Enterprise (yacht)
Enterprise was a 1930 yacht of the J Class and successful defender of the 1930 America's Cup for the New York Yacht Club. It was ordered by a syndicate headed by Vice-Commodore Winthrop Aldrich, designed by Starling Burgess, and built by Herreshoff Manufacturing Company.
| Class | J-class |
|---|---|
| Sail no | 4 |
| Designer(s) | Starling Burgess |
| Builder | Herreshoff Manufacturing Company |
| Launched | April 14, 1930 |
| Owner(s) | Winthrop Aldrich syndicate |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1935 |
| Racing career | |
| Skippers | Harold Vanderbilt |
| Notable victories | 1930 America's Cup |
| America's Cup | 1930 America's Cup |
| Specifications | |
| Displacement | 128 long tons (130 metric tonnes) |
| Length | 120 ft 9 in (36.80 m) overall; 80 ft (24 m) at waterline |
| Beam | 22 ft 1 in (6.73 m) |
| Draft | 14 ft 6 in (4.42 m) |
| Sail area | 7,583 sq.ft (704.5 m2) |
She was named Enterprise in honor of the six commissioned warships of the United States Navy to have borne the name up to that time (see List of ships of the United States Navy named Enterprise for details), but in particular, the third of these ships. This had been a 12-gun schooner built in 1799 which saw action in the Quasi-War with France and in the First Barbary War against Tripolitania. Refitted as a brig in 1811, she fought in the War of 1812 where she captured the British brig HMS Boxer. For all these exploits, she had earned the nickname "Lucky Enterprise". Rear-Commodore Junius Morgan presented Aldrich with a model of this famous Enterprise, and the yacht sailed with this model prominently displayed in the captain's cabin.