TANK TEST MODEL FOR A PROPOSED DESIGN OF THE 12-METER YACHT "WEATHERLY"
America, Dated July 20, 1961
Attributed to Lou Banks, Jr. Model built for Philip L. Rhodes as a proposed design for the America's Cup defender Weatherly. Built to the scale of 13.3":1', the standard for Davidson Laboratories. Model built up in wood, with the interior hollowed and the exterior shaped and faired to a race finish. Sand has been glued to the leading edge of the bow down to the bottom of the keel; the sand was used to create a disturbance to the laminar flow so that the flow below the waterline could be easily evaluated. The hull is marked No.: 2095 at the bow, the identification for the Davidson Lab at the Stephens Institute, where the model was tested. Interior of the hull marked "July 20 1961", the test date.
Height 11.5". Length 60.25". Width 10.5".

Provenance:
Christie's East, New York, NY., Sale 8539, July 2001, purchased by The Kelton Foundation.
The Kelton Collection of Marine Art & Artifacts.

Tow Tank models are engineering tools used to evaluate the hydrodynamic flow around hulls, keels, rudders and propellers. They are built to a specified scale and then towed through a long shallow pool at varying speeds and angles. Changes in the model are analyzed, evaluated and finalized, and then incorporated into the final design. The most famous tanks in the U.S. are at the Webb Institute, David Taylor Tow Tank and at the Steven's Institute.

This model, No. 2095, represents Weatherly as she was built with proposed changes in August 1958. It, and the next lot, which represents proposed changes to Weatherly as of February 5, 1960, were both made by the same modeler, Lou Banks, Jr., who made models for the Steven's Institute.

This model differs from the final design, particularly in the shape of the bottom back edge of the keel, which is more rounded than later versions. The Davidson Lab at the Stephens Institute in Hoboken, New Jersey was the primary tow tank for designers testing new hull designs. Most of the models tested in the late 1950s and 1960s were made by only a few makers specified by the Institute to preserve a standard of quality and scale. The most prominent of these makers was Lou Banks, Jr.

The 12-meter yacht Weatherly was designed by Philip Rhodes. She was built by Luders Marine Construction in 1958 for a syndicate of owners formed by Henry D. Mercer, Cornelius S. Walsh and Arnold D. Frese. Skippered from 1958 through 1961 by Arthur Knapp, Weatherly competed with Columbia, Easterner, and Vim for the right to defend the America's Cup, but she was eliminated in the 1958 selection trials by Columbia, who went on to successfully defend the Cup that year.

Modified by Bill Luders at Luders Marine for the 1962 Cup, Weatherly was altered with a shortened stern, squared-off rudder and numerous small changes in order to save weight. The weight saved in the redesign was put into the keel to improve her ability to carry sail.

The defender selection trials pitted Weatherly against Columbia, Easterner and the newly designed and built Nefertiti. On August 25, 1962, the N.Y.Y.C. selected Weatherly to defend the Cup against Australian challenger Gretel. Skippered by Emil "Bus" Mosbacher, Jr., in September 1962, Weatherly defended the Cup 4–1 against Gretel.

Weatherly continued to be used as a trial horse in America's Cup competition through the 1970 season when she was, surprisingly given her age, invited to enter the defender's trials. Following that season, an engine was installed at the Derector shipyard in Mamaroneck, New York. She then motored up the Hudson and through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes and on to the Palmer Johnson Shipyard in Wisconsin, where she was modified for offshore racing both on deck and below. Weatherly had an active racing career on the Great Lakes and the SORC under the ownership of Doug Jones.

In the mid-1970s, Weatherly was sold. She is now normally berthed dockside at the Newport Harbor Hotel and Marina and is available for charter. She was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.