Yacht club New York Yacht Club Fate Broken up in 1901 Launched 1895 Displacement 137,400 kg | Nation United States Skippers Henry C. Haff Length 38 m Beam 7.03 m | |
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Builder Herreshoff Manufacturing Company Owner(s) William Kissam Vanderbilt,
Edwin Dennison Morgan,
Charles Oliver Iselin Designer Nathanael Greene Herreshoff | ||
Defender was the victorious United States defender of the tenth America's Cup in 1895 against challenger Valkyrie III. Defender was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and built by the Herreshoff Manufacturing Company in 1895. It was Herreshoff's second victorious America's Cup defender design.
Contents
Design
Defender was a sloop with all-metal construction: steel, aluminum, and manganese bronze. It was owned by William Kissam Vanderbilt, Edwin Dennison Morgan and Charles Oliver Iselin, and skippered by Henry C. Haff.
Career
Defender defeated the New York Yacht Club's Vigilant then went on to defend the cup against British keel cutter Valkyrie III. Following the contest, Defender was towed to the residence of C. Oliver Iselin in New Rochelle, New York where it remained docked for four years without sailing. In 1899 J. Pierpont Morgan and W. Buttler Duncan rebuilt Defender to race trials against the America's Cup defense candidate, Columbia.
The yacht was towed to Herreshoff's Bristol yard for restoration to enable it to race in the selection trials for the 1899 defence. Following the selection trials, Defender returns to its mooring and was finally broken up in 1901.