America's Cup 1934 Sail area 7,651 sq ft (710.8 m) Launched 1934 Beam 6.7 m | Draft 14 ft 9 in (4.50 m) Length 39 m Displacement 129,700 kg | |
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Builders Camper and Nicholsons, Gosport | ||
Endeavour is a 130-foot (40 m) J-class yacht built for the 1934 America's Cup by Camper and Nicholson in Gosport, England. She was built for Thomas Sopwith who used his aviation design expertise to ensure the yacht was the most advanced of its day with a steel hull and mast. She was launched in 1934 and won many races in her first season including against the J's Velsheda and Shamrock V. She failed in her America's Cup challenge against the American defender Rainbow but came closer to lifting the cup than any other until Australia II succeeded in 1983.
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Design
Endeavour was designed by Charles Ernest Nicholson. Endeavour pioneered the Quadrilateral genoa, a twin clewed headsail offering great sail area and consequent power. This design is still in use in the J's today. The boat also featured a larger and improved spinnaker.
America's Cup
Endeavour challenged for the 1934 America's Cup and raced New York Yacht Club defender Rainbow. However, the campaign was blighted by a strike of Sopwith's professional crew prior to departing for America. Forced to rely mainly on keen amateurs, who lacked the necessary experience, the campaign failed. Rainbow won with 4–2. This was one of the most contentious of the America's Cup battles and prompted the headline "Britannia rules the waves and America waives the rules."
After America's Cup
Following the America's Cup, she dominated the British sailing scene until, whilst being towed across the Atlantic to Britain in September 1937, she broke loose from her tow and was feared lost. She was eventually found and returned to England where she was laid up. For 46 years Endeavour languished through a variety of owners. In 1947, she was sold for scrap, saved only a few hours before her demolition was due. In the 1970s she sank in the River Medina, Isle of Wight. She was purchased for ten pounds and patched up enough to refloat. Until the mid-1980s she was on shore at Calshot Spit, an ex-seaplane base on the edge of the New Forest, Southern England. By this time she was in a desperate state, with only the hull remaining, lacking rudder, mast and keel.
Rebuild
In 1984 Endeavour was bought by Elizabeth Meyer, who undertook a five-year project to rebuild her. The initial work was undertaken where she lay to ensure that the hull was sufficiently seaworthy to be towed to the shipyard of Royal Huisman, in Holland, who designed and installed a new rig, engine, generator and mechanical systems and fitted the interior to a very high standard.
Meyer described the rebuild not only as challenging, but also beyond her financial means. In a 2014 interview with CNN she described a "restoration urge" as being "inherent in the human nature" and said that she "immediately went 'Oh no'" when she realised the enormity of this task and that it fell to her. Meyer said she had to sell real estate investments to fund the restoration and that Endeavour was chartered throughout her entire ownership.
When Endeavour sailed again, on 22 June 1989, it was for the first time in 52 years. In September that year Meyer organised the first J‑Class race for over 50 years, pitting Endeavour against Shamrock V at Newport, Rhode Island. She needed 90 professional sailors to crew the two yachts but could not afford to pay them; despite this, the appeal and prestige of the restored J‑Class was so great that she was inundated with several hundred applications.
She then cruised extensively and in 1999 joined the rebuilt Velsheda and Shamrock V to compete in the Antigua Classics Regatta.
21st century
Meyer sold Endeavour to Dennis Kozlowski for US$15M in 2000. She was again sold in 2006 to Hawaii resident, Cassio Antunes, for $13.1M. In 2011 Endeavour completed an 18-month refit in New Zealand, during which a carbon-fiber mast and standing rigging were fitted and some changes were made to the deck layout.
In summer 2015 it was reported that Endeavour was again for sale, with an asking price of €19,950,000.