David Doyle Books News #116

Announcing Our Winner!

Dear Friends,

Denise and I pray that all of you are doing well.  As a very warm week here winds down, we look forward to the promise of a cooler week next week, which we hope will allow us the opportunity to unpack the inventory we got some time ago from a closing hobby book distributor – stay tuned for future issues of our newsletter – but please, don’t ask “did you get…?” because I simply don’t remember, and I didn’t write it down!

Sometimes, like last week, our newsletter has a whole lot of “business” in it – this week’s has a bit more fun.

Most of you have heard of the America’s Cup – but do you know how it got that name? On this day in 1851 the U.S. schooner America won the Royal Yacht Squadron's 53-mile (85 km) regatta around the Isle of Wight.  The prize was the Squadron's silver “£100 Cup Cup.” The winners then gifted the trophy to the New York Yacht Club to be used as a perpetual prize – and the cup was thereafter known as the America’s Cup. 

While you may find the above interesting, you may wonder what it has to do with military history.  A couple of things, actually – immediately following the race the schooner was sold to a new overseas owner, and thereafter it went through a series of owners and name changes – one of which put her to work as a Confederate blockade runner, sailing as the Memphis. She was scuttled in Florida to prevent capture, was raised by the US Navy, which restored her name America and used her as a blockade ship.

A 132-year winning streak by the New York Yacht Club followed the 1851 victory, and two brothers were involved in the design or crewing of eight of the winning yachts: Olin and Roderick Stephens.

In addition to yachts, the brothers, especially Roderick (Rod), were heavily involved in other designs with which you may be more familiar: the DUKW, the GPA and the M29C.  In recognition of these accomplishments, from now through 26 August we are offering an additional 20% off our already low prices on the books on these subjects – simply enter the discount code ROD during checkout.

This week we restocked Legends of Warfare and Classic Warships – and unfortunately also got a few more books damaged in shipping. We are offering these at an additional discount on our Dented but Still Good page.

Finally, what many of you have been waiting for – the winner of our Tamiya RSO kit is George Merritt.  George, in order to claim your prize, please drop us a note from the email address you used to register for the drawing  If George does not claim his prize by 26 August, a new winner will be drawn.

Denise and I remain grateful for the support of each of you.
 
Sincerely,

David and Denise Doyle

https://daviddoylebooks.com