By J. Dennis Robinson
I missed the launch of the $3 million Privateer Lynx in Rockport, Maine in October 2001. It was an incredible event, I hear, with thousands of cheering spectators. I interviewed people who were on the scene for my book, America’s Privateer: Lynx and the War of 1812. Ten years after the book appeared, I got a call–the Lynx was back in town.
I wasn’t going to miss the launch of Little Lynx. It wasn’t quite as spectacular. Little Lynx is only a few feet long. There were not quite a dozen of us in attendance at South Mill Pond in Portsmouth for the maiden voyage. But the mini-schooner performed beautifully. She struck out like she was born to the waves–or ripples. I took a lot of photos to commemorate the moment.
We couldn’t find a teeny-tiny champagne bottle and the brass band got held up in traffic, so modeler Alain Jousse handled the launch on his own. Alain timed the vent to coincide with the incoming tide, a wise decision, since, after two quick turns of the pond, Little Lynx got hung up on a sandbar. But a rising tide lifts all boats, and soon the radio-controlled privateer was again on the prowl for prizes. With no other ships in sight, after half an hour of successful trials, Little Lynx returned to the dock.
Alain was pleased with the first run. He Would return to the pond, he promised, after installing the square topsails for greater speed. Plans for the model, he explained, came from Melbourne Smith, the designer of the modern Lynx, which is fashioned after an 1812 letter-of-marque built at Baltimore. The original Lynx was captured by the British in 1813.
The modern Lynx continues to prowl the Atlantic Coast from Florida to Canada each year. Lynx is registered at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She visits her home port often. In 2010, a total of 8,000 visitors came aboard during her visit.
Blog originally posted in November 2011. Docked, at first, in San Diego, on the West Coast, Privateer Lynx is now captained by Donald Peacock of Newmarket, NH and cruises the region in season.
[Three photos of model to here]
We couldn’t find a teeny-tiny champagne bottle and the brass band got held up in traffic, so modeler Alain Jousse handled the launch on his own. Alain timed the vent to coincide with the
incoming tide, a wise decision, since, after two quick turns of the pond, Little Lynx got hung up on a sandbar. But a rising tide lifts all boats, and soon the radio-controlled privateer was again on the prowl for prizes. With no other ships in sight, after half an hour of successful trials, Little Lynx returned to the dock.
Alain was pleased with the first run. He Would return to the pond, he promised, after installing the square topsails for greater speed. Plans for the model, he explained, came from Melbourne Smith, the designer of the modern Lynx, which is fashioned after an 1812 letter-of-marque built at Baltimore. The original Lynx was captured by the British in 1813.
The modern Lynx continues to prowl the Atlantic Coast from Florida to Canada each year. Lynx is registered at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She visits her home port often. In 2010, a total of 8,000 visitors came aboard during her visit.
Blog originally posted in November 2011. Docked, at first, in San Diego, on the West Coast,
Privateer Lynx is now captained by Donald Peacock of Newmarket, NH and cruises the region in season.
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