Shamrock V

Shamrock V

Shamrock V at Marigot Bay, St Lucia, 26 March 2002
Yacht club	Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Nation	United Kingdom
Class	J-class
Designer(s)	Charles Ernest Nicholson
Builder	Camper & Nicholson
Launched	14 April 1930
Owner(s)	Sir Thomas Lipton Sir Thomas Sopwith 1931 Sir Richard Fairey 1934 Mario Crespi 1937 Piero Scanu 1962 Lipton Tea Company 1986 Newport Museum of Yachting Int'l Yacht Restoration School 1995 Newport Shamrock V Corp. 1998
Specifications
Type	Monohull
Displacement	146 tonnes
Length	36.58 m (120.0 ft) (LOA) 26.52 m (87.0 ft) (LWL)
Beam	5.85 m (19 ft 2 in)
Draft	4.81 m (15 ft 9 in)

Shamrock V was the first British yacht to be built to the new J-Class rule. She was commissioned by Sir Thomas Lipton for his fifth (and ultimately last) America's Cup challenge. Although restored many times she is the only J not to have ever fallen into dereliction.

The services of Charles Ernest Nicholson were once again employed to design the challenger and she was constructed at the Camper and Nicholsons yard in Gosport.Shamrock V was built from wood, with mahogany planking over steel frames and, most significantly, a hollow spruce mast. As a result of rule changes, she was the first British contender for the America's Cup to carry the Bermuda rig. Following her launch on 14 April 1930 she showed early promise on the British Regatta circuit winning 15 of 22 races. She also underwent continuous upgrading with changes to her hull shape, rudder, and modifications to the rig to create a more effective racing sail plan before departing to America in time for the 15th America's Cup.

Four New York syndicates responded to Lipton's challenge each creating a J-Class, Weetamoe, Yankee, Whirlwind, and Enterprise. This was a remarkable response particularly during depression-hit America with each yacht costing at least half a million dollars; and would serve to highlight that despite the J-Class' immense power and beauty, their Achilles heel would be the exorbitant cost to construct and race them. Winthrop Aldrick's syndicate, Enterprise, emerged from the competitive round-robins as the eventual defender.

Enterprise was the smallest J-Class to be built, her size being an early indication of the ruthless efficiency that was employed by the renowned naval architect Starling Burgess. The efficiency of design was coupled to a number of pioneering features such as the Park Avenue Boom, hidden lightweight winches and the world’s first duralumin mast.