AMERICA Off the Needles, 1851

oil, 22" x 36"

SOLD

This year British artist Roy Cross turns 100 years old! Over his long career he has combined the mechanics of a ship's architecture with subtle brushwork to create complete vignettes like this elegant depiction of Schooner Yacht AMERICA warming up for her eventual victory over 18 of the best yachts that the Royal Squadron could put afloat. Her success in winning the Cup was reflected in numerous contemporary paintings and prints of the vessel, plus illustrations and accounts in the periodicals of the time. Howard Chapelle, in his books produced hull and sail plans based on British Admiralty drawings and a sail plan by George Ratsey. Roy Cross used all of these materials, plus a scale- model especially built for him, to create this painting.

George Steers’ Yacht AMERICA established an American ascendancy in large racing yacht designs which though challenged, has never been surpassed. AMERICA was built at William Brown’s New York shipyard for a syndicate of American yachtsmen, headed by Commodore John C. Stevens, in response to a request from England for American participation in a Cowes regatta, as part of the French World’s Fair festivities of 1851. Steers’ commission as designer was simply to create the fastest yacht afloat, and in the August 22nd Royal Yacht Squadron Cup Race around the Isle of Wight, AMERICA certainly proved she could beat a fleet of British cracks handsomely in their own waters.