BYSTANDER was originally built in 1913 as a tender and tow boat for the New York Yacht Club's America's Cup defense syndicate. She has served the J class boats ENTERPRISE, RAINBOW and RANGER as well as the 1s Metres VIM, GRETET and DAME PATIE.
BYSTANDER was originally owned by the Vanderbilt family. In 1960 it was bought by an Australian, Sir Francis Packer. Elizabeth Meyer purchased it in 2002, and it has been restored at Naragansett Shiprwrights next to the IYRS campus. BYSTANDER has been restored to her 1930's configuration and has been recently relaunched.
A number of IYRS students have worked with Naragansett's owner, Mike McCafferty, over the years. Mark Tkacs and Jesse Clark (both '04) started the work, and currently, Mike Doughty ('08) Keith Deschautels ('06), and Phil Smith ('08) have worked on the crew that finished BYSTANDER. Joel Sanger ('07) and Margery Bradshaw ('06) have also worked on the project.
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| Mike working on Bystander | Bystander at the dock at Casey's |
Hey Tom, minor typo in first line "America's CUT defense syndicate"
ReplyDeleteHey Tom,
ReplyDeleteMinor typo in first line: "America's CUT defense syndicate."
great story.