Valkyrie III 1895

Hand-crafted plank-on-frame wood hull with cream topsides, green  cove stripe and green boot stripe. Varnished stained wood hull.

Hull size: 60cm.

Board size: 75cm X 20cm

Lord Dunraven had no hesitation when he decided to issue his second challenge; he immediately turned to George Lennox Watson and gave him carte blanche to design his new challenger. Watson was determined to win. To achieve his objective, his inspiration came largely from ideas developed by the Americans: wide beam, full lines, composite construction.

Valkyrie III was built by the D. & W. Henderson & Co. yard at Partick on the Clyde. Her frames were in steel, with wooden planking. She was given a steel mast. Launched in May 1895, Valkyrie III had her ballast increased after her first trials against Britannia.

William Starling Burgess no doubt inherited his love of boats and sailing from his father as well as  his sharp analytical mind. He also acquired his precise and sensitive feeling for lines and forms from Nathanael Herreshoff, his “Uncle Nat”. But when the young Starling informed Herreshoff of his intention to become a naval architect, “the Wizard of Bristol” took umbrage.

When Mike Vanderbilt contacted him to build a new defender for the 1934 challenge, time was very short. No matter ! He started on the rough drafts of the plans at end of 1931 and Rainbow very nearly failed in the face of a faster challenger, Endeavour.

Starling Burgess came out of it quite well, Charles Nicholson even offering him the plans of his champion. His gesture was to prove quite unwise.