Trophies
To Spoil the Victors In Rolex Transatlantic Challenge
2005
New York, NY March 17, 2004 --
“To the victor belongs the spoils.”
If true, perpetual trophies in the Rolex Transatlantic
Challenge 2005 yacht race, from New York to England
to begin May 21, 2005, may well spoil the victors.
The Rolex Transatlantic Challenge, hosted by the
New York Yacht Club (NYYC) with the cooperation
of England’s Royal Yacht Squadron, is for
monohull yachts of at least 70 feet (LOD), attempting
to break the world’s oldest yacht-racing
record. In 1905, the three-masted schooner Atlantic,
a NYYC vessel, sailed from New York to the Lizard
in England in 12 days, four hours, 1 minute and
19 seconds. The 2005 race, registered with the
World Sailing Speed Record Council (WSSRC), will
also commemorate the 100th Anniversary of Atlantic’s
record.
The
New York Yacht Club is allocating four of its
most significant trophies to serve as symbols
for the overall transatlantic-race record and
for the elapsed “line honors” times
for each of the three divisions: classic, performance
cruising and grand-prix.
The
Commodore’s Cup, left, donated by Commodore
Elbridge T. Gerry in 1892, will symbolize the
west-to-east transatlantic race record for monohull
yachts on the traditional course between Ambrose
Tower and Lizard Point. This will be the first
time this trophy has been placed in competition
since 1892. The Commodore’s Cup stands 28
inches in height and is a classic ewer with a
maiden sitting beneath the pouring spout. It was
crafted by the silversmiths of the Whiting Co.
for Commodore Gerry.
Commodore
James Gordon Bennett Jr. donated three magnificent
silver trophies to the club in 1872. The trophy
selected as the elapsed time (line-honors) trophy
for the Classic Division from New York to the
Needles is the Commodore’s Challenge Cup
for Schooners. This trophy is approximately two
feet in height and, along with its two companions,
was crafted by Tiffany’s in New York. It
is an amphora crowned with a sea nymph holding
the reins of two wild horses emerging from a roiled
sea. The handles of the amphora – see left
below -- are coiled sea monsters. The names of
winners of the Challenge Cup are recorded on silver
plates affixed to the base. The most recent winner
was A. Robert Towbin’s Sumurun in the 1997
Atlantic Challenge Cup, this race’s predecessor,
hosted by the NYYC. A. Robert Towbin is the chairman
of the Rolex Transatlantic Challenge 2005.
It is fitting that three of these trophies come
from Commodore Bennett. Late one evening in 1866,
three young New York Yacht Club members fell to
boasting about the relative merits of their yachts.
Pierre Lorillard had a new centerboard schooner,
the 105-foot Vesta; Charles Osgood had his deep
and narrow 106-foot Fleetwing, and James Gordon
Bennett Jr., the 21-year-old son of the publisher
of the influential New York Herald newspaper,
had his 107-foot Henrietta. Thus began the world’s
first transatlantic race. Each owner anted up
$30,000 -- winner would take all.
The
Herald had recently exhorted "our smooth
water gentry" to "trip anchors and start
out on a cruise on blue water. Get off your soundings,
trust your sea legs for a while, reciprocate the
visits of your English cousins, visit your own
coast, go to South America, try Europe, call on
the Sultan; or if you have got the pluck, circumnavigate
the world, then come home and write a book. It
will perpetuate your memory, reflect luster on
your deeds, and redound to the honor of your country."
In
that wild-winter race in 1866, which finished
on Christmas Day, Henrietta decisively won the
inaugural transatlantic race. James Gordon Bennett
Jr. was the only owner to be aboard. The next
year he took over the newspaper from his father.
Bennett had been the youngest member of the NYYC,
named at age 16, would be its youngest commodore
when age 30 and its only two-term commodore.
The second Bennett trophy, the Brenton Reef Challenge
Cup – left -- is the elapsed-time trophy
for the Performance Cruising Division. The latest
winner of this trophy, which shows a statue of
Columbus standing beside a globe, was George Lindemann’s
schooner Adela in the Spirit of Tradition Division
of the 1997 Atlantic Challenge Cup.
The
third Bennett trophy, the Cape May Challenge Cup,
last photo, is the elapsed-time trophy for the
Grand Prix Division. This piece is a striking
example of a more modern design concept at the
threshold of American artistic experimentation
in the 1870s. Tiffany & Co. has cited the
Cape May Challenge Cup as a groundbreaking example
of its silver work during this time. This trophy
was last won by J. Craig Venter’s Sorcerer
in the Contemporary Division in the 1997 Atlantic
Challenge Cup.
These
trophies and other perpetual trophies from the
club’s collection, including the Sayre Cup,
awarded to the yacht to set the Fastest Elapsed
time from New York to the Needles, will be presented
at a prize-giving on the Royal Yacht Squadron
grounds following the race. The winners’
names and yachts will be suitably engraved on
the perpetual trophies, and they will be on permanent
display in the New York Yacht Club.
The
winners will receive Rolex timepieces as well
as keeper trophies that will represent the perpetual
trophies on display.
The
deadline for entries is January 21, 2005. To enter,
for the Notice of Race or further information:
On
the web at http://www.nyyc.org/ or http:/ or /www.transatlanticchallenge.org/
Sailing
Office NYYC Harbour Court
5 Halidon Avenue
Newport, RI 02840-3815 USA
email: sailingoffice@nyyc.org
Tel: +1(401) 845-9633
Fax: +1(401) 846-3303
