Ranger (yacht)

The J-class yacht "Ranger" won the 1937 America's Cup, defeating 4-0 the Endeavour II of Britain, raced at Newport, Rhode Island. It would be the last time huge J-class yachts would race in the America's Cup.

Construction

Harold Stirling Vanderbilt funded construction of the Ranger, and it launched on May 11, 1937. It was designed by Starling Burgess and Olin Stephens, and constructed by Bath Iron Works. Stephens would credit Burgess with actually designing the Ranger, but the radical departure from conventional J-class design was more likely attributable to Stephens himself. Geerd Hendel, Burgess's chief draftsman also had a hand in drawing many of the plans.

Ranger was constructed according to the Universal Rule which determined how large various dimensions of racing yachts, such as sail area and length, could be. Often referred to as the "super J", the Ranger received a rating of 76, the maximum allowed while still fitting within Universal Rule constraints.

pecifications

* Overall length: 135 ft
* Length at water line: 87 ft
* Beam (width): 21 ft
* Draft: 15 ft
* Displacement: 166 tons

Data comparison

This table compares some of Ranger's measurements with some of the other famous large America's Cup yachts:

	LOA	LWL	Sail Area	Mast height	Displacement
Ranger	41.15 m	26.51 m	701 m²	46.98 m	166 tons
Reliance	43.89 m	27.43 m	1501 m²	67.05 m	189 tons
KZ1	36.57 m	27.43 m	627 m²	46.78 m	39 tons

External links

* [http://www.sy-ranger.com/ website for recently built replica of Ranger]
* [http://www.superyachttimes.com/yachts/details/513/ Specifications & Photos of Ranger - SYT]
* [http://mobius.mysticseaport.org/info.php?f=maker&type=browse&t=objects&s=Hendel%2C+Geerd Geerd Hendel plan drawings for Ranger at Mystic Seaport]
* [http://www.jclassyachts.com/ J-class yacht history]