A Brief History of the Class
The International class sloop was created by the legendary American yachtsman, Cornelius Shields as he sought to create a new one design yacht for the Amorita Cup series of team races between Bermuda and Long Island Sound. While in Bermuda one spring, he looked out at the beautiful Bermudian 6-Meter, Saga, owned by Eldon and Kenneth Trimingham, and knew instantly that he had seen the prototype of a beautiful racing class that would stand the test of time.
Shields commissioned Saga's designer-builder, Bjarne Aas of Frederikstad, Norway, to design a thirty-three foot version for one-design racing. The result is a beautiful reminder of yachting's "golden age" with the traditional meter-boat's long overhangs, graceful sheer, deep, narrow hull and lofty rig.
The first of the initial order of 25 yachts was delivered to Corny Shields at City Island, New York in December 1936. "I finally arranged to sail her the week after Christmas...the first time anyone had sailed an International,” recalled Shields, many years later. “I don't think I've ever had a more joyous day on the water. The wind was from the northeast, light in the morning and then stronger at mid-day, so we had a chance to try her out under a variety of conditions. The boat was a delight to handle, and balanced perfectly. I felt great satisfaction at this -- the planning and hope and care hadn't been in vain."
Racing commenced on Long Island Sound the following summer of 1937. Shields' determination to keep the competition on a man-to-man basis maintained the high quality of racing from the beginning. Its instant success on Long Island Sound drew an impressive array of sailors whose names also appear prominently in America's Cup and ocean racing history. As one example, the 25th anniversary alumni race in 1961 included Shields, Arthur Knapp, Bus Mosbacher, George Hinman, Bill Cox, Arthur Davis, and Bob Bavier. (Bill Luders was ill and could not take part.)
The Internationals quickly spread. Bermuda also took delivery of seven in January 1937. The next year fleets were established in Marblehead and Northeast Harbor, Maine, followed by fleets in Norway and Cowes. During the war, legend says that Aas buried the construction jigs to protect them during the Nazi occupation. After the liberation of Norway, construction resumed at Frederikstad with boats going to San Francisco, Sweden, France, Oyster Bay, and Cowes. Fiberglass construction was introduced in the 1960s with great care taken by the class to ensure that the wood and glass yachts could race on an equal basis. Today, there are ten fleets racing around the world. The English fleet has moved up the Scotland, and although the French fleet never developed a strong racing tradition, new American fleets were added at Fishers Island, NY in the 1980s and at Nantucket, MA in 1998.
Most recently, the International One Design is the first one design class officially recognized as a "Classic Yacht" by the International Sailing Foundation (ISAF).
Today in Marblehead, we are lucky to have boats of all vintages racing - two boats, Pompano (#45) and Sagacious (#51) that were part of the original Marblehead fleet; wood boats of both pine and mahogany built in the 1950s and 1960s; and modern fiberglass boats built as recently as 1997. For the World Championships in 2001 Marblehead borrowed five boats each from Nantucket and Fishers Island to bring the fleet up to 24 boats on moorings. By expanding the fleet, we were able to offer a championship regatta that includes 21 teams from around the world.
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