When John F. Kennedy needed a measure of distance from Washington, he often found it at the helm of Manitou, a slender wooden yawl built for speed and later adapted to carry the presidency onto open water.
The 62-foot yacht offered Kennedy something the larger presidential powerboats could not: the physical pleasure of sailing. Under canvas, with the New England coast or Chesapeake Bay in view, he could trim a course, feel the weather and briefly escape the ceremonial weight of office.
Designed by Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens, Manitou was commissioned by Chicago businessman and racing driver James R. Lowe. M.M. Davis & Son built the yacht in Solomons, Maryland, launching her in 1937. Her name came from the Manitou Passage in Lake Michigan. According to the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, “Manitou” means “Spirit of the Water.”
Born to Race
Lowe wanted a yacht capable of winning the demanding Chicago to Mackinac race, a passage of more than 300 miles through Lake Michigan’s unpredictable winds, sudden squalls and long stretches of open water.
Manitou delivered. In 1938, she won the Chicago-Mackinac Cup, finishing more than six hours ahead of the fleet and establishing herself as one of the great American racing yachts of her era. She later won the Port Huron to Mackinac race in 1940 and 1941.
Her profile carried the hallmarks of early Sparkman & Stephens design: a long, graceful overhang, narrow hull, balanced proportions and a sail plan suited to both light air and heavy weather. At 62 feet overall, with a waterline length of 44 feet, she combined offshore capability with accommodations refined enough for extended cruising.
In 1955, Manitou was donated to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. Cadets used her as a training vessel, learning seamanship aboard a yacht whose performance demanded close attention and practiced hands.
Kennedy Takes the Helm
Kennedy’s relationship with the sea began long before the White House. He grew up sailing around Cape Cod and raced the family’s 25-foot sloop, Victura, throughout his youth. During World War II, he commanded PT-109 in the Pacific. Even during presidential meetings, he was known to sketch sailboats on scraps of paper.
In 1962, Kennedy selected Manitou for presidential use. The Coast Guard yacht was fitted with communications and navigational equipment that allowed him to remain connected to Washington while underway. A radio direction finder, fathometer and radiotelephone transformed the elegant prewar racer into an unofficial command post.
The nickname “Floating White House” soon followed.
Kennedy sailed Manitou in New England and the Chesapeake, frequently joined by family members, friends and members of his staff. Photographs show him at the wheel in sunglasses and casual clothes, visibly at ease. The scenes reveal a president enjoying one of the few places where protocol could recede behind wind, water and the immediate demands of sailing.
Below deck, Manitou retained the warmth of a traditional American yacht. Polished wood surrounded a main cabin, galley, fireplace and private aft stateroom. The most discussed feature remains a sunken bathtub concealed behind teak doors.
Marilyn Monroe is said to have used it, although no reliable evidence confirms that she ever sailed aboard. Owners and historians have generally treated the story as irresistible maritime folklore, one more layer in the mythology surrounding Kennedy’s presidency.
A Presidential Yacht Restored
The government sold Manitou in 1968 to the Harry Lundeberg School of Seamanship in Piney Point, Maryland, for $35,000. She continued as a training vessel, although decades of institutional service eventually left the yacht in need of substantial work.
In 1999, Laura Kilbourne, a descendant of original owner James Lowe, acquired Manitou and began a comprehensive restoration. Later owners continued the effort, preserving her wooden structure, period interior and distinctive yawl rig.
Today, Manitou sails among the great surviving yachts of the 20th century, competing on the Mediterranean classic regatta circuit with the same poised silhouette that once crossed Lake Michigan and carried a president along the American coast.
Her appeal reaches beyond the Kennedy association. Manitou represents an era when speed, proportion and craftsmanship could coexist without excess. Her history contains racing triumphs, Coast Guard cadets, presidential communications and one famously unverified bathtub story.
Through it all, she remains what Kennedy valued most: a beautiful sailing yacht, responsive to the helm and ready to leave the shore behind.
