Charles Barr (11 July 1864 – 24 January 1911), was an accomplished sailing skipper who three times captained winning

America's Cup The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...

yachts.

Early life

Charlie Barr was born in

Gourock Gourock ( ; ) is a town in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area and formerly a burgh of the County of Renfrew in the west of Scotland. It was a resort town, seaside resort on the East shore of the upper Firth of Clyde. Its ma ...

, Scotland in 1864 and first apprenticed as a grocer before working as a commercial fisherman. In 1884, he took a job with his older brother John, delivering a sailing yacht, ''Clara'', to America. ''Clara's'' racing success was such that in 1887, John was selected to skipper the Scottish challenger, ''Thistle'', the representative of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club; Charlie served as a member of the crew. ''Thistle'' was soundly defeated by ''Volunteer''. In the process, however, the brothers Barr were introduced to Nathanael Herreshoff, and Charlie Barr's yachting career was launched. Charlie Barr would sail Herreshoff designs for much of the rest of his professional sailing life.

America's Cup success

Captain Charles Barr was skipper of the yacht '' Columbia'' in 1899 and defeated Sir Thomas Lipton's ''Shamrock''. Two years later, in 1901, Charlie Barr was again at the helm against a Lipton sponsored yacht, ''Shamrock II'', a Watson-designed cutter. In 1903, Barr was the captain of the winning yacht ''Reliance'', one of the most famous racing yachts to be designed by Nathanael Herreshoff. Barr was inducted into the

America's Cup Hall of Fame The America's Cup Hall of Fame, located at the Herreshoff Marine Museum of Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, honors individuals for outstanding achievement in the America's Cup sailing competition. Candidates eligible for consideration include skippers ...

in 1993 and into the National Sailing Hall of Fame at San Diego yacht club, Point Loma, California, on 23 October 2011.

Atlantic record

He is best known for setting the record for the fastest crossing by a sailing yacht of the Atlantic Ocean on the schooner ''Atlantic'' in the 1905 Kaiser's Cup Transatlantic Race. Barr made his crossing in 12 days, 4 hours, 1 minute, 19 seconds, an outright racing record that stood 75 years until Eric Tabarly's 1980 crossing on his aluminium trimaran ''Paul Ricard''. Barr's

monohull right A monohull is a type of boat having only one hull, unlike multihulled boats which can have two or more individual hulls connected to one another. Fundamental concept Among the earliest hulls were simple logs, but these were generally unstab ...

record stood for nearly 100 years until beaten in 1997 by the yacht '' Nicorette'' completing the crossing in 11 days 13 hours 22 minutes. Barr died whilst visiting

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, England on 24 January 1911; he is buried in Southampton Old Cemetery. Barr was inducted into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011.

References

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barr, Charlie America's Cup sailors 1864 births 1911 deaths American male sailors (sport) Sportspeople from Gourock Scottish emigrants to the United States Scottish male sailors (sport) 19th-century Scottish sportsmen 19th-century American sportsmen Burials at Southampton Old Cemetery