Old Photograph Esplanade Gourock Scotland

Old photograph of people walking on the esplanade in Gourock, Renfrewshire, near Glasgow, Scotland. Charlie Barr, born Charles Barr in Gourock, in 1864, was an accomplished sailing skipper who three times captained winning America's Cup yachts. As a young man he was apprenticed as a grocer before working as a commercial fisherman. In 1884, he took a job with his older brother John, delivering a sailing yacht, Clara, to America. Clara's racing success was such that in 1887, John was selected to skipper the Scottish challenger, Thistle, the representative of the Royal Clyde Yacht Club; Charlie served as a member of the crew. Thistle was soundly defeated by Volunteer. In the process, however, the brothers Barr were introduced to Nathanael Herreshoff, and Charlie Barr's yachting career was launched. Captain Charles Barr was skipper of the yacht Columbia in 1899 and defeated Sir Thomas Lipton's Shamrock. Two years later, in 1901, Charlie Barr was again at the helm against a Lipton sponsored yacht, Shamrock II. In 1903, Barr was the captain of the winning yacht Reliance, one of the most famous racing yachts to be designed by Nathanael Herreshoff. He is best known for setting the record for the fastest crossing by a sailing yacht of the Atlantic Ocean on the schooner Atlantic in the 1905 Kaiser's Cup Transatlantic Race. Barr died whilst visiting Southampton, England on 24 January 1911; he is buried in Southampton Old Cemetery. The distance from Glasgow and Paisley to Gourock is 28 miles.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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