Endeavour in Qingdao

by Bob Fisher on 13 Aug 2008
When Sir Thomas Octave Murdoch Sopwith commissioned the building of Endeavour for the America’s Cup of 1934, it was for a racing boat, not a world-girdling cruising yacht.

He provided the designer, Charles Nicholson, with abundant technical advice from the engineers at his aircraft factory in order that the boat could be the most efficient for its purpose, but he did understand that she would have to be strong enough to cross the Atlantic to take part in the Cup races.

Sopwith would nevertheless be surprised to see Endeavour in the marina at Qingdao where her 168-foot high mast towers over everything Olympic around her – on the same level as a 17-storey apartment building.

Since her challenge in 1934, Endeavour has had a chequered career, first kept afloat under ketch rig in the Mediterranean until 1980 when she returned to the Solent and was laid up in the mud on the western bank of the River Medina.

She was 'rescued' by John Amos, who transported her across the Solent to Calshot where he began a restoration project, working largely alone. It was a task that was to overwhelm him and the boat was purchased by Elizabeth Meyer who arranged for her to be taken to Wolter Huismann’s yard in Holland for what was essentially a re-build.

When Endeavour emerged she was breathtakingly beautiful, creating gasps wherever she went.

All was well until after she was purchased by Dennis Kozlowski, the former CEO of Tyco International who plundered his company for hundreds of millions of dollars. Endeavour became a small source of money necessary to repay Kozlowski’s excessive looting of the company funds.

On September 28th 2006, Endeavour was purchased for $13.1 million by Diversicolor Ltd., a Cayman Islands corporation, according to papers filed in New York State Supreme Court. The sales contract also named Sempervirens Ltd., another company with a Cayman address.

The real owner is Cassio Antunes a 46-year old resident of Hawaii, and a very private man. He has admired the boat for many years, having first seen photographs of her in his grandfather’s library in Italy.

Antunes was described as 'an investor' by Alexander Busher, a yacht broker with Edmiston & Co. in Monaco who handled the sale, adding he knew little more about him. ``He's a man who's quite difficult to trace, he plays his cards quite close.'

Antunes is aware that he is the trustee of a piece of yachting history. Endeavour was faster than the defender, 'Mike' Vanderbilt’s Rainbow, winning the first two races in 1934.

[Sorry, this content could not be displayed] It was aboard her that the double-clewed quadrilateral genoa was first developed. She also proved her seaworthiness when returning from Newport RI to England in 1937 after being used as a trial horse for her successor, Endeavour II.

Forced to sever the tow with the steam yacht Erin, she lost contact with the towing vessel during an Atlantic storm and for many days was given up for lost, but under skipper Ned Heard, Endeavour weathered the storm and arrived at Gosport to a massive reception.

Heard explained: 'We had a terrible time when we broke away from the towing steam yacht. The storm was of terrific force and the sea was very high. The wind shrieked through our rigging and it would have been impossible to hoist even a shirt.

When the cable snapped, the yacht became quite out of control in the heavy seas. Countless times huge waves swept her decks and we were fighting in a smother of sea.

I and several others went forward to cut away the tow line and a huge wave swept me and another man into the sea, we managed to catch hold of some wires and were hauled back again. It was a pretty rough experience.

When we had freed ourselves of the tow line the ship was more controllable and somehow we succeeded in riding the storm out.'