For those unfamiliar with the Edward W. Kane and James Gubelmann IYRS Maritime Library, you may be surprised to learn that in addition to thousands of cataloged books, periodicals and A/V materials,, its holdings also include a variety of rare, valuable, fragile, and scarce items. These include hundreds of charts, boat plans, letters, posters, brochures, press kits, typescript or handwritten histories, photographs, slides, film, and video tape. Ephemera such as wearable items, burgees, flags and an impressive display of trophies, paintings, and models are also preserved, protected, and displayed among the Library’s Special Collections.
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In this issue:
MEET THE IYRS MARITIME LIBRARY FOUNDERS
FEATURED COLLECTION: The Gubelmann Family Collection
FEATURED FIND: Buckingham Palace Telegram
BRITANNIA RULES the WAVES
VIDEO: Welcome THE QUEEN!
GOOD READS: Famed Ocean Racers
LIBRARY NEWS: Helen Sowinski
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Meet the IYRS Maritime Library Founders:
Edward Kane & Jimmy Gubelmann
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Ed Kane, Trustee Emeritus of IYRS, served on the IYRS board for more than a decade. A lover of history and wooden yachts, he and his wife Marty Wallace and a group of fellow New York Yacht Club members restored the 1926 Herreshoff NY40 Marilee. Later, Ed and Marty restored Olin Stephens’ legendary Bolero, which was built in 1949.
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Through his leadership and generosity, Ed has been instrumental in the growth and success of IYRS for more than twenty years.
Ed joined John Hancock’s corporate finance department in 1979 and in 1982 co-founded Hancock Venture Partners which later became HarbourVest Partners, an independent, global private markets firm which currently has 12 international offices.
Ed was a Major in United States Army Intelligence where he trained in electronics and telecommunications and graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College.
Ed received a BA from the University of Pennsylvania in 1971 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1975.
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“Kane also owned the Olin Stephens' 6-Metre, Cherokee, built at the International Yacht Restoration School’s Museum of Yachting. He’s so passionate about wooden boats and restorations that he took a course in building wooden boats at IYRS.” – John Rousmaniere, The Old Girl’s Ready to Dance Anew, Cruising World Nov 30, 2010\\ |
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"Bolero, the breathtaking, 73-foot, wooden yawl is generally considered to be near the apex of the Top 10 list of the great designs of Olin Stephens II."-- John Rousmaniere
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The Carlton Mitchell Connection:
“Hearing in 1954 that Brown was thinking of putting her (Bolero) up for sale, (Carlton) Mitchell seriously considered making a bid. “I thought it would be a wonderful thing to race Bolero...” he once told me. In the end, he chose to build a smaller, and also fabled, Sparkman & Stephens boat, Finisterre.” -- John Rousmaniere, In a Class by Herself: The Yawl Bolero and the Passion for Craftsmanship.
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Jimmy Gubelmann
From Fireflies to Ocean Racers and from Hobie 16s to America’s Cup winning 12mR yachts, Jimmy Gubelmann has sailed them all. His yacht racing accomplishments began while sailing with his 3-year undefeated Varsity team at St. George’s School and grew throughout the next 4-decades while racking up line honors and firsts in numerous offshore races crewing onboard four famed ocean-racing yachts-- two named Windigo (71.5' and 73') and two named Tempest (68' and 80')-- skippered by Eric Ridder, Stilly Taylor, Bob Bavier, Briggs Cunningham and Jimmy's godfather, Carlton Mitchell.
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Meanwhile, Jimmy served as alternate crew on the 1964 America’s Cup winning 12mR Constellation (US-20) where his life-long passion for the 12mR Class started. In 2001, he organized a campaign to sail Columbia (US-16) at the America’s Cup Jubilee in Cowes (UK) then raced her throughout Med starting from Sardinia and on to Monaco Classics Week and Les Voiles de St. Tropez collecting multiple European trophies along the way. From 2004-2007, his Courageous (US-26) syndicate dominated the Americas 12mR fleet at the NYYC Annual, NYYC Race Week, Edgartown YC and 12mR North American Championship regattas with first place at each for 4 seasons running—book-ended by their 2005 and 2007 12mR World Championship wins! As Commodore of the 12mR Yacht Club from 2013-2019, Jimmy was instrumental in the realization of the tremendously successful 2019 12mR World Championship held in Newport, where 22 teams from 6 countries enjoyed three weeks of international competition and camaraderie.
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The Gubelmann Family Collection |
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Library Co-Founder, James B. Gubelmann is the third generation of accomplished Gubelmann family yachtsmen. His father, Walter S. Gubelmann (1908-1988) formed the 1964 America’s Cup winning Constellation (US-20) syndicate and owned 2 famed ocean-racing yachts, both named Windigo (sail #354 left). His grandfather William S. Gubelmann (1863-1959) cruised the world on Seven Seas, a 168’ three-masted motor-yacht (photo below). In addition to these, the family has owned numerous yachts of varying description over the years beginning c. 1924.
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The Gubelmann Maritime Collection contains a variety of documents related to the purchase, sale, ownership, and upkeep on various yachts as well as cruises and races. It includes books, blueprints, catalogs, carts, correspondence, logs, magazines, photographs, postcards, film and videos related to specific vessels as well as to general sailing. Cruises covered (by logs, photos, or other documentation) include the Mediterranean, Greek Islands, Dalmation (Croatia), the Caribbean, Central American, and Newfoundland to Alaska.
Gubelmann Collection Highlights include:
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1930’s films of the cruises of Seven Seas
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Constellation (US-20) America’s Cup planning files include every detail of the campaign from blueprints to sail plans, from financial records to press clippings. Viewed together they document the full scope of the 1964 AC Defender program.
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Buckingham Palace telegram (below), commending Windigo on Queen’s Cup win.
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Featured FIND: Buckingham Palace Telegram |
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Britannia Rules the Waves |
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"The Muses, still with freedom found; Shall to thy happy coasts repair."
lyric from "Rule Britannia!"
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HRM Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip on a Royal Tour of Malta. |
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HRH Princess Elizabeth sailing the Sparkman & Stephens yawl, Winston
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The IYRS Library celebrates the nautical life of HRH Queen Elizabeth II. Above left, with Prince Phillip aboard the tender to the Royal Yacht Britannia. Above right, before taking the helm of Great Britain, then HRH Princess Elizabeth helmed the S/Y Winston. Photos courtesy Royal Yacht Britannia website.
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Featured VIDEO: WELCOME THE QUEEN!
Royal Yacht Britannia Returns to England After World Tour, 1954
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"Bolero is one of those cultural heirlooms that is constantly being rediscovered in ways that would astonish even her creators, and her story is of a vast and varied world of laughter and tears, triumph and failure."
— John Rousmaniere
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Legendary Ocean Racers:
Bolero & Windigo
Click any title for IYRS online book catalog description.
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Windigo Ocean Racer, Sports Illustrated cover story, June 13, 1955
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LIBRARY NEWS: Visitors, New Acquisitions & Book Sales |
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The IYRS Maritime Library is a very special place as I’m sure you’ll agree, whether you have visited in person or just browsed our online catalog. During my time here I’ve had the pleasure to meet and work closely with our founding members. I’d like to personally thank Jimmy Gubelmann for implementing this newsletter and spreading the word of our collections to a larger audience. I’ve met our architect Ted Graves who brought his family in to see how the library has grown and transformed over the years since he first conceptualized its beautiful design. The carpenter who built our shelving has visited, showing his son the work he did, and former IYRS students often come to reminisce about their time here.
With bittersweet feelings, it’s time for me to move on and pave the way for another caretaker to take the helm. If you read my bio in our first issue of Navigating the Stacks, you might remember that I am a military retiree, and I spent six years teaching high school students in the Navy Junior ROTC program. I’ve been called to serve again in that capacity in the beautiful city of Monterey, California. If you’re ever in that area, I would love to connect. You can email me at hsowinski11@gmail.com. It has been an absolute pleasure to serve you these past 15 months.
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IYRS MARITIME LIBRARY COLLECTIONS: |
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About IYRS Maritime Library |
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Mission Statement: The IYRS Maritime Library is an educational and cultural resource, committed to the mission of IYRS and to making its collections available to students, staff and faculty as well as to scholars, researchers, and members of the general public.
IYRS Library Committee is comprised of founder James Gubelmann, interested IYRS Board members, the IYRS librarian, IYRS staff members, and qualified individuals from the surrounding community.
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Location: 4th floor of the historic 1831 John Mecray Aquidneck Mill building on the IYRS campus at 449 Thames Street, Newport, Rhode Island.
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Open to: Students, Researchers and Armchair Sailors
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Hours: Thursday through Saturday from 1pm-5pm
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Search: Online Catalog anytime
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Items in the library's Special Collections have been acquired through donations by private individuals and families as well as by esteemed organizations including the Redwood Library & Athenaeum, the National Sailing Hall of Fame, Salve Regina University and of course the Museum of Yachting. In addition to IYRS's searchable online catalog, which utilizes the Library of Congress system, the IYRS Maritime Library was selected to join RIAMCO-- the prestigious online gateway to the Rhode Island Archival and Manuscript Collections.
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About Navigating the Stacks |
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Exploring the Collections of the IYRS Maritime Library
This newsletter was envisioned by IYRS Maritime Library co-founder and contributor James Gubelmann in order to illuminate the depth and richness of the Special Collections contained within. Gubelmann said, “Together with co-editors IYRS Librarian, Helen Sowinski and Windlass Creative’s SallyAnne Santos, former Creative Director of the Museum of Yachting, we will provide insight into the library’s holdings, specifically highlighting contents of the Special Collections.”
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Miss An Issue of Navigating the Stacks?
Click to Read Archived Issues:
No 3. May 2022: Vanderbilt Collection, Lloyd's Registers, Walter Cronkite's Bookshelf
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