October Pick ups Thread

[CarltonHendricks]

A VERY EARLY BIRDS-EYE ACCOUNT
Picked up this telegram tonight off eBay...great content...great dip pen ink... and quite legible...and very interesting because it was apparenlty a very early first hand account that was correct at the time it was written...but the outcome was changed and Defender declared the winner...

The telegram is regarding the 1895 America's Cup race between the United States and England...Defender represented the United States...Valkyrie III represented England...From what I learned the race was made up of five regattas...according to Wikipedia this telegram would have been regarding the second regatta on September 10th, see below...

Although the telegram says Valkyrie won and crossed the line 40 seconds ahead of Defender (it was actually 47 seconds), obviously it was written early on, as Defender was nevertheless declared the winner because right before the race was to begin Valkyrie's boom struck and damaged the Defender and Defender was leeward of "Valkyrie III" at the time of collision...So the part of the telegram that says "Valkyrie ran into Defender and broke a mast" was right on!...Defender ended up winning the best of the five regattas to win the America's Cup...

Second race
The second race occurred on Tuesday September 10, 1895. The race was set as a triangle course with each leg having a length of ten miles. In the pre-start maneuvering, "Valkyrie III"'s boom struck "Defender", severing the starboard spreader. "Valkyrie III" lead throughout the race, although "Defender" closed the gap between the boats in the second and third legs of the race. "Valkyrie III" crossed the line forty-seven seconds before "Defender". However, after hearing the protest from "Defender" against "Valkyrie III", the Race Committee awarded "Defender" the race as it found that "Defender" had right of way over "Valkyrie III" as "Defender" was leeward of "Valkyrie III" at the time of collision. -Wikipedia

Not a word in the listing about America's Cup...Even though I was the only bidder...really got battered on the price...$5.00...

LISTING TITLE
EXTREMELY RARE YACHTING TELEGRAM preWWII Nautical racing Document

LISTING DESCRIPTION
It's about 5 by 7 inches. Clearly most symbol for friendly. There's some split some cracks file fold etcetera. Condition is as shown. High bidder agrees to pay $5 for priority mail Shipping throughout the United States. We welcome International bitters please email us for shipping quote before placing a bid.







Defender (1895 yacht)

Sponsering Yacht club: New York Yacht Club

Nation: United States

Designers:Nathanael Greene Herreshoff

Builder: Herreshoff Manufacturing Company

Launched:1895

Owners:
William Kissam Vanderbilt,
Edwin Dennison Morgan,
Charles Oliver Iselin

Skipper: Henry C. Haff

Specifications:
Displacement - 151.5 tons
Length - 123 ft 0 in (Length overall)
89 ft 1.5 in (Length at the waterline)
Beam - 23 ft 1 in
Draft - 19 ft 1 in
Sail area - 12,602 sq ft

Fate: Broken up in 1901