Magic certainly seemed to be at work again over a century later when the New Zealand IACC boat, Black Magic, roared through the fleet in San Diego. Perhaps more magic will be at work in the 32nd America's Cup in Valencia in 2007.

The fate of Magic is typical of yachts from this time. It was very common in the mid-1800s to make major, and significant alterations to hulls and/or rigs, with the intention of improving the performance of the boat. Originally, this boat was launched as a centerboard sloop (one mast), modeled by Richard Fanning Loper in 1857, for his own use, and built in the Byerly and Sound'yard in Philadelphia. She was launched with the name of Madgie. Two years later, Loper modified his boat to a schooner (two masts), changing the stern of the hull at the same time. The following year he attacked the bow, lengthening the bow.

In 1864, Madgie was sold in New York and renamed Magic. From 1865, the small centerboard schooner was sailing under the banner of the New York Yacht Club. In 1869, the boat is completely rebuilt by David Carll, of City Island, before it is bought by Franklin Osgood. By the time Magic defended the America's Cup in 1870, there was just a shadow of R.F. Loper's original 1857 Madgie left in her lines.

During Magic's long life, nineteen owners would take command of her, including the United States Navy, which used her as a supply craft during the 1898 Spanish-American war. The following year, Magic was put in dry dock at Jacksonville, Florida. To pay the bill, the owner of the shipyard sold the boat to John Lowe, a local who put the boat to sea under charter. Following stints as a fishing boat, and then (thanks to her still impressive speed) as a pilot boat, Magic eventually ended up lying abandoned at the quay. A hurricane in October 1926 pushed the dilapidated wreck towards the entrance of the harbour at Key West. Finally, at the request of Lowe's family, the first Defender of the America's Cup was dragged offshore, and destroyed with explosives, 69-years after its launching.

J.T.


FACT SHEET:

1870
USA
New York Yacht Club.
Defender & winner of the first America's Cup challenge, 1870
1870 owner: Franklin Osgood, New York.
Centerboard schooner (1870).
Original builder: T. Byerly & Son, Philadelphia.

Modeler (1857): Richard Fanning Loper.
Built and launched: 1857 as a centerboard sloop christened Madgie.
Original owner (1857): Richard Fanning Loper. Altered in 1859 as a schooner by R.F. Loper. Stern modified.
1860: Bow lengthened
1864: Centerboard schooner sold to a New York yachtsman, registered at the New York Yacht Club and re-christened as Magic.
1869: Rebuilt at David Carll's yard, City Island, New York, USA, and sold to Franklin Osgood.
8 April 1870, New York: Magic, owned by Franklin Osgood and skippered by Captain Andrew J. Comstock, won the first America's Cup Challenge, defeating 17 other yachts, as the English challenger, James Ashbury's Cambria, Dauntless, second, and America, fourth...
Between 1870 and 1899: Owned by 15 different persons or organizations as the US Navy.
1899: Owned by John Lowe. Registered as a working and freight ship, Key West.
1909: Served as a pilot boat, Key West.
1914: Not in service
October 1926: Partially destroyed by hurricane. Broken up in Key West.

Data:
Hull material: wood
LOA: 27,43 m
LWL: 24,68 m
Beam: 6,40 m
Draft: 2,02 m
Draft with centerboard: 5,18 m
Displacement: 80 tons
Ballast: 8 tons
Tonnage: 46.73 T
Sail area: 602 m2
Rating: 1680 sq. ft.
Mast: 18,25 m
Boom: 15,70 m
Bowsprit: - reefered : 6 m – out : 11 m
Topmast: 9,50 m
Foremast: 17,60 m
Foretopmast: 8,45 m