About the Book
It is 1913. The membership of the New York Yacht Club possess more wealth and power than the US Congress. Vanderbilts, Astors and Carnegies essentially run the country from the squeaky leather couches of the NYYC’s 44th Street clubhouse.
Against the backdrop of the Ludlow massacre, the Wobblies, and the Triangle Shirt Factory fire, these NYYC plutocrats pit their egos and bet small fortunes on their favorite pastime: big yacht racing. It’s the most popular sport in the world, and its absolute pinnacle is the America’s Cup.
The massive sailing yachts, seven storeys tall, each require a crew of forty men to race them. Ambitious NYYC yachtsmen Harold S. Vanderbilt and Alexander Cochran arrive at Deer Isle, an impoverished fishing community in Maine, to recruit seamen for the upcoming America’s Cup race series versus British tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton. Generations of Deer Isle’s hardy sailors have helped the NYYC retain the Cup ever since 1851.
For two young brothers Davey (16) and Jacob Haskell (21), it is their one chance to get the heck out of Deer Isle, take a shot at Cup glory, and follow in the footsteps of their father Ernie. They will have to fight for places with the rival West Bay faction, especially the grizzly Gardie Green and his cronies. There are old scores to be settled.
The brothers impress the NYYC millionaires with their sailing skills—Jacob with his brute strength and agility, Davey with his knowledge and intuition. They both fall for Vanderbilt’s pretty Irish maid Edith. It drives a wedge between them. When Cochran’s hard-drinking concubine Rula Vanska fakes a theft and pins the blame on Edith, Davey endeavors to save Edith’s job and reputation; to his dismay, he realizes Edith has a crush on his bad-boy older brother instead.
