Arthur
Knapp, Jr.
Arthur Knapp earned one of the most successful yacht
racing records of all time. In 1916, Knapp's father
gave him a 12-foot sneakbox-type Butterfly Class boat
that he named FLUTTERBY. He won his first championship
in 1918. In 1922, with George Hinman and Sterling
Kryder in his crew, "Knappy" won the second
Sears Cup Races for the Junior Championship in Marblehead.
He joined Olin and Rod Stephens aboard DORADE in the
1930 Bermuda race to finish second in Class-B. That
same year, Knapp won the Star Worlds. His racing career
included enough major honors in Stars, Etchells, Interclub
Dinghies, and International One Designs, to fill two
pages of a program at a 1988 Larchmont Yacht Club
dinner in his honor. Knapp was a member of Harold
S. Vanderbilt's afterguard aboard the 1937 America's
Cup Defender RANGER. He returned to America's Cup
competition in 1958 as the skipper of WEATHERLY in
the Cup trials.
His fabulous racing record and many contributions
to the sport earned him the Nathanael G. Herreshoff
Award of the United States Yacht Racing Union. In
1982, with Edward du Moulin, Knapp founded the Knickerbocker
Cup, the premier match racing event in the East, and
one of the five Brut Grand Prix Events. He is also
the author of the popular book, Race Your Boat Right.