High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! "Volunteer" was the victorious American defender of the seventh America's Cup race in 1887 against Scottish challenger "Thistle"."Volunteer," a centerboard compromise sloop, was designed by Edward Burgess and built by Pusey & Jones Shipbuilding Company at Wilmington, Delaware in 1887 for owner General Charles J. Paine of the New York Yacht Club."Volunteer" had an all-steel frame and hull, with a deck of white pine.