Mary Taylor Pilot Boat

Type

Schooner

Period

19th Century

Nation

United States

Overview: Mary Taylor was a New York Sandy Hook pilot schooner built in 1849 that became a landmark in American yacht design. Designed by naval architect George Steers for Captain Richard "Dick" Brown, she is historically important as the direct design forerunner of the yacht America, winner of the first America's Cup race in 1851. Specifications: The vessel was a 75-ton (Thames Measurement) schooner measuring 67 feet in length, with a beam of 17 feet 10 inches and a depth of 7 feet 9 inches. Her most radical feature was Steers's hull shape, which reversed the conventional wisdom of the day by giving her a long, thin, hollow bow and her greatest beam near midships rather than a bluff bow and narrow stern. Service History: Built at the Hathorne & Steers shipyard in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, in 1849, Mary Taylor was put into service as pilot boat No. 5/No. 17 for the New York pilots under Captain Richard Brown, racing other pilot boats out to incoming ships to win piloting commissions. On November 10, 1863, the U. S. steam transport Fairhaven came into collision with the Mary Taylor near Barnegat, New Jersey, causing her to sink, though her crew of six were saved. She was replaced by the Mary E. Fish. Notable Facts: A builder's half model for the Mary Taylor, pilot boat No. 5, by George Steers, circa 1848, survives at The Mariners' Museum (Accession #2020.14.05/MR16, Gift of the Steers Family). A half model of the Mary Taylor's starboard side, made in 1849 by George Steers, represents the boat's molded lines with a long thin bow and plumb stern and is inscribed "MARY TAYLOR." Without the success of the Mary Taylor, the America may not have been built. The design proved so influential that Steers's next pilot boat, the Moses H. Grinnell, and ultimately the yacht America itself, both built on the same principle of a long lean bow for speed.