Bonhams 1793 : Antonio Nicolo Gasparo Jacobsen (American, 1850-1921) The British America's Cup challenger Genesta at sea 22 x 36 in. (55.8 x 91.4 cm.)

The British America's Cup challenger Genesta at sea flying the burgee for the Royal Yacht Squadron and the British red "duster".
signed and dated lower right "A. Jacobsen 1885"
oil on canvas
22 x 36 in. (55.8 x 91.4 cm.)

Sold for US$ 32,500 inc. premium

Footnotes

Literature:
Harold S. Sniffen, Antonio Jacobsen - The Checklist (Addenda List Number 2), Smith Gallery, 1994, pp. 28 & 29; #7 for a listing of another version this painting.

The cutter Genesta was designed by John Beavor-Webb and built by the D&W Henderson shipyard on the River Clyde in 1884, for owner Sir Richard Sutton of the Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes, Isle of Wight, England. She was built of oak planking on a steel frame. Genesta was skippered by John Carter.

After a strong showing in the British yacht races in 1884, Sutton crossed the Atlantic to New York during the summer 1885 aboard Genesta. Upon arrival, designer Beavor-Webb refused to let anyone see his yacht before the America's Cup race against the America's Cup defender Puritan, beginning the tradition of secrecy that has persisted to this day.

After the Cup races, Sutton and Genesta won the Brenton Reef Cup, the Cape May Challenge Cup, and, upon returning to Britain, the first Round Britain Race in 1887, covering the 1,590-mile (2,560 km) course in 12 days, 16 hours, and 59 minutes. Genesta was sold and converted to a yawl by the 1890s, and was finally broken up in 1900.