Ranger, 1937

Description

Ranger:
Club:  New York Yacht Club, New York, NY, USA;
Designer:  Starling Burgess; Olin Stevens;
Builder:  Bath Iron Works, Bath, ME USA ;
Launched: 1937;
Rig:  J-Class
Owner: Harold Stirling Vanderbilt
Skipper: Owner
166 Tons; Length: 135′ 2″ (41.2 m); Beam: 20′ 11″ (6.4 m); Draught: 15′ (4.6 m);
Sail area: 7,546 ft² (701 m²);

Ranger was a J-class racing yacht that successfully defended the 1937 America’s Cup against Sir Tommy Sopwith’s yacht Endeavour II, at his second attempt 4-0 at Newport, Rhode Island. It was the last time J-class yachts would race for the America’s Cup. Original owner-skipper Harold Vanderbilt (1884-1970), was born to extreme wealth and invested in J Class yachts for the defence of the America’s Cup. A Harvard Law graduate, he successfully defended the America’s Cup three times with Enterprise (1930), Rainbow (1934), and the mighty Ranger (1937). A good sailor and tactician, Vanderbilt, helmed for all three defences, with tactician Sherman Hoyt. One of his greatest successes was against Endeavour in 1934, where he came back from a 2:0 start to win the next three races, defeating one of the strongest challenges to the Cup up to that point. Since her defence of the America’s Cup against Endeavour ll, Ranger has been referred to as the ‘˜Super J’.