Pages

Saturday, October 22, 2016

History of ice yacht Manhasset, with 1930 movies!



The Hudson River Ice Yacht Manhasset was built in Poughkeepsie, NY by George Buckhout in 1906. It was noted by George Buckhout in his last year of life that it was built for William Gardner, a naval architect. She is the only double cockpit yacht that Buckhout built.  


Letter to the Scott family from 1947. George Buckhout recollects building Manhasset.
I love his dig at Percy Ashley, the builder/designer from Orange Lake. 


 Manhasset first appears in the Manhasset Bay Yacht Club 1913 Club book. It was owned by J.W. Alker (and, seemingly, others). Alker was the son of the original founder and commodore of the MBYC; J.W. became commodore at a later point in time.
According to a letter from George Buckhout (as recorded by his son Fred Buckhout and sent to the Scott family in 1947), Buckhout built the boat for William Gardner, a renowned Naval architect. Gardner sailed out of the MBYC, although I have yet to see his name attached to Manhasset in any records. He is shown as owning the ice yacht Cold Wave and sailing in Manhasset ice yacht races in 1914 (from Yachting magazine  Feb. 1914.) This may be the same Cold Wave still sailed out of Lake Ronkonkama by HRIYC member Fred Krause.
Alker was a competitive soft water sailor as well. He raced both winter and summer!  By 1930 the Manhasset was owned and sailed by Edmund Lang. Lang is listed in the 1926 MBYC book as owning the Scooter Tout de Suite. Lang took Manhasset to Greenwood Lake to sail. See videos (below) of Manhasset sailing on Greenwood Lake in 1930. There is also footage of Lang sailing his Scooter.  I'll venture that it was Lang that sold Manhasset to the Scott's, of Lake View Iowa, where she sailed out of until this year, when she was purchased by the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club.

1913 Club book of Manhasset Bay Yacht Club. They listed both hard and soft water boats in the club.

Still owned and sailed by J.W. Alker in the 1926 MBYC book.
Rudder article 1913.  Knickerbocker is now in the collection of the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and can be seen there.

From Rudder Magazine, Feb. 1913  Double cockpit design clearly shown.



Race results from  Yachting, February 1914. 

Race results from NYTimes, January 21, 1918.
Knickerbocker
is now in the collection of the Hudson River Maritime Museum, and can be seen on display.

Mystic Seaport has old 8mm film of Manhasset, shot at Greenwood Lake circa 1930. The movies came from a woman interviewed by Seaport staff in the 1980s. Her family went sailing with Edmund Lang in the 1930s. Her father worked for Lang in his small motors business. I acquired aVCR copy about 10 years ago.   There is video of sailing on Lang's scooter as well. 
Note - this is a low budget filming of the movie with my iphone off of the vcr playing on my old TV.... (I'll get a better digital transfer one of these days...)  









On the ice about 10 years ago.
Follow the restoration efforts here:  Manhasset Restoration

1 comment: