Description

Gloriana was built in 1891 for New York Yacht Club (NYYC) member E. D. Morgan to compete in a new 46 foot-class. Gloriana was NGH's key breakthrough yacht that shifted HMCo from steam vessels back to sail in the 1890s. She was undefeated in her first year of racing and became a sensation in the yachting press because her form was a radical departure from previous boats. The most obvious change was much longer bow and stern overhangs and radical cut away of forward underwater profile, compared to other yachts of this period.

Gloriana was built of composite construction (metal framing and wooden planking) to reduce hull weight and retain strength for the purpose of concentrating lead ballast low on her keel. This provided more stability to carry greater sail area. Extending the overhangs forward and aft provided increase in waterline length when heeling (leaning over) under sail, that in turn extended the potential hull speed. She also used a variety of innovative hardware for more efficient sail handling.

Gloriana was a hugely disruptive design that altered the way new yachts would be designed for many years. Her success led directly to the first of many America's Cup defender and contender commissions for HMCo. NGH wrote in later years that in Gloriana's design he aimed to take advantage of a rule he thought not well devised to limit extreme overhangs, as his original Boston Yacht Club measurement rule of 1867 would have done.

(Source HCR - Gloriana text NGH http://research.herreshoff.info/Menu/).