Manitou is
a 62-foot-long performance cruising yacht designed and
built for racing on the Great Lakes. She was built in
1937 at the M. M. Davis & Son shipyard in Solomons
Island, Maryland. It was Design No. 99 of naval
architects Sparkman & Stephens, who built many America's
Cup racing yachts.
Yacht Manitou was conceived by James Lowe of Grand
Rapids, who was so determined to win the Chicago Mac
Race (from Chicago to Mackinac Island, across Lake
Michigan.) She is one of Olin Stephen’s famous inboard
yawls, a lineage that started with Dorade in 1930, many
examples of which are still loved and raced to this day.
What James Lowe wanted was a performance cruising yacht
that would race well under heavy and light conditions.
So Stephens designed a 62ft cutter-rigged bermudan yawl
with 44ft in the water, a 13ft 9in beam and a four-ton
keel. She had teak planking on deck and mahogany on oak
for her hull.
Racing yacht Manitou was launched in 1937 and promptly
won the 1938 Chicago Mac Race in the cruising division,
beating all previous records. She came a close second
the next year and came back to win it again in 1940 and
1941. In 1955 she was donated to the US Coast Guard to
be used as a training vessel.
It was
while she was at Annapolis that yacht Manitou was first
spotted by a young Senator Kennedy. She obviously made
an impression on him because, when he was elected, the
presidential yacht at the time was the 92ft power yacht Honey
Fitz and, as was customary, a fighting ship ready
for naval action.
Being a keen sailor, Kennedy sent naval aide Captain
Tazewell Shepard Jr, to search out a suitable sailing
yacht that could accommodate the equipment needed for
him to keep in touch with the White House, and even the
Kremlin. One of the yachts on the list was Manitou and,
in the style befitting of his entire career, the signing
of her deeds was one of the first things he did sitting
at the presidential desk.
Sailing yacht Manitou was promptly moved to Chesapeake
Bay where engineers fitted her out as a working
presidential office. Indeed John F Kennedy’s Yacht was
soon given the nickname “The Floating White House.”
Although he never raced her himself, Kennedy and a
friend, future America’s Cup winner Emil “Bus” Mosbacher,
had an impromptu competition off Newport to see
whether Manitou could beat his 38ft Weatherly. Sadly,
the boats got so close approaching a mark that the
secret servicemen in their RIB, nervous already at this
sudden and unexpected turn of speed, intercepted Bus –
much to the annoyance of the president.
During his time he not only used Manitou as a
presidential yacht, but also invited a bevy of stars and
starlets aboard as guests, due to his fascination with
Hollywood. The bathtub in the aft cabin, sunken under
the cabin sole, is said to have been host to, among
others, Marilyn Monroe.
In 1968, Manitou was returned to private ownership in
1968 when she became a training vessel for the Harry
Lundeberg School of Seamanship in Maryland. The boat
took on the nickname: "Floating White House". In
the same year, Aristotle Onassis was wooing Jackie
Kennedy, and, as a token of his love, twice attempted to
buy it back for her at “any price.” But that only
strengthened Hall's resolve to keep her for teaching
less privileged children.
In
1999, Manitou was sold to Laura Kilbourne, granddaughter
of James R. Lowe, the original owner. Manitou was then
given a comprehensive refit at Deagle's Marine Railway
in Deltaville, Virginia. In late 2010 she was sold to
four joint owners and underwent an extensive refit in
early 2011. She was then shipped to the Mediterranean
where she was raced extensively and made available for
charter out of ports on the French Riviera.
We build this primarily wood Manitou yacht 20"
long and 30" long. One will be completed soon. Email
us for price and time.
