The Yachts of John Mecray I
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Reliance was the largest racing sloop ever built, 143 fe et long with a waterline of 90 , giving her considerable overhangs. She drew nearly 20 f eet, displaced 140 tons and carried 16 ,J 59 square fe et of can vas , exceeding her predecessor, Columbia, by 3,000 square f eet. Th e yacht was controversial but was also considered Nathanael Herreshoff s tour-de-force. With Charley Barr at the helm , she beat
ohn Mecray was rai sed one block from the ocean in Cape May , New Jersey, where hi s family has lived for generations. After hi gh school , Mecray studied illustration and graphic art at the Philadelphia College of Art, graduating in 1961. He also taught draw ing there from 1964 to 1966. Working as an illustrator in the Philadelphia area, Mecray won awards for advertising, editorial and book illustration . He had sailed boats as a boy, but a crewingjob on a Caribbean-bound yacht reawakened his love for boats and the sea. He desc ribes thi s bluewater experience as" ... the most fab ul ous thing I'd ever done." He did several more yacht deliveries, enjoying each one. Soon Mecray was concentrating on marine
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Sir Th omas Lipton's Shamrock III in the 12th defense of the America's Cup. Reliance was built at the Herreshoffyard in Bristol, Rhode Island, and is shown here as she rounds-up late in the afternoon at the entrance to Newport Harb or. The crew is lowering the gaff topsail and jib topsail. The departing Fall River Line steamer Pl ymouth gives scale to the subject. "Reliance," 20" x30"
painting and in 1976 he moved hi s family to Newport, Rhode Island , to concentrate on thi s new career. That same year he publi shed his first limited edition print, "The Continental Sloop
Providence."
"The whole history of yacht design is taking existing parameters and refining them-not only making them faster, but more elegant." In the past two decades John Mecray has publi shed thirty-three limited edition prints, which , he points out, make it
possible for a larger audience to enjoy the grace, power and beauty of the great yachts. John has al so invested considerable time and energy in preserving our heritage in yachting, from working to save the schooner Coronet, to helping found the Internation al Yacht Restoration School. When he is as ked about hi s devotion to yachts, John answers: " . .. they fascinate me. There is a refinement in the lines of a yacht that you just don ' t find in even the better fi shing schooners .... The whole history of yacht design is taking existing parameters and refining them-not only making them faster, but more e legant. There is something e luNS sive about yachts. " SEA HISTORY 76, WINTER 1995-96