A
classic is hard to improve upon; indeed, why
improve upon it at all? The sailing yacht Eleonora, an exact
replica of the schooner Westward, launched in 1910 by
Herreshoff of Bristol, Rhode Island, is a salient case in point.
Christopher Hyland considers the Herreshoff imprimatur
the Rolls-Royce of yachts of the Edwardian era. 1910
was a good year both for sailing and style; at that time
Westward was the fastest schooner in the world, sailing
successfully against racing yachts Britannia, Lulworth
and Meteor II, with Captain Charlie Barr at the helm. She
certainly, too, was one of the most beautiful, with slender
hull, voluminous sails and an incomparably elegant interior.
Christopher Hyland recalls visiting L. Francis Herreshoff,
Nathanael Herreshoff's son, as he had wished to see his
HYLAND
