[4] It was ordered by a syndicate headed by Vice-Commodore Winthrop Aldrich,[4] designed by Starling Burgess,[2] and built by Herreshoff Manufacturing Company.
[11] However, when Burgess presented two models of an 80-foot sloop design to the syndicate for consideration in August, neither of them resembled Prestige.
[13] The precise waterline length of the yacht was fixed after analysis of historical meteorological data to predict the likely wind conditions during the races, followed by experiments with a 15-foot (4.6-metre) 544-pound (247 kg) model hull at the Naval Model Basin, based on the selected design.
By this method, he determined the minimum drag under predicted conditions would be generated with the hull scaled to a waterline length 80 feet.
[14] To maximise sail area, Enterprise's mast was designed to the maximum height allowable under the Racing Rules: 152 feet 6 inches (46.48 m).
The syndicate placed their order to build Enterprise with Herreshoff on August 1, 1929,[26] who gave the project the construction number 1146.
[33] Before the first of these races, a Mrs Churchman of Philadelphia, a friend of Clark's, presented the crew of Enterprise with a hamsa that became the boat's mascot and was fixed to the side of the navigator's cockpit.
[35] These mock races were of particular significance because of a prevailing opinion that the sturdier and heavier build of Enterprise and other J-class boats would inevitably make them slower than the previous generation of yachts.
[34] This opinion was soon disproved by Enterprise's performance in May as set out in the table below:[36] All but the last of these mock races had taken place at Long Island Sound.
[38] On June 9, Enterprise returned to Glen Cove for a series of races planned in Long Island Sound by the local clubs.
[39] Here she first raced against the three other yachts built as contenders to defend the America's Cup: Weetamoe, Whirlwind, and Yankee.
[39] This series convinced Burgess, and later Vanderbilt, that Whirlwind and Yankee were not a serious threat to Enterprise due to their longer waterline lengths.
[42] The following week, the J-class boats traveled to Newport for three races organized by the Eastern Yacht Club.
[47] Following the races, on July 26, Enterprise was nearly wrecked twice in one day while practicing near Jamestown: first when caught in an ebb tide that nearly carried her onto the Dumpling Rocks, then when a mechanical failure with her rigging nearly forced her aground in the Narrows.
[54] From August 2–9, the 1930 annual cruise of the New York Yacht Club offered a final opportunity for the contenders for the defense of the America's Cup to compete with each other prior to the selection trials.
[58][59] The optimum profile for a sail is curved, like an airfoil,[58][59] but in the Marconi rigs of the day, the foot of the mainsail was fixed all along its length to the rigid, straight boom.
[59] Burgess' solution was to commission a very wide boom, 4 feet (1.2 metres) across, tapered at both ends and triangular in cross section.
[58][60] The crew painted color-coded lines along the boom to indicate the correct peg placement for three different degrees of curvature.
[62] The final major modification to Enterprise came on August 14, with the fitting of a new rudder with a smoother surface and a substantially smaller area.
[72] A placard had been affixed to her bow, carrying the words "Enterprise, Successful Defender of The America's Cup, 1930".