Icicle (yacht)
Encyclopedia
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John Aspinwall Roosevelt
John Aspinwall Roosevelt was the sixth and last child of the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and his wife, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the only Roosevelt son who never sought political office....
for racing on the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
state in 1869.
It was 21 metres (68 ft 11 inches) long and carried 99 m² (1070 ft²) of canvas
Canvas
Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...
. The yacht is still, nearly 140 years later, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as a world record
World record
A world record is usually the best global performance ever recorded and verified in a specific skill or sport. The book Guinness World Records collates and publishes notable records of all types, from first and best to worst human achievements, to extremes in the natural world and beyond...
.
John A. Roosevelt (Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Uncle) was the first Commodore of the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club (1885) at Poughkeepsie, NY. His ice yacht, "Icicle", required a railway flat car to transport.
In 1871 "Icicle" beats the "Chicago Express" train on a run between Poughkeepsie and Ossining. Early ice yacht clubs spent most of their time racing trains.