The New Bedford Whaling Museum will be exploring how C. Raymond Hunt and W. Starling Burgess influenced the evolution of yacht design in an upcoming exhibit. “Power Performance and Speed in 20th Century Yacht Design: C. Raymond Hunt and W. Starling Burgess” opens December 9, 2016. The opening reception is free and open to the public. The exhibit will highlight each of these extraordinary innovator’s most notable contributions to the industry and looks to where their work continues to reverberate today in modern yacht design.
The exhibition will feature full-sized boats designed by Burgess and Hunt, the outstanding photography of Norman Fortier, trophies, tank test models, and ship models borrowed from private and corporate collections. One of the Museum’s greatest treasures is the 1/3 scale Concordia Yawl model by Tom Borges, with exquisite detailing and full rigging. A 1920 sailing canoe designed by Burgess, an early Boston Whaler, and an exquisitely restored 110 series sailboat will be on display as well. These will be complemented by ship models of Burgess and Hunt’s most iconic yachts, from America’s Cup J Boats to Hunt’s Deep V powerboat hull.
Videos and photographs of these and other yachts in action will illustrate the unprecedented beauty, power and speed brought to the industry by these two design masters and their continued influence on modern yacht design. Their legacy in modern yacht design is still prevalent and this exhibition will draw attention to their accomplishments and unique contributions.
The exhibition is a companion to two recent Museum publications, No Ordinary Being: W. Starling Burgess, Inventor, Naval Architect, Aviation Pioneer, and Master of American Design by Llewellyn Howland III, and A Genius at His Trade: C. Raymond Hunt and his Remarkable Boats by Stan Grayson.
