Reliance (yacht)
At 61 meters (200 feet ) from bowsprit to boom, Reliance was the largest sailing yacht in the history of the America's Cup and its time.
It was built in three months in 1903 at the Bristol shipyard of Nathanael Herreshoff as hull number 605. Reliance emerged as a defender yacht (defender) in the greatest secrecy, for she had revolutionary for its time details such as winches under deck , two steering wheels and a hollow rudder blade. This could either be filled with water or air to change the trim . The hull was not developed except for a spartan owner's cabin and two toilets and resembled a tunnel tube made of bronze inside, which was stiffened by steel frames and longitudinal ribs . The flat, overhanging bow was damaged in the rough sea by the hard sailing. Due to the high speed of the yacht, the bow hammered in the waves and carried away dents that had to be knocked out from the inside after the end of the races.
Technical specifications
| Reliance (1903) | |
| Length over all | 43.81 meters (143.8 feet) |
| Length of the waterline | 27.35 meters (90.0 feet) |
| Length of bowsprit to boom | 61.00 meters (200.0 feet) |
| width | 7.86 meters |
| Draft | 6.01 meters |
| Sail area on the wind | 1500 square meters (five times the size of today's AC yacht) |
| Top mast height | 57.75 meters |
| Length of large tree | 34.90 meters |
| displacement | 166 tons |
| Crew size | 60–70 men |
| Price (1903) | $ 174,000 |
successes
- 1903 Defense of the America's Cup against Sir Thomas Lipton's Shamrock III 3-0
After the races, the winning yacht fell apart due to electrolytic corrosion and was scrapped a year later .
