PRELUDE
The Gaff Rigged
Era
1911 –
1920 (and before)
(From the 1971
Star Class Log)
The history of the Star began even before 1911. In 1906 a boat called the Bug was
designed in the office of William Gardner in New York. These boats about eighteen feet
long, were miniature Stars, their design being very similar to the as yet unborn Star
boat. The Bug was at least in part the idea of Commodore "Pop" Corry, who wanted
a small one design boat within the means of the not very wealthy yachtsman who liked
racing. The boats cost $140 each, not an exorbitant sum even then. But the Bug proved to
be too small and wet for comfort, and in 1910 Corry went back to Gardner to ask for a
somewhat larger version. The Star was designed by the late Francis Sweisguth that winter,
and twenty-two of them were built by Ike Smith of Port Washington, Long Island. They
appeared on the Sound for the first time on May 30, 1911, for the Memorial Day regatta of
the Harlem Yacht Club.
The original Star was not the trim vessel of today. Although the basic design has
never been altered, construction methods and the care with which the boats are built have
improved so much in sixty years that a 1911 model would not be recognized as a Star today.
They cost $240 and looked it. Also the rig was entirely different from what it is now. A
short mast carried a long gaff almost parallel to it, and an enormous boom hung three feet
over the transom. Fittings were crude or non-existent. In spite of all this, the basic
superiority of the hull design began to show itself and more Stars were built. At a time
when small classes were springing up and dying out every year the Star survived, with
nothing to support it but its own performance and the enthusiasm of Pop Corry and a few
others.
In 1914 occurred an event without which there might have been no Star Class today.
At least we can safely say that without it, the organization of one design classes of all
kinds would have been delayed by years or decades. This event was the arrival on the scene
of George W. Elder. When he bought a Star and interested himself in the welfare of the
Class, a turning point had been reached, although no one knew it then. Pop Corry was the
"father of the Stars", but George Elder was the father of the Star Class
Association and remained its guiding administrator for most of his life.
It is hard for us to realize today what Elder did. Not only were there no
international classes or class organizations in pre-1920 days; there were not even any
inter-club classes. Each yacht club had its own design of boat, which raced locally, and
that was all. Against this heterogeneous background Elder conceived the idea of a unified
organization with enough influence to administer the affairs of many fleets of the same
class, not only in various harbors of Long Island Sound (which in itself would have been a
novel idea), but all over the country and eventually throughout the world. The outline of
this grand scheme was presented by Elder in 1916 but not adopted until 1922. To appreciate
its scope and daring we must recall the travelling and transportation conditions of those
days. Inter-fleet racing was unknown because there were no two fleets of the same kind of
boat. There was no electric haul-out equipment; boats the size of Stars were always kept
in the water all summer. The automobile was still a new invention; that it would ever
become sufficiently reliable to handle a trailer was doubtful. Thus many of the advantages
which we reap from our class organizations, which we take for granted now, depend on
modern communication and transportation facilities.
Yacht racing was suspended during World War I, and in 1919 the Star was one of the
few classes which put in an appearance at Long Island Sound regattas and helped revive the
sport in that area. Meanwhile Stars had taken hold elsewhere, and the groundwork had been
laid for Elder to make his dream an actuality.
George
A. Corry
1863-1943
Father of the
Star Class
Class
President, 1922-1925
Class
Commodore, 1926-1943
It is rather
doubtful, in this day and age of conformity and political correctness, that a personage
such as George Corry could have had the sort influence that he had almost a century ago.
His manners and ways of thinking, if the stories told about him in Elder's book and
elsewhere are true, were eccentric to say the least, and he must have been a most colorful
character.
Despite this, or perhaps because of
this, “Pop” Corry was very effective in promoting his idea of the inexpensive
racing yacht. It is fortunate that his idea was ably translated by Mr. Gardner and his
draftsman Francis Sweisguth.
Photo: 1925 Log
William
Gardner
1859-1934
Naval Architect
In about 1906
George A. Corry, the ring-leader of a small group of yachtsmen from the New York City
area, asked William Gardner to design a small, inexpensive chine-built arc-bottomed sail boat with a keel. George Corry was a
friend of William Gardner, and it was natural for Corry to contacted him to design the
boat.
The first fruit
of Gardner's effort for Corry's group was a boat known as the Bug. The Bug was drafted by
Curtis D. Mabry of Gardner's office and made its appearance on Long Island Sound in 1906.
The boat is reported to have been 19’ long with a keel weighing 150 lbs.
After five
years of racing the Bugs in the waters about New York City the owners of the Bugs decided
that the boats were too small, too wet and much too uncomfortable. A committee was
appointed, consisting of George Corry, A. B. Fry, Thornton Smith and William Newman, to
take this matter up with William Gardner. That was done in the early fall of 1910. This
time it was Francis Sweisguth who was Gardner's draftsman who drew up the plans for the
boat, named the Star.
In the 1931 Log
Mr. Gardner made the following comments:
“When I
designed the Star my aim was to produce a boat that was fast, handy, seaworthy, and that
could be built at a moderate cost; these qualities I was evidently fortunate enough to
have obtained.
“The boat
alone, however, was not entirely responsible for the great success that has followed. The
great interest taken by the owners of the boats and the unceasing efforts of the
Association to bring to the attention of the yachting world the merits of the boats, have
been in a large part responsible for the unprecedented success of the class.
“The large
fleet that exists to-day is very gratifying to me and my sincere wish is that the success
of the Association will be as great in the future as it has been in the past.”
(Photo: 1931 Log, credit, Morris
Rosenfeld)
George W.
Elder
1893-1954
Founder of the Star Class Association
Class President, 1926-1948
While “Pop” Corry was the
person most responsible for getting the Star boat designed, it was George Elder who
conceived of the idea of having a worldwide Star Class organization. At the time this was
an unheard-of idea, but Elder’s efforts and determination paid off, resulting in the
I.S.C.Y.R.A. which we have today.
During his later years Mr. Elder
began to work on a book about the history of the Star Class. This book, “Forty Years
among the Stars”, was published posthumously in 1955.
“Mom”
and “Pop” Corry in their Bug
(Picture from Elder’s book
“Forty Years…”, credit Francis Sweisguth.)
BUG # 2
(Photo: Star Class promotional
brochure, credit Levick.)
Francis
Sweisguth
Designer of the Star
1882-1970
Francis Sweisguth was the draftsman in
William Gardner’s naval architect office who drew the lines of the Star in the fall
of 1910. He was also one of the original owners of the first 22 Stars built by Ike Smith
in the winter of 1910-1911. He owned number 6 from 1911 through 1915. In the early
1920’s, when a rig change from the gaff rig to the short Marconi rig was proposed,
Mr. Sweisguth designed the change. In 1929 when the new rig which is still in use today
was proposed, Mr. Sweisguth was again involved, this time as a member of the Technical
Committee which drew up the specifications for the new rig and sail plan. He continued to
serve as the Technical Committee chairman through 1933.
Francis Sweisguth
Picture from Elder’s book
“Forty Years…”
Star plan of November, 1910, drawn by
Francis Sweisguth
Star of the
1910’s
Spars
and Sails: Sliding Gunter
Mast,
deck to sheave
18'5"
Boom
18'42"
Gaff
(Or Yard)
17'62"
Mainsail
Luff
7'4"
Mainsail
Leech
28'6"
Mainsail
Foot
18'42"
Jib
Luff
17'9"
Jib
Leech
15'3"
Jib Foot
7'8"
ONE-DESIGN
CLASSES
(Text and drawings form RUDDER, December, 1911)
POPULARITY of
one-design classes seems to be on the increase, and there are several new classes proposed
for next season; one, a class of small schooners. Several of the most prominent classes
racing on Long Island Sound were designed by Mr. William Gardner, of New York, and on the
following pages are given drawings of a number of these boats as well as the drawings of
two proposed classes. One of the most popular classes ever raced on the Sound in the
small-boat division are the "Bug" boats, which were designed and built in the
Spring of 1906. These boats are 19 feet over all, and cost complete only $125. Fourteen of
these were built for members of the Manhasset Bay, Larchmont, Horse Shoe Harbor, Huguenot,
and New Rochelle Y.C.
This year designs for a new class similar to the old, but 3 feet 7 inches longer
over all, and known as "Star" boats, was gotten out and the boats cost complete
$250. Fifteen of these were built for members of the American Y.C., six for various
members of the Manhasset Bay, New Rochelle, Larchmont, and Horse Shoe Harbor Y.Cs., and
ten for members of the Nahant Y.C. of Nahant, Mass. Both the "Star" and
"Bug" classes were described by Mr. Thornton Smith in the January, 1911, issue.
All of the old boats as well as all of the new, except ten for the Nahant Dory
Club, were built by Isaac Smith, of Port Washington, L.I. The ten for the Nahant Club were
built by Richard T. Green & Co., of Chelsea, Mass.
A class similar to the new "Star" boats, except that they are 1.7 feet
longer, a foot wider, and of the center-board type, has been designed with a view to
placing the class on Gravesend Bay. It is proposed that members of the various clubs in
the Gravesend Bay Association build to this class, and if the proposed plans are carried
out, the class will be a great addition to racing on the Bay.
(Photo from “Forty
Years…”, credit Morris Rosenfeld)
An early race on Long Island Sound.
Leading in number 17, Little Dipper, is “Pop” George Corry. Since the owners of
both number 10 and number 33 changed with some frequency in the first decade neither
skippers’ names or boat names can be given with any certainty.
(Photo from “The Story of American
Yachting”, credit Morris Rosenfeld)
Another early race on Long Island
Sound. Again “Pop” Corry, with “Ma” Corry crewing, are in the lead.
Mrs. Corry was an accomplished skipper in her own right, and won women's races as well.
Women's races were a common feature of many race weekends in those days, and were held in
the morning prior to the "main event".
(Photo: 1931 Star Class Log)
Hiking, 1911 Style
George Corry and Mat Rock sailing Little Dipper in Little Neck Bay in 1911
(Crews take note: we fully expect that
you will wear ties in the upcoming events.)
(Photo by Levick, 1922 Star Class Log)
A CLOSE FINISH ON LONG ISLAND SOUND
“Saturn”, Long Island Sound
Champion for 1921, leading.
(Picture from “The Central Long
Island Sound Fleet”, credit Morris Rosenfeld)
Number 40, South Wind, was built by
Irving Versoy of New Haven, CT, in 1914 for Bill McHugh of Norwalk, CT. Mr. McHugh was one
of the founders of the Central Long Island Sound fleet, and at the time sailed out of
South Norwalk Y.C. Note the forward hatch to bail out the forward tank. Originally the
Stars had flotation tanks fore and aft much like the boats built during the 1980’s.
However, because of leakage the tanks proved to be more trouble than they were worth and
were soon taken out of the boats. Another feature of the early Stars was the long coaming
which began just behind the mast and as originally designed continued all the way back
beyond the end of the cockpit. Here we see that the coaming has already been shortened to
finish at mid-cockpit.
(Photo: 1941 Log. Credit, Levick.)
Gordon Curry’s boat Aquilla of
Manhassett Bay Y.C. Note that the coaming is shorter than that of number 40, ending at
about the forward end of the cockpit.
CETI, STAR # 7
Last of the Gaff Rigged Stars
Ceti, Star # 7, was one of the 22 Stars
built during the winter of 1910-1911 by Ike Smith of Port Washington, N.Y. She was
originally owned by R.G. Moore, and then George Barron. In 1913 she was given to Warren
Ransom. The boat was moved to North Hatley, Quebec, Canada and sailed on Lake Massawippi
until 1983 when she was given to Mystic Seaport Museum. Since she was used as a daysailer,
no thought was ever given to updating her as was the case with her sisters which all went
through the rig changes as the rest of the Star Class progressed from the gaff rig to the
short Marconi rig to finally the modern rig which was brought into the Class in 1930.
To the right is Ceti being sailed by
the Ransom family. Below is Ceti outside the storage shed in Mystic. Peter Vermilya, the
curator of the small boat collection, is shown at the tiller. The mainsail is said to be
the original mainsail. The jib, obviously, has seen better days and has many patches.
(Photos: Ogilvy collection)