Seaport Museum continued grow. We were able to look at the other HMCo. built America's Cup Defender wheels they have in their collection - including RELIANCE’s other wheel, which had been donated to them in the 1950s. Though the Yonkers wheel was darkened and corroded in comparison, the styling, construction and scantlings all matched precisely, and also matched both earlier and later America's Cup Defender wheels in the Mystic collection.

            At this point, we called in the experts to take a look at the assembled photos, patterns, and plans, some of which we have shared here. Whenever we are considering a potential artifact for acquisition, we consult external researchers and scholars as well as our own staff and Collections Committee. In this case, we talked to a third-generation ship’s wheel builder , experts specializing in Herreshoff restorations , the architect behind the Herreshoff Catalog Raisonné and, authors of “ Herreshoff of Bristol ,” and " Herrshoff: American Masterpieces ," as well as experts from the Mystic Seaport Museum, the Museum of Yachting, the New York Yacht Club, and the America’s Cup Hall of Fame Selection Committee. The club in Yonkers, meanwhile, was having an independent appraisal and authentication conducted, as general museum “Best Practices” dictate.

            The cumulative wisdom of our experts suggested that - engraving on hubs notwithstanding - we had enough evidence to want to make an offer on this artifact, if we could raise the funds. So while we waited for the appraiser’s report, we turned our attention to the next question on our list:

Who was Mr. Todd?

And how did that wheel end up in a basement in Yonkers? To be continued in Part II… !

• THE £100 CUP
• THE 1ST CHALLENGE
• THE 2ND CHALLENGE
• THE 3RD CHALLENGE
• COUNTESS OF DUFFERIN
• THE 4TH CHALLENGE
• THE 5TH CHALLENGE
• THE 6TH CHALLENGE
• THE 7TH CHALLENGE
• THE 8TH CHALLENGE
• VALKYRIE II
• THE 9TH CHALLENGE
• VALKYRIE III
• THE 10TH CHALLENGE
• THE 11TH CHALLENGE
• SHAMROCK II
• CONSTITUTION
• INDEPENDENCE
• THE 12TH CHALLENGE
• SHAMROCK III
• THE 13TH CHALLENGE
• SHAMROCK IV
• SHAMROCK 23M
• THE 14TH CHALLENGE
• THE 15TH CHALLENGE
• THE 16TH CHALLENGE
• ENDEAVOUR II

THE NEW CUP YACHT "RELIANCE"

Yves GARY Hits: 6830

Category: RELIANCE

From the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN - April 11, 1903

At the close of the "America" cup races of 1901, when the results had proved that the two yachts had come so closely together that the result was largely a question of the accidents of seamanship and weather, it was acknowledged on all hands that their designers had apparently reached the limit of their skill ...

... with the type of yacht employed for these contests. Herreshoff , in spite of all the rich store of knowledge acquired in the construction of four previous cup defenders , had been unable in that year to produce a boat superior to his own "Columbia"; while Watson , in spite of the much-talked-of tank experiments, was unable to beat "Shamrock I" in her improved condition, by more than a very small margin.

When the challenge for this year's series of contests was received and accepted, the necessity of building a new cup defender was apparent. The supposed superiority of "Constitution" to "Columbia" was at best very hypothetical, and based solely upon the presumably better handling that "Columbia" had received during the trial races. At the same time, in view of the fact that Fife , whose "Shamrock I" after some readjustment of her sail plan, had proved to be practically equal under many conditions of sailing to "Shamrock II", had been commissioned to build the new boat, and that in all probability he would succeed in turning out a craft that was faster than either of the two "Shamrocks," it was realized that to insure the retention of the cup a new defender should be built, and that the task of designing and constructing the craft should be given to Herreshoff .

At the same time, there is no denying the fact that the bold departure made by the young Boston designer, Crowninshield , when he produced the scow-fin 90-footer " Independence ," while it did not achieve the object aimed at of producing the all-round fastest cup yacht of that year or any year, nevertheless served to give some most valuable data and proved to a demonstration that on certain points of sailing, a properly designed 90-foot modified scow was faster than anything afloat. Although "Independence" showed all the faults of the scow type when going to windward, pounding heavily in a breeze and head sea, and spilling the wind out of her sails under the conditions of a sea and a light breeze after the manner of all beamy shallow craft, she had proved that on a broad reach she was the fastest 90-foot sloop ever constructed.

The problem, then, before the Bristol designer was to produce a yacht with all the best features of the scow type, such as great sailing length when heeled, and large sail-carrying power, with as few as possible of the scow's drawbacks, such as the flat floor forward and the hard shoulders which helped so greatly to the undoing of " Independence" in a troubled sea. And this Herreshoff has achieved, if we may judge from the model of "Reliance;" although with what measure of success will never be known until the boat commences to toy on some calm day with the left-over disturbance of a yesterday's blow. The new boat has more beam and considerably less dead rise than "Constitution," a harder bilge and longer ends, particularly in the forward overhang.

It is a curious fact that, broadly speaking, the English designers are working on opposite lines from those outlined above. The new Fife boat, as compared with the two "Shamrocks," will have a deeper body, considerably more dead rise, greater fullness in the garboards, and somewhat less overall length, the model thus reverting somewhat to the type of "Valkyrie II" and "Britannia". Hence, for the second time in the history of these cup races, the American and British designers have crossed each other, our boat running to great beam, shoalness of body, and large wetted surface and the English craft tending to greater fullness of body, large displacement, and a small wetted surface. Should both boats come up to the designers' expectations and prove to be a success, the outcome of the races will depend, more than it has for several years past, upon the conditions of wind and weather. In light breezes and troubled water the advantage should lie with "Shamrock III." Also when "split open," that is running dead before the wind, with spinnaker set, the larger displacement and finer-lined Fife boat, with her smaller wetted surface, should prove to be the faster both in light winds and strong.

CONSTRUCTION

The belt-and-longitudinal framing that Herreshoff used in " Constitution " proved to be so successful that it has been adopted practically without any change In the new boat. This system was elaborately described and illustrated in the SClENTIFIC AMERICAN of May 11, 1901 , and the reader is referred to that article for the details of construction . Broadly speaking, the framing of "Reliance" consists of nickel-steel belt frames of deep section, which are spaced 6 feet 8 inches apart, the frames occurring at every fourth station of the eighty-four stations which make up the full overall length of the yacht. These frames extend entirely around the interior of the yacht, and embody the floor plates, frames, and deck beams in one. They are deepest where they form the floor plates, and they become shallower as they run up through the bilges to the deck beams. The hull plating which is of Tobin bronze and nickel-steel is laid on in seven strakes with flush joints ; the first six strakes are of bronze and the seventh or sheer strake is of nickel-steel.

In addition to the belt-framing there is a series of longitudinal frames consisting of alternating T-irons and bulb angles. The T-irons are laid along the seams to which they are riveted, while the bulb angles extend longitudinally midway between the seams, and serve to give additional stiffness to the plating and to reinforce the longitudinal strength of the boat. To prevent the buckling of the belt-frames, a series of plate-steel knees are worked in between the frames and the T-irons, the knees being placed on opposite sides of the belt frames, that is, one series of knees being on the left side of the frame on one T-iron, and on the right side of the frame on the next T-iron.

The mast-step will be of the same general construction as that of “Constitution." It is formed by deepening the keelson to a depth of 4½ feet, by adding an additional belt-frame and by considerably deepening the foot-plate portion of these frames in the wake of the mast. At the partners there will be two heavy collars, one above and one below the steel deck plate, the upper one being formed of a 6 x 6 inch angle iron, 1 inch in thickness, and the lower of a 6 x 12 inch angle iron also 1 inch in thickness. The 6-inch flanges of these collars will be riveted to the steel deck plate by rivets which pass entirely through from collar to collar. Four heavy, vertical ties also extend from the deck to the top of the mast step where they take hold of the collar which forms the actual footing for the mast. The construction at the mast is also greatly stiffened by a pair of heavy struts of box section, which extend from the mast partners to the bilges. It will be noticed that the construction is in general very similar to that of "Constitution;" whose hull was so stiff that when the vessel was close-hauled it was impossible to tell by the bulkhead doors upon which tack the yacht was sailing.

From the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN - April 25, 1903

Launch of the "reliance".

Contemporaneously with the publication of our special Yachting and Automobile number, the new cup defender "Reliance" was having her first taste of salt water, and the new challenger "Shamrock III" was engaged in one of her most successful trials against "Shamrock I". In the issue referred to, we so fully described the design and construction of "Reliance," that it is not necessary to do much more now than point out how completely the photographs of the boat which we herewith publish agree with that account of the yacht.

The events of the yachting seasons of 1901 and 1902, and the performance of certain very successful racing craft in those two years, notably the cup yacht "Independence," and the sister boats "Neola" and "Weetamoe," which more than saved their time on the Herreshoff 70-footers last year, rendered it pretty certain in the judgment of the yachting "sharps" that, when the folding doors of the Herreshoff building shed were opened, there would pass out through them a vessel of very extreme type.

Consequently the exaggerated proportions of the forward and after overhangs of the new boat, as shown in our illustrations, caused no surprise, even though they are the work of such cautious and conservative builders as the Bristol firm.

In view of the rather demonstrative merriment which greeted the appearance of "Independence," with her hard turned bilges, her blunt forward and after waterline, and her huge overhangs, each some 25 feet in length, it must have been something of a shock to the critics to witness, sliding down the ways on which the wholesome models of "Columbia" and "Constitution" made their first bow to the public, a boat which so far out-Heroded Herod, that her overhangs divide up nearly 60 feet of the overall length of the yacht between them.

One of the most striking features in the boat is the long drawn-out bow which projects nearly thirty feet beyond the waterline. Only a small proportion of it can be utilized for gaining sailing length; for "Independence" at thirty degrees heel only added five feet of length forward, and she was even flatter than "Reliance." Driving into a head sea, she will take the seas a little earlier but not so much earlier as to compensate, one would think, for the carrying of so much added bow weight at a height of eight or nine feet above the water. Many yachtsmen will wonder why the bow was not made shorter relatively to the stern ; for in a low, long stern such as that of "Reliance," every foot of length can be utilized. "Reliance," however, is regarded even by her designer as something of an experiment, and only the actual test in a jump of a sea off Newport or Sandy Hook can determine the value of such an extreme bow.

When the new craft was fairly afloat, it looked as though she might sit a little low in the water when her spars, sails, anchor, crew, etc., which will weigh about 19¼ tons, were put aboard; and although her full waterlines give her great buoyancy, it is not probable that much, if anything, can be gained by a shortened waterline when she comes to be measured.

Unquestionably the new cup defender is the most interesting 90-foot racing yacht that Herreshoff has built. She is certain to be fast, and under certain conditions extremely fast. Judged on her lines, power, and huge sail plan, she should beat "Shamrock III" but the latter boat, up to the hour of her disaster, was certainly doing wonderful work against "Shamrock I" herself a greatly improved boat.

From the SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN - May 30, 1903

First race of the cup defender "reliance"..

Surely in all the long history of trial races, whether between cup defenders in America, or between cup challengers in their try-outs in British waters, there was never a race sailed that provided such sensational results as were achieved by the new yacht "Reliance" in her first trial race on Long Island Sound.

In the first place, none of the American defenders has come to the line with so little actually known as to her sailing capabilities. Because of keen rivalry between the three contestants for cup-defending honors this year, neither "Constitution" nor "Columbia" has been willing to give "Reliance" any opportunities for those preliminary "brushes" and trying-out "spins" on the various points of sailing, which from time immemorial have been granted as a matter of courtesy by former champions to a new aspirant for cup-defending honors. Hence "Reliance" has been doing all her tuning up in very solitary fashion; and, although to those in charge of her she appeared to be thoroughly satisfactory, balancing well, carrying a light helm, and apparently showing great speed under all conditions of sailing, neither her owners nor captain knew exactly what her abilities were, as she drew near the starting line on Thursday last,. and commenced to maneuver for position with that well-tested veteran "Columbia." Because of an accident when being hauled out upon the ways, "Constitution" took no part in the race, being at the time in the shipbuilder's hands for the straightening out of some plates that were slightly indented.

The race was sailed in a perfectly smooth sea and a breeze that varied from a knot or two per hour to a maximum strength of about eight or ten; and, therefore, the conditions were the very best possible for a boat with the broad and shoal body and great sail spread of "Reliance." The course consisted of an 11-knot leg down the Long Island shore with the wind over the starboard quarter; a 3-mile reach across the Sound with the wind over the port quarter; and a beat of 11 miles for home. The greatest surprise of the day was furnished on the first leg, when, with a wind that averaged about 3 knots in strength and never exceeded 6 or 7 knots, "Reliance" drew away very rapidly from "Columbia," gaining at an average rate of 40 seconds per mile. It was supposed that in spite of her much larger sail spread ("Columbia" having 13,200 square feet, and "Constitution" nearly 16,000), the greater weight and larger wetted surface of 'Reliance" would cause her to show about the same drifting qualities as the smaller boat; but as it was, she beat "Columbia" about as badly as "Constitution" used to beat her two years ago under like weather conditions.

It was expected that when sheets were flattened in for the final thrash to windward, the great ability of "Columbia" on this point of sailing would show itself, and that she would at least hold the big boat, if she did not cut down some of her lead; but, again to the surprise of the yachting "sharps," "Reliance" continued to pull away from her now badly-beaten competitor, and on the 11-mile beat she gained 4 minutes and 23 seconds, which is equal to a gain of about 24 seconds per mile, the speed of "Reliance" being a trifle over 10 knots per hour. In the broad reach over the 3-mile leg of the course "Reliance" averaged 13.2 knots per hour; and it is certain that if the breeze had held at the strength which it had on the first mile of this leg, the new yacht would have shown a considerably higher average speed than that.

The accompanying views of the "Reliance" were taken when she was hauled out to clean the underbody for this race. The most surprising feature was the extreme breadth and shoalness of the forebody, the yacht showing up extremely shallow and flat from the forward waterline to the keel. Yet there was no suspicion of unfairness, the lines in every direction appearing to be remarkably sweet, with none of those "humps" or sudden, abrupt changes of curvature that so frequently mar the beauty of extreme boats of this type.

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Category : Reliance (ship, 1903)

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• 1890s sailing yachts
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America’s Cup Famous “Reliance” Yacht

photo source wikipedia

Now you can own a piece of History  America’s Cup “Reliance” Yacht Model

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.

Reliance passing the Brenton Reef light ship at high speed, 1903. Photograph by Nanthaniel L. Stebbins. Her design took advantage of a loophole in the contemporary ’90-foot’ rule, to produce a vessel with long overhangs at each end, so that when she |heeled over, her waterline length (and therefore her speed) increased dramatically

Reliance was one of the earliest pure large racing yachts; she was completely unfinished below deck, with exposed frames. She was also the first to employ winches (below deck), in an era when her competitors relied on sheer man-power.

Crew of Reliance

Her sail plan was massive: from the tip of her bowsprit to the end of her 108 foot (32.9 m) boom, she measured 201 feet (61.2 m), and the tip of her mast was 199 feet (60.7 m) above the water (the height of a 20-story building). Everything else was to an equally gargantuan scale; her spinnaker pole was 84 feet (25.6 m) long, and her total sail area, around 17,000 square feet (1600 m²), was the equivalent of 8 12 meter class yachts.

Her racing career was extraordinarily brief — and undefeated. She bested her America’s Cup challenger, Sir Thomas Lipton’s Shamrock III, designed by William Fife, in both races they actually finished (the third was called off due to light air). Sadly, this magnificent vessel was broken up the very next year; the 90-foot rule which had produced such extreme, dangerous and expensive vessels was abandoned, and Reliance became obsolete.

“They tell me I have a beautiful boat. I don’t want a beautiful boat. What I want is a boat to lift the Cup — a Reliance. Give me a homely boat, the homeliest boat that was ever designed, if she is as fast as Reliance.” — Sir Thomas Lipton, after his 1903 defeat

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America's Cup yacht: Reliance 1903

• Availability: 3
• Artist / Collection: John Gardner
• Product Code: FRP28882
• Description
• Specifications

34 x 23.5cm (13.2 x 9.1 inches). Reliance was the 1903 America's Cup defender, the fourth defender from the famous designer Nat Herreshoff, and reportedly the largest gaff-rigged cutter ever built.

This high quality vintage lithograph was made in Great Britain in the early 1970s. The paper is thick and light creamy white in excellent condition and is blank on the reverse side.

• More From Same Artist / Collection

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40 facts about elektrostal.

Written by Lanette Mayes

Modified & Updated: 02 Mar 2024

Reviewed by Jessica Corbett

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First refuelling for Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov floating NPP

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The FNPP includes two KLT-40S reactor units. In such reactors, nuclear fuel is not replaced in the same way as in standard NPPs – partial replacement of fuel once every 12-18 months. Instead, once every few years the entire reactor core is replaced with and a full load of fresh fuel.

The KLT-40S reactor cores have a number of advantages compared with standard NPPs. For the first time, a cassette core was used, which made it possible to increase the fuel cycle to 3-3.5 years before refuelling, and also reduce by one and a half times the fuel component in the cost of the electricity produced. The operating experience of the FNPP provided the basis for the design of the new series of nuclear icebreaker reactors (series 22220). Currently, three such icebreakers have been launched.

The Akademik Lomonosov was connected to the power grid in December 2019, and put into commercial operation in May 2020.

Electricity generation from the FNPP at the end of 2023 amounted to 194 GWh. The population of Pevek is just over 4,000 people. However, the plant can potentially provide electricity to a city with a population of up to 100,000. The FNPP solved two problems. Firstly, it replaced the retiring capacities of the Bilibino Nuclear Power Plant, which has been operating since 1974, as well as the Chaunskaya Thermal Power Plant, which is more than 70 years old. It also supplies power to the main mining enterprises located in western Chukotka. In September, a 490 km 110 kilovolt power transmission line was put into operation connecting Pevek and Bilibino.

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