ELF, THE (yacht)
About this property
Elf is a racing yacht built in 1888 by George Lawley & Son of South Boston, Massachusetts, for William H. Wilkinson. She was designed by George F. Lawley and is the oldest small yacht in the United States. She is located at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD.Talbot County, Maryland. She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 26, 1980. The Elf racing yacht was restored in 1991 by the Classic Yacht Restoration Guild, founded by Rick Carrion. Carrion purchased the yacht in 1971, though the restoration formally began in 1991. From 1991 to 2001, the CYRG repaired the futtocks and overall structure of the ship. The futtocks are the curved pieces of wood that form the lower frame of a yacht. In 2001, they added the shudder plank, marking the completion of the hull. In 2004, the restoration personnel repaired the interior and auxiliary. This meant the hull and interior were completed, leaving the deck to be repaired, which was finished within a year. Finally, in 2006, the spars and rigging were added, completing the most important parts of the restoration. Throughout the process, two interesting things stuck out to the restoration crew. They noted it had unique iron timbers for the floor, which were meant to prevent hogging and allow the yacht to keep its shape. Also, its appearance has kept interest for over a century. After the restoration, Elf set sail for a trial trip on July 16, 2008. The trip was to the Independence Seaport Museum. In June of 2009, the yacht was returned to New England. Further, in 2010, it participated in the Sailing Hall of Fame Race. Throughout the process, four individuals worked on the yacht, excluding Rick Carrion. These were Graham Ero, the boatwright; John Griffiths, a consultant; Kurt Hasselbach, an M.I.T. consultant; and Peter Vemelia, a representative from the Mystic Seaport Museum. While there were workers on the yacht, there were also many benefactors helping the restoration fund. These included the Maryland Historical Trust, Cecil County Historical Trust, The Classic Yacht Restoration Guild, Gus and Veda Van Lennep, and Peter R Kellogg. The Elf's length at the waterline is 28 feet and 8 inches, the length on deck is 35 feet, and the overall length is 68 feet when estimated with the bowsprit and boom. The displacement of the steel keel is 6,700 pounds with the hull, and the displacement of the lead keel is 9,600 pounds plus the hull. The draft -- the distance between the waterline and the deepest part of the boat -- is 6 feet and 6 inches. The rig is a high-gaff topsail cutter. The sail area of one sail is 1,397 square feet. The area of the second sail is 1,681 square feet.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was ELF, THE (yacht) listed on the National Register?
ELF, THE (yacht) was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 25, 1980.
What type of historic resource is ELF, THE (yacht)?
ELF, THE (yacht) is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for ELF, THE (yacht)?
The period of significance for ELF, THE (yacht) is recorded as the industrial era.
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