It's a four-kilometer walk up the Barcelona coast from Ben Ainslie's base, where the America's Cup is played, to an apartment overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. In it you will find the descendant of a man who was quite extraordinary and has long been forgotten.
People don't talk about Charlie Barr as much anymore. Not at all, really. And for Alasdair Purves, his great-great-grandson, it was a bit of a mystery whenever he went out on the balcony over the last few months.
He has watched the America's Cup trials take place from this same spot on the waterfront, so he is well aware that Ainslie and his INEOS Britannia crew are on the verge of making history. Indeed, if all goes to plan over the next 10 days, starting on Saturday, Ainslie will lead the British team to victory for the first time in the 173-year history of the sport's oldest international trophy.
But he wouldn't be the only captain from our shores to achieve it. To this day, that distinction belongs only to Barr, a five-foot-tall Scot who won the Cup three times in a row in 1899, 1901 and 1903, albeit with the diabolical footnote that each of them was at the helm of American yachts and achieved in comparison to boats sailing under Union flag.
While 16 British teams have lost in the final since 1851, and many others have failed to make it that far, this working-class boy from Gourock did more than anyone else to cause them to fail.
Charlie Barr, pictured in 1903, captained the yachts that won the America's Cup three times
Barr was a Scot, but won the United States Cup three times in 1899, 1901 and 1903
His story, from his adventures and bets with Kaiser Wilhelm II to his acts of fearlessness in the name of romance, is rather fantastic. But it's also one that has largely been lost to the wind.
“I recently met Ben Ainslie,” says Purves, who is 42 and emigrated to Barcelona from southern England a few years ago to work in the yachting industry. “I told him I had an ancestor who won the America's Cup three times, and after a few pointers, he smiled and said, 'Charlie Barr.'
“He knows his history and I really liked that because Charlie was largely forgotten outside of a few sailing historians, a bit exaggerated.
“The other day I went to the America's Cup museum and watched the history of the cup. They included Grant Dalton, the sailing legend who leads the New Zealand team that will face Ainslie.
“They won their last two games, so in the video he says no one has ever won this tournament three times in a row, and I rolled my eyes. I wish more people knew exactly what happened before.
As Ainslie prepares to get his team out on the water, thanks to a £250 million bailout from Sir Jim Ratcliffe, Barr provides a fascinating snapshot in time.
Born in 1864, he did not come from a privileged family. “His mother died when he was four, and his father didn't want him to go to sea, so he sent him to work in a greengrocer's shop,” Purves says. “He ended up following one of his brothers fishing, and there is a great story that I only recently discovered while looking through microfiche from a long-defunct Rhode Island newspaper.
Ben Ainslie will captain British team INEOS Britannia against Emirates Team New Zealand in the 2024 Cup, a 13-race series taking place this month in Barcelona
Great Britain has not won the America's Cup for 173 years and no boat flying the British flag has competed in the final since 1964
“It happened off the coast of Scotland when he was about 14 years old. The boat was caught in a terrible storm and was taking on water as it went further and further out to sea. The older boys were falling down from exhaustion, and finally this skinny kid grabbed the tiller and steered the boat through the crashing waves. He was credited with saving the entire crew and was a pivotal moment in his early life.
“Then the local crews wanted him on board. In 1884, his half-brother was commissioned to deliver a yacht across the Atlantic to New York for a Scottish businessman who was betting with other wealthy gentlemen that his boat would wipe everyone on the floor. Instead of Charlie coming back, he stayed around to race for him and they won every single one of them. Then he was invited the next year and they won all the races that year as well.
“What was interesting was that he raced a boat designed by Nathaneal Herreshoff – to give you an idea of Herreshoff, he was the Leonardo da Vinci of yacht design and became one of the greatest in history. But suddenly this great captain from Scotland beat one of his yachts in some regatta, in a boat that really shouldn't have won, and then disappeared again to go fishing for another season.
Such was Barr's reputation at this stage, the dominant New York Yacht Club and Wall Street giant John Pierpont Morgan chose him as their captain of choice and placed Barr on the Herreshoff to direct their 1899 campaign.
Until then, the NYYC had claimed victories in each of the 10 editions that had preceded them, tightening an iron fist around the Auld cup since it was initially contested on the Isle of Wight before Queen Victoria in 1851. Of these victories, British yachts were the recipients in the seventh year, and the programs were supported by an earl, knight of the realm, lieutenant in the Royal Navy and railway tycoon in James Lloyd Ashbury, who later became a Tory MP.
The next Briton to take part in this race in 1899 was Sir Thomas Lipton, who came from a tenement house in Glasgow and made a fortune in the tea trade. Pitching his yacht Shamrock against Barr's Columbia, Lipton was defeated 3-0.
Ainslie, 47, is desperate to become the first captain to lead Great Britain to victory in the America's Cup
Ainslie, born in Cheshire, previously worked as a tactician for Team New Zealand
In the final of the next two editions, in 1901 and 1903, Lipton again faced the same player and in both cases the score was repeated 3-0.
“The last one, Charlie was racing a brand new boat called Reliance,” says Purves. “It was Herreshoff's masterpiece, but it was so powerful and with so much sail area that you really had to keep it on a knife's edge. Herreshoff was quoted as saying that Charlie Barr was the only man who could sail it safely, and he did.
“At that point he was considered the greatest captain in the world. I find it wonderful to think that this man from the west of Scotland was in the USA and was praised by the richest people in America. The likes of JP Morgan, William Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt paid him well to lead their teams.
Although Lipton's efforts to end Britain's losing streak extended to two consecutive defeats in the finals, he was ultimately recognized as the only man to ever make good money from an America's Cup campaign – sales of his tea in the US skyrocketed, sparking interest in his refusing to give up.
As for Barr, his attention changed tactics and an unusual rivalry with the ruler of Prussia, Wilhelm II, blossomed. The Emperor was obsessed with sailing and regularly failed against Barr, which laid the groundwork when, in 1905, Wilhelm proposed a regatta across the Atlantic.
“The Kaiser was a flamboyant villain, even pompous,” says Purves. “He fielded his best yacht, Hamburg, and staffed it with the best sailors of the German Navy. Even though he had no intention of racing it himself, he really wanted to beat Charlie and prove that the Germans ruled the waves.
“Charlie was hired by Wilson Marshall to captain his yacht Atlantic and eventually made a bet with Kaiser Bill. The Kaiser said to him, “If you win, you can take anything you want from my boat,” and Charlie chose the ensign at the back, the Emperor's flag of that great, great eagle.
Ainslie won five Olympic medals – one silver and four gold, including one in London 2012
Ainslie pictured with one of her Olympic gold medals in London's Trafalgar Square in 2008
“The background to this case is that Charlie's wife was seriously ill with tuberculosis. I traced all the steps in libraries and family histories and it turned out that she had two weeks to live. He didn't want to race, but his sponsor wouldn't take no for an answer and offered the best treatment money could buy.
“Charlie agreed to do it and there's a great scene that happened halfway through when they were hit by a terrible storm. The Atlantic Saloon was flooded and Mr. Marshall, the owner, lost his temper and ordered Charlie to slow down and be careful. Charlie apparently replied, “You hired me to win this race,” and then locked him in the living room! He then won and took over the emperor's flag.
Barr's record from Sandy Hook to Cornwall – 12 days and four hours – remained unbroken for 75 years, but Barr's legacy appears to have faded more quickly.
Time will tell whether Ainslie will be able to repeat his America's Cup success over the next two weeks, or whether his partnership with Ratcliffe will follow the example of many other teams in these parts. Unfortunately, they had already achieved a high rating, delivering the first British finalist since 1964.
“I hope he and INEOS win it,” says Purves. “The idea of Ben drinking champagne from the same trophy as Charlie is really cool.”
It can also breathe new life into a forgotten hero.
