JFK’s sailboat fails to sell at auction

DALLAS (LOG NEWS SERVICE) — A sailboat once owned and raced by President John F. Kennedy has failed to sell at auction in Dallas.

Heritage Auctions says that the Star Class sailboat named Flash II failed to meet the consigner’s reserve on the boat of $100,000.

Failing to generate any bids during the auction on May 18 Heritage Auctions put Flash II up for sale on its website for $305,000 — three times the starting price at the auction.

The 22-foot sailboat, which was built in 1930, was owned and raced by the future president and his older brother, Joseph P. Kennedy, from 1934 through 1940.

After Kennedy sold the boat it passed through a series of owners. In 1996 the boat was sold to a man who later would be convicted of drug running.

The boat was seized by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in 2004 and eventually put up for auction in 2005.

The sailboat’s most recent owner is a Houston man who purchased the boat at the government auction.

Mark Prendergast of Heritage has said the boat had been painstakingly restored. He said, “Not only is it a piece of American history, it’s also seaworthy and ready for adventure.”

—A report from The Associated Press was used in this story.

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