SCHOONER MISTRESS 

A former flagship of the New York Yacht Club, Schooner Mistress was built in 1930 for George Emlem Roosevelt, of Oyster Bay, Long Island–a cousin (once removed) of President Teddy.  He was a prominent banker, philanthropist and railroad financier.  George commissioned Charles Sherman Hoyt (who served as draftsman for Henry J. Gielow, Inc.) to design a yacht following the design rule parameters of the NYYC.  The result was a wooden schooner, christened Mistress, built by Eastern Shipbuilding Corporation of Shelbourne, Nova Scotia.  During his distinguished yachting career, George Roosevelt was elected commodore of three of the country’s most prominent clubs – The New York Yacht Club, Seawanhaka Corinthian Yacht Club, and the Cruising Club of America.

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With her stark black topside, the Schooner Mistress was Roosevelt’s special delight for 30 years.  She was an able competitor in blue water races to Bermuda and across the Atlantic.  After Roosevelt died in 1963, Mistress became a training vessel, renamed Commodore, at SUNY Maritime Academy at Ft. Schuyler on Long Island Sound.  Upon her sale, she was christened Mistress again and became a fixture of the charter scene in St. Thomas USVI.  In the mid 1970s she was sold again, and subsequently went through a series of private owners–at one point making the passage to Hawaii.

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In 1987, the Brothers McCormick acquired the vessel. They spent the next several years rebuilding her from stem to stern, masthead to keel. Retaining the classic details on the exterior, the interior was rebuilt using local exotic hardwoods by Key West artisan Jimmy Wray, who gained inspiration from famed woodworker/artist George Nakashima.  With Glenn McCormick at the helm, she has participated in several Classic Yacht Regattas in Antigua, toured with the Tall Ships in OPSAIL 2000, and engaged in several Great Chesapeake Bay Schooner Races. Mistress cruised throughout the Chesapeake, Caribbean and New England waters for decades before settling in at her current home on Chase Creek off the Severn River near Annapolis. She is a wonderful home on the water and is ready to take to the seas once again.