Columbia, 1958

Description

Columbia
Club:  New York Yacht Club, New York, NY, USA;
Designer: Olin Stephens;
Builder:  Nevins, City Island, Bronx, New York, NY, USA;
Launched: 1958;
Rig:  12-metre
Owner: Henry Sears syndicate,
Skipper: Henry Sears
100 Tons; Length: 69′ 5″ (1.6 m); Beam: 11′ 10″ (3.6 m); Draught: 8′ 11″ (2.7 m);
Sail area: 1,825 ft² (170 m²);

In 1958 the 12 Meter class became the America’s Cup class. Columbia swept to win the first 12 Meter America’s Cup. Commodore Henry Sears and Briggs Cunningham formed a New York Yacht Club syndicate for the 1958 Cup and commissioned Columbia to be their racer. Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens designed her and she was built at Nevins Boatyard New York. The design was based on the successful pre-war Vim. Although 19 years old Harold Vanderbilt’s Vim was the fastest 12 Meter sailing. The defence trials were the most exciting ever held. Easterner and Weatherly were first to be eliminated leaving Vim and Columbia. In the end 19-year-old Vim could not defeat the newer and faster Columbia. The challenger was Royal Yacht Squadron’s Sceptre, the first of two twelve meters designed by David Boyd. She had trained hard on The Solent to win the trials to be the first 12 Meter challenger for the America’s Cup. Sceptre was shipped to the United States and began racing in Newport, RI on September 20, 1958. It was immediately clear that Sceptre was no match for Columbia. Columbia never once trailed Sceptre and won four straight races by margins ranging from 7 to 12 minutes sweeping the first 12 Meter America’s Cup and making her the first 12 Meter to win the America’s Cup.