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, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one ...

yachts.

Early life

Charlie Barr was born in

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

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

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 Nathanael Greene Herreshoff (March 18, 1848 – June 2, 1938) was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893 and 1920. Biography H ...

, 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 Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

'' in 1899 and defeated

Sir Thomas Lipton Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, 1st Baronet (10 May 18482 October 1931) was a Scotsman of Ulster-Scots parentage who was a self-made man, as company founder of Lipton Tea, merchant, philanthropist and yachtsman who lost 5 straight America's Cup m ...

'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 The National Sailing Hall of Fame is a nonprofit educational organization that promotes sailing and racing by recognizing individuals who have contributed to the sport, highlighting sailing's contribution to the American culture; and demonstrating ...

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 The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ai ...

'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 unstabl ...

record stood for nearly 100 years until beaten in 1997 by the yacht ''

Nicorette Nicorette is the brand name of a number of products for nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) that contain nicotine polacrilex. Developed in the late 1970s in Sweden by in the form of a chewing gum, Nicorette was the first nicotine replacement ...

'' 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 in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

, England on 24 January 1911; he is buried in

Southampton Old Cemetery The cemetery has had various titles including The Cemetery by the Common, Hill Lane Cemetery and is currently known as Southampton Old Cemetery. An Act of Parliament was required in 1843 to acquire the land from Southampton Common. It covers an ...

. Barr was inducted into the

in 2011.

References

External links

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