The 1885 America's Cup race, Puritan vs. Genesta

The America's Cup of 1885 brought out for the first time the influence of the Clyde River racing cutters in yacht design. These designs proved to be fast and reliable and were a threat to the defense of the New York Yacht Club and the America's Cup. The challenger, Genesta, was a true plank-on-edge cutter with the designer paying close attention to every detail. In response The NYYC chose the "white yacht" Puritan from the Eastern Yacht Club in Marblehead, MA. Built by a syndicate which included J. Malcolm Forbes and Charles J. Paine she was a compromise cutter going to no extremes. After several postponements the racing for the America's cup got underway on 14 September when Puritan easily defeated Genesta by over sixteen minutes in light and shifty conditions. This painting depicts the second race, a very close contest with the lead changing several times, in a strong nor'wester over a twenty mile course. Puritan eventually prevailed to win by 1 minute, 38 seconds to successfully defend the America's Cup.