Shamrock III (Cutter) 1903

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Arturo
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Shamrock III (Cutter) 1903

Post by Arturo » Wed Feb 18, 2015 8:59 pm

She was owned by Sir Thomas Lipton, William Denny & Bros. Dumbarton. She was launched in 17 Mar 1903. Displacement 139 tons. 134'4" x 89' 10" x 19' draft. Sail area 14,154 sq.ft.

Designed by William Fife, Jr., she was the first British challenger for the America’s Cup to use a wheel to steer instead of a tiller. She challenged the American sloop Reliance from 22 August-03 September 1903, with Reliance winning 3-0.

The 1903 America's Cup was the 12th America's Cup race to be held, and was won by the American defender, Reliance, who won all three races against the Irish challenger, Shamrock III.

See Topic: “Reliance (Yacht, Gaff Rigged Cutter) 1903”

It was the fourth Cup win for designer Nathanael Herreshoff and the third for skipper Charlie Barr.

Shamrock III was entered by Scottish selfmade millionaire Sir Thomas Lipton, founder of the Lipton tea company. The 12th America's Cup was the third consecutive Cup to be unsuccessfully challenged by Lipton - first in 1899 with Shamrock, and again in 1901 with Shamrock II. The third Shamrock, as well as the first, was designed by William Fife. Lipton made two more unsuccessful challenges on the Cup, in 1920 with Shamrock IV, and again in 1930 with Shamrock V.

Preparations for the third of Sir Thomas Liptons Shamrocks were set in motion in January 1902, long before the challenge for the Cup was announced, when William Fife, the designer of the first Shamrock, accepted an order for Shamrock III. Fife was reportedly reluctant at first to accept the order, whose completion would require more than a year of constant supervision, but these objections were overcome when George L. Watson agreed to assist with the design. Watson had designed Shamrock II and furnished Fife with the designs of the second Shamrock as well as the results of water tank experiments made on different hull shapes at Denny's shipbuilders.

For the 1903 America's Cup Lipton engaged Robert Wringe as captain. Wringe was the captain of the original Shamrock during trials for the 1901 America's Cup against Shamrock II, the eventual challenger, and was also the reserve captain for Shamrock II during the 1901 Cup, although his services in that capacity were ultimately unrequired. Wringe was described as aggressive, but with a cool head, and a thorough understanding of the rules of racing, having raced in Britain and America for several years.

Lipton said that he would not consider commissioning a light framed vessel with a very large sail plan such as Reliance, believing it to be too great a risk to it's sailors to sail across the Atlantic to America where the Cup challenge would be held. The necessity of such a voyage was seen as a handicap for the challenger who would have to build a heavier boat to withstand the rough seas.

After these long preparation phase the 1903 America's Cup (the 12th America's Cup race) were challenged from 22 August-03 September 1903 between two yachts Reliance and Shamrock III, the race won by the American defender, Reliance 3-0.

Djibouti 2000, S.G.?, Scott: 813.

Source: http://en.citizendium.org/wiki/1903_Ame ... amrock_III
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Shamrock III.jpg
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