Historic Alera was moored in Great Cove yesterday and for almost all of last week. It was like having a reincarnated Theodore Roosevelt camped in your back yard – except that Alera is much better looking than Teddy.
Alera, which means Eagle in Latin, was launched in 1905 and is 30 feet long at the waterline and 43 ½ feet overall. She’s also known as “NY 1,” which she proudly displays on her mainsail. That’s because Alera was the first of the New York Yacht Club’s famed 30-foot class of racers.
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Eighteen of these identical 30s were designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (“call me Nat”) to race against each other. Nat, by the way, is the Michelangelo of racing sailboat architects. (He designed every defender of the America’s Cup from 1893 through 1920, among many other accomplishments.) Twelve of his 30s reportedly remain viable treasures today.
While in Great Cove yesterday, Alera and three residents formed an interesting wind quartet. Here she is with Shenaniganz (a 16-foot Cat Boat), Ned Ludd (a 19 1/2- foot Caledonia Yawl) and Aretha (a 11’2” Shellback Sailing Dingy):
We’ll end this post with Alera returning to Great Cove last year:
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(Brooklin, Maine)