Gordon Bennett and the First Yacht Race Across the Atlantic

The 1866 transatlantic yacht race was a match that saw three yachts battle their way across the Atlantic in the dead of winter in pursuit of a $90,000 prize. Six men died in the brutal and close-fought contest, and the event changed the perception of yachting from a slightly effete gentlemen''s pursuit into something altogether more rugged and adventurous. The race also symbolized the beginning of America''s ''gilded age'', with its associated obscene wealth and largesse (the $90,000 prize put up by the three contestants is about $15 million in today''s money), as well as the thawing of relations between the US and UK.

The narrative focuses on the victorious yacht Henrietta and her owner James Gordon Bennett. Bennett was the son of the multimillionaire proprietor of the New York Herald, and a notorious playboy. His infamous stunts included driving his carriage through the streets of New York naked, tipping a railway porter $30,000, and turning up at his own en