Captain Charlie Barr

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“You hired me to win”
Barr to Atlantic ’s owner, Wilson Marshall

He set the Atlantic record in

12 days, 4 hours, 1 minute and 19 seconds
227-foot, 300 ton schooner Atlantic
His speed record stood for 75 years until beaten by Eric Tabarly in a foiling trimaran.
Whereas Charlie Barr’s monohull transatlantic race record stood for 100 years.

Year 1st AC Won

1899

AC Titles Won

Years Record Held

100

24hr record (nm)

341

Avg Speed (kts)

14.1

“Captain Barr was the greatest skipper who ever lived.

His career as a skipper of the cup was such a uniformly successful one that it would be hard to single out his greatest feat. All his races were wonderfully well sailed.”

-G.A. Cormack, Secretary of the New York Yacht Club,
quoted in The New York Times.

Barr was inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame in 1993
and into the National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011.

Charlie Barr biography by Shane Couch:

Charlie captained and raced some of the most famous yachts ever built. He raced Minerva, the crack 40 footer, that swept all before her in America, then Herreshoffs 46 footers Gloriana and Wasp not to mention racing Navahoe against the King’s yacht Britannia in England in 1893.

In 1895 he raced Vigilant against Defender in the Americas Cup trials. He so often getting the best of Capt Hank Haff of Defender that it was thought he should have helmed Defender in the Cup that year.

In 1899 and 1901 he Captained Columbia in the victorious Americas Cup campaigns of those years before moving on to the mighty Reliance of 1903.

In Response to the Kaiser’s challenge for a Trans Atlantic Race in 1905, Barr was placed in command of Wilson Marshall’s three-masted schooner Atlantic, a yacht with which he won immortal fame; winning the race and setting a monohull race record that was to remain unbroken for a hundred years

When Nat Herreshoff’s new schooner Ingomar raced in England in 1906 it was Barr in command sweeping the board in both the solent and against the best of the Kaisers schooners at Keil.

His final command was Westward with which he famously administered successive defeats on the fastest schooners in England and Germany. In one race he refused to yield his right of way simply because the Kaiser expected him to.

Capt Barr died rather suddenly died at Southampton in 1911 on the eve of departing with Westward to do battle with Herreshoff’s new schooner Elena.

Read more:
America Scoop article (a very good biography)
Classic Boat Magazine’s excellent three part series of articles on Charlie Barr:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Barr

America’s Cup Live Event Series

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Mission Statement

We are dedicated to preserving the spirit and legacy of Charlie Barr. By honouring his extraordinary achievements as one of the greatest skippers in history, our mission is to inspire and educate future generations with the story of his remarkable journey. We aim to support maritime heritage, foster a love for sailing, and instil the values of resilience and determination that defined Charlie Barr’s character.

In our endeavours to preserve the legacy of Charlie Barr we will deliver a series of projects:
These include our Youth Sailing Program “Sail Quest”, live events during this year’s America’s Cup season in Barcelona, the creation of a monument in his home town in Scotland,
and also a film that brings his compelling story to life.

Before
After!
Left to Right:
Marine Artist Shane Couch,
Captain Jim Thom.
Charlie’s descendant Alasdair Purves

Capt. Charles Barr
Memorial Restoration

This restoration was the first of our projects, and what better way to preserve his legacy than to give his memorial the respect it deserves.

We recently received a call from Jim Thom, the former captain of the schooner Atlantic and the gaff cutter Mariquita. Jim had visited Charlie’s grave in Southampton and suggested it was time to give it some attention. After a couple of visits and a lot of scrubbing, weeding and also laying down some fresh pebbles the site is looking much better! The stone has returned to its orginal colour and the lettering is legible once again. We’d like to say a special thank you to Jim Thom for all of his efforts and also to Shane Couch for his kind help in cleaning the stone too.

Throughout his career Charlie Barr won many high profile yacht races and achieved legendary status, yet today he remains an unsung hero of ours. Born in Scotland in 1864 he emigrated to the United States where he achieved fame as a skipper in the America’s Cup and died in Southhampton, England, whilst captain of the schooner Westward. He was just 46 years old, at the height of his racing career, when he had a fatal heart attack and fell into his wife’s arms. He is buried in Southampton Old Cemetery.

Charlie was captain of the cutter Navahoe, which he famously raced against King Edward VII’s yacht Britannia, when he first met his wife-to-be, Emily, in her father’s shop of marine instruments where she worked in Southampton. It must have been love at first sight because he returned a year later to marry her!

At his grave is a stepped pedestal surmounted by a stone cross inscribed with a heartfelt tribute from his wife, in front of this is an ornate stone anchor and chain.

About Alasdair

Alasdair is based in Barcelona, Spain. Over the last few years he has been charting the story of his great great grandfather Charlie Barr.
Alasdair also has a passion for sailing and in recent years has worked and raced on several classic boats such as
Eleonora, Kelpie of Falmouth, Mariette, Dione, Atlantic, Viveka and Marigold.