On Saturday June 20, 150 members and supporters of the Museum came together under our brilliantly decorated waterfront tent to enjoy The Reliance Gala, our summer celebration of the Herreshoff Superyachts. At the dock was MARIETTE (HMCo. 772), the 110-foot Herreshoff schooner, celebrating her 100th birthday and returning to her birthplace for this event. Spectacular d?cor by Janice Kelly combined with an awesome dinner by Blackstone Catering helped make the evening special, and it was highlighted by jazz legend and S Class sailor Paul del Nero and his amazing band who kept us all on the dance floor until past closing time (see the piece in the side bar on how jazz is like S Boat sailing). 

 The evening was a roaring success on the fundraising side as well, and we raised over $60,000 which will help us to fund a number of key programs including the redesign of our Museum building to accommodate the Reliance model (therelianceproject.com).

The story of PROCYON is about much more than finding my grandfather's boat. It is about going back from the modern to the classic boat and discovering that the basics of sailing without many of the modern amenities and technology can be very rewarding. Especially significant is the excellent performance of the old designs. PROCYON is a very fast boat.

As noted in Part 14, the New York Yacht Club (NYYC), in successfully defending the Cup in 1903, had achieved its primary objective to beat Sir Thomas Lipton so decisively that he would go away and not challenge again for a long time. Ten years would go by before Sir Thomas' next challenge was accepted and a race scheduled.