She was designed by Philip Rhodes and built by Luders Marine Construction Company at Stamford, Connecticut in 1958 for a syndicate of owners formed by New York Yacht Club members Henry D. Mercer, Cornelius S. Walsh and Arnold D. Frese.

Ring frames, hanging knees, mast step, floor timbers, and all fasteners are of bronze.

The defender selection trials pitted Weatherly against Columbia, Easterner and the newly designed and built Nefertiti.

She then motored up the Hudson and through the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes and on to the Palmer Johnson Shipyard in Wisconsin, where she was modified for offshore racing both on deck and below.

Weatherly had an active racing career on the Great Lakes and the SORC under the ownership of Doug Jones.