|
The Countess of Dufferin was launched at Cobourg in the spring of 1876. She was 101 feet on the waterline, 23 feet 7 inches beam, and drew 7 feet 3 inches, without her centreboard. She received her name in honour of the wife of the then Governor-General of Canada. The big schooner (she was one of the largest yachts on the lakes) when down to New York by way of the St. Lawrence river and Halifax, arriving at New York after a twenty-day voyage from Quebec, during which her new canvass stretched and became so baggy that a fresh suit was ordered. She was intended to sail with a big |
tario. She sailed several matches here, and was defeated by the first Oriole. In the spring of 1878 she was sold to Captain Prenderville, of the Chicago Yacht Club, and taken by him up to Lake Michigan. She later passed into the hands of Mr. W. Borden and Mr. Philpot of Chicago, and, upon the decline of the Chicago Yacht Club, was scuttled and sunk outside of Chicago breakwater. Canada furnished two challengers for the "Blue Ribbon of the Ocean" the America's Cup. The second challenger was the centreboard sloop Atalanta, designed and built by the famous Alexander Cuthbert, of Belleville. She was |
|
square sail on the foremast, but the rule of the New York Yacht Club forbade this. The vessel selected to defend the America Cup was the schooner Madeline. She defeated the Canadian in two successive races, on August 11, and August 12. The Countess of Dufferin proved the smarter by the wind, but her light sails were not handled with anything like the promptness of her rival. The original America sailed over the course with the competitors, and proved herself a better boat than the Canadian. After her failure to capture the coveted trophy the Countess of Dufferin was brought back to Lake On- |
78 feet over all, 68 feet l.w.l., 19 feet 6 inches beam, and 6 feet 5 inches draught. She cost $2,100. Her ballast was made of iron ore and stone, packed under her ceiling as well as possible. The Atalanta went down to New York by way of the Erie Canal, and reached salt water after considerable difficulty on October 31st, 1881. The races for the famous trophy were sailed in the second week of November. Atalanta was handicapped by her ballast of iron and stone, instead of lead casting, and by her lack of crew, the men promised by the Belleville Yacht Club failing to arrive. In the first race with Mischief Atalanta was beaten by 28 minutes. She lost 40 minutes |
