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Historic life preserver ring from John F. Kennedy's beloved sailboat 'Victura,' measuring 19˝ in diameter, featuring "Victura" painted in large navy blue lettering over the white-painted surface. The canvas-covered life ring features four canvas bands retaining a hemp rope, and includes a bill issued to customer "John F. Kennedy" by the Hyannis Marine Service, dated September 30, 1961, charging $44 for "Hurricane haul out, shore up, relaunch" for the "Sailboat 'Victura.'" The ring is impressively mounted in a shadowbox display with the bill and two images of JFK on the boat to an overall size of 29.5 x 35. In very good to fine condition, with expected wear and flaking to paint.
Provenance: Lot 277, Alexander Historical Auctions, February 24, 2007; originally obtained from the auction of a delinquent Hyannis storage locker, believed to have belonged to an employee of Joan Bennett Kennedy.
Dave Powers, a longtime friend of President Kennedy and founding curator of the Kennedy Library, wrote: 'Victura was among the President's most prized possessions. A gift on his fifteenth birthday, he sailed it as a young man, Navy hero, Congressman, Senator, and finally as President. It was on the Victura that he began winning races at the age of 15, and on which he taught his wife Jacqueline how to sail. If the President wasn't sailing on Victura, he was thinking about it as evidenced by his many doodles of the sailboat…When the President visited Hyannis Port, he was never happier than when he was at the helm of Victura.'
The 'Victura' remains an enduring symbol of JFK's passion for the sea. Since 1980, the sailboat has been exhibited from May to November on the grounds of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, overlooking the Dorchester Bay section of Boston Harbor. An important, highly appealing Kennedy relic.
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