In the 1930s, Vanity dominated the fiercely contested 20-foot open class on the West River, where boats had only to be sail-powered and under 20 feet long, and from 1934 through 1938 it kept a winning streak as many challengers tried unsuccessfully to match its speed. Galesville boatbuilder Captain Dick Hartge took up the challenge and designed and built four boats in hopes of defeating Vanity, losing each time, before devising a fifth design after his latest defeat. By the next afternoon he had a half-hull design for the boat that would finally win. With teenage skipper John Harding at the helm, Hartge's Ranger, the first Chesapeake 20, finished a three-mile race two seconds ahead of Vanity, giving millionaire Washingtonian Ozzie Owings and his boat their first loss in five years. That race launched the Chesapeake 20, and Hartge went on to build more than 50 boats from the design that beat Vanity.