Some of the newest acquisitions include:
The raceboat Miss Los Angeles has the rare distinction of having participated in both the Gold Cup and Harmsworth trophy races in the late 1920s, competing alongside boats such as Imp, Scotty, and Miss America VII. Designed by John Hacker for James A Talbot, Jr., of California, the boat is beautifully aerodynamic and very innovative. The layered mahogany planking method used to create the shape presages the molded laminate technology that would emerge in production boats many years later. The boat is the gift of William Morgan, of Silver Bay, New York, whose earlier gifts established the collection of raceboats that led to the creation of the Quest for Speed exhibit.
One-Design competition in sailing boats is a lost story of Thousand Islands history. The “MT” is the last known complete Thousand Islands One-Design Knockabout, a John Alden design commissioned for the Thousand Islands Yacht Club in 1924. Six of the little centerboard sloops were built by Chaisson Boat Works of Swampscott, MA, and racign went on for several years around a 3 1/3 mile course off Rockport, ON. “MT” is the gift of Tad Clark, whose father Mancel Clark, Jr. purchased the boat, hull #1, in that first year. For more information on the Thousand Islands Knockabout, visit thousandislandslife and select “Tad Clark” from the author’s list.
