Nyala (yacht)
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The Zwölfer Nyala is a 12mR regatta yacht in the meter class . It was designed in 1937 by Olin Stephens of the New York yacht construction firm Sparkman & Stephens and completed in 1938. The name comes from the African antelope species Nyala (in Swahili ).
Due to the rule changes in 1933 of the International Rule in the America's Cup class , the time for the J class was up and the half-size twelve (12mR) experienced an enormous upswing. Six twelve designed by Starling Burgess and built by Abeking & Rasmussen in Lemwerder near Bremen for members of the New York Yacht Club had established this sailing class in North America. Of these yachts, the Anitra US 5 and the Onawa US 6 are still preserved today.
In addition to the Nyala US 12, Olin Stephens also designed the almost identical sister ship Northern Light US 14.
Nyala was a wedding present from Frederick T. Bedford to his granddaughter Lucy, who married the star boat sailor and future racing driver Briggs Cunningham . Bedford had become wealthy as the co-founder and longtime director of the Standard Oil Company of the John D. Rockefeller . The yacht as a wedding gift in 1938 was also befitting, as Cunningham was the offspring of a very wealthy family who owned real estate, railways and shares ( Procter & Gamble ).
The renowned Henry Nevins shipyard in New York was responsible for building the Nyala yacht . The pre-war twelve sailed without an interior and were as good as empty below deck except for a toilet. The cabin consisted of a nine meter long corridor with benches and bunks of different widths on both sides . The midship area is used as sail storage space. The construction was consistently designed to reduce weight. Instead of normal planking, the fuselage has a side wall that is made of two layers of Honduras mahogany and Orford cedar. This elaborate hull construction required the highest level of craftsmanship, as it doubled the effort with halved plank thickness . The thinner planks were easier to bend, but the overall result quickly became wavy. For the yacht, this process had the advantage of a particularly rigid, temperature and moisture-resistant hull. The deck was covered with 27 millimeter thick spruce instead of teak , as the building regulations required this wall thickness. Spruce is the much lighter building material. Due to the unlimited financial budget of the owner, the shipyard used bronze for the floor walls . This material had the advantage over the otherwise common iron that bronze gets along much better with the oak wood of the stiffeners and is the basis for a longer durability.
On the yacht Nyala also were first Grinder used the pods of the headsail dichtzuholen . The Bermuda rig used on the twelve, with a clearly overlapping genoa , made it necessary to tighten the foresails quickly after turning if one wanted to sail successfully in regattas. Fast turns with foresails stopped at an early stage were decisive for the course of the race, which was supported by the grinder technology. Today it is an integral part of all large regatta yachts.
After it was acquired by the Italian fashion merchant and owner of the America's Cup syndicate Prada / Luna Rossa Patrizio Bertelli in 1995, the yacht Nyala was subjected to an extensive refit at the renowned Italian boatyard Cantiere dell Argentario . The owner largely gave the boatyard a free hand and spared no expense. Today is considered Nyala next to the Vim (US 15) 1939 Harold Vanderbilt was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as the last pre-war Twelve (12mR), as bestrestaurierter Mediterranean Twelve.
The owner Patrizio Bertelli lets Nyala sail very successfully with a professional crew in classic 12mR regattas, among other things the yacht took first place at the world championship in 2008 on the Flensburg Fjord .
Web links
- Photo: Nyala
- Photo (1952) from left: Vim (US 15), Nereus, Charlotte II, Nyala (US 12)
- Photo (2008) Nyala at the 12mR World Championship
- Photo (Kai Greiser): Nyala (front) Trivia K10 (back)
- Half model: Nyala US 12
Individual evidence
- ↑ The twelve in the mirror of the "Yacht", Third Rule Zwölfer, "Yacht" 1930-1939 . Yacht sport archive. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
- ↑ "Nyala" wins 12 World Championships . Yacht online. July 14, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
