Isolde 12 US 2

Overview

ISOLDE (US-2) was one of six 12 Metres ordered by the New York Yacht Club in 1928 for comparison racing. Designed by William Starling Burgess and built by Abeking & Rasmussen, she shared her hull form with her sisterships Waiandance (US-1), Tycoon (US-3), Iris (US-4), Anitra (US-5) and Onawa (US-6). While the six yachts were identical below the waterline, each differed in deck layout, interior plan, and rig configuration.

The series was conceived to test ideas in yacht design and seamanship within a controlled fleet. Built in only five months, the six hulls were shipped together to Halifax for rigging, then sailed to the United States to avoid heavy import duties. The builder’s lists from Abeking & Rasmussen confirm the 1928 construction and Burgess’s authorship.

Construction and Design

ISOLDE was built under the International Second Rule, which governed the 12 Metre class between 1920 and 1933. Like her sisters, she was of composite construction—every alternate frame made of galvanized steel, with Honduras mahogany planking and steel floor plates for strength and weight efficiency.

Her design emphasized speed, stiffness, and fine handling, and she was rigged as a Bermudan sloop for inshore competition. The build quality was exceptionally high, reflecting both Burgess’s design precision and Abeking & Rasmussen’s craftsmanship at the height of their wooden-yacht era.

Ownership and Racing History

1928–1929 – Henry L. Maxwell, Larchmont, New York. ISOLDE’s early racing record included one first-place finish out of six races in 1928 and a single win from eight starts in 1929.
1930–1935 – Spencer Borden, Larchmont and Fall River, Massachusetts. Renamed Sally Ann.
1935–1936 – Thomas N. Dabney, Boston, Massachusetts. Renamed Ptarmigan.
1937–1942 – Arthur C. Stewart, Los Angeles, California. Renamed Soliloquy. Engine installed in 1937 and replaced in 1940.
1946–1960 – Wesley D. Smith, Balboa and Los Angeles, California.
1961–1977 – Given Machinery Co., Los Angeles, California.
1978 – Removed from yacht registries.
c.1988 – Reportedly sailed from California to Australia, hauled out, stripped of her lead keel, and broken up.

Significance and Legacy

ISOLDE was part of the most ambitious 12 Metre commissioning effort of the interwar period—a six-yacht program intended to push American yacht design forward through direct comparison sailing. Her composite construction was cutting-edge for 1928, representing one of the earliest uses of mixed metal and wood framing in metre-class design.

Although her later years were far from the regatta circuits of Larchmont and Newport, ISOLDE’s history mirrors that of many great Twelves: fast, adaptable, and ultimately sacrificed after decades of service. Today, she is remembered as one of Burgess’s early American Second-Rule 12 Metres and an integral piece of the 1928 Abeking & Rasmussen fleet that helped shape the next generation of U.S. 12 Metre design.