Steam Schooner. Kaiser's Cup Winner
Size: 108 cm L x 79 cm Hgh Ref. SMH-01
Designed by William Gardner, Launched 1903 in New-York. At the
Turn of the Century, royalty dominated luxury yachting, and races
were organized for the pleasure of the wealthiest yacht-owners. In
1905, 11 yachts are invited in Europe to race the Kaiser\'s Cup,
offered by the German Kaiser Wilhelm II. Among these luxury yachts,
there was a three masted steam schooner Atlantic, 185\' long and
owned by Wilson Marshall, who would enter the legend of boating
forever. Driven to the potential of her lean hull form and 18,500
square feet of sail by Captain Charlie Barr, on the seventh day of
racing she logged a staggering 341 nautical miles. When she passed
the warship marking the finish, she had crossed the ocean in 12
days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 19 seconds. This record would stand for
more than 50 years! Her second owner was Cornelius Vanderbilt. She
lasted into the late 1970s. Too big and costly to properly
maintain, she sank at her last mooring in tidewater Virginia. In
1997, the New-York Yacht Club hosted the Atlantic Challenge, race
for large cruising yachts in Atlantic\'s memory.