RSYS's Gascoigne Cup - A rich tapestry of history

by Peter Campbell on 19 Oct 2009
Next Saturday, 24 October 2009, will see the 101st race for one of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron's most historic trophies, the magnificent Gascoigne Cup. The 2009 Gascoigne Cup will mark 124 years since it was first presented in 1886, as it was not awarded during the war years.

Many famous yachts and yachtsmen have won this iconic ocean race and as it moves into its second century, another strong fleet is expected to line up with yachts from all major Sydney clubs competing.

The Gascoigne Cup is one of three short ocean races the Squadron conducts each summer season, the others being the Morna Cup in November and the Milson Cup in February, each being part of the Combined Clubs Short Ocean Pointscore.

The Gascoigne Cup is by far the oldest and, arguably, the most prestigious short ocean race on the Sydney, if not Australian, ocean racing calendar. The trophy was presented to the Squadron in 1885 in honour of Captain Gascoigne, then Aide-de-Camp to Lord Carrington, Governor of New South Wales, for his heroic service in the Sudan campaign, which included an attempt to rescue the embattled General Gordon during the infamous siege of Khartoum.

The Cup was a challenge trophy to be competed for annually by yachts of over 5 tons measurement, until won three times in succession by the same yacht with the same owner, a requirement that was later amended in the Deed of Gift.

During the first 45 years of competition, a number of Squadron yachts were able to win two successive races and even more in total, but none could achieve three in a row. In 1933 the Deed was altered to make the Gascoigne Cup a perpetual trophy.

Remarkably, it was not until the 1950s that A F Albert's Norn achieved three consecutive wins (1952-1954) with five wins in total over 22 seasons, less the years of World War II.

The most successful yacht, however, has been that famous Admiral's Cup boat Caprice Of Huon which has won the Cup seven times; firstly skippered by Bill Northam in 1960 and then by Gordon Ingate who helmed the yacht in six of those victories, including the only other occasion of three successive victories (1962-65).

Last year's winner, the 100th, was Phil Bennett's John King-designed 11.4m sloop King Billy which had won previously, in 1993. She is expected to race again this year.

The original format of the race for the Gascoigne Cup was a combined inshore and offshore event, starting in Farm Cove, rounding Sow and Pigs and returning to round the Committee Boat in Farm Cove before sailing to Long Reef and back, a race distance of 30 nautical miles.

The first winner was Sir James Fairfax's boat Magic, a 48ft gaff rigged sloop and one of the crack yachts sailing at the Squadron in the 1880's. There have been many well known yachts which have carried off the trophy since, including A G Milson's Era and Dr A MacCormick's Thelma which each won the Cup twice before the turn of the century.

From Federation through to the start of World War II, noted double winners were T W Bremner's Scotia, S M Demster's Petrel, W M Marks' Culwalla II, H J Fitzpatrick's Bona, with A F Albert's Norn recording the first of her five wins in the 1932-33 season. M F Albert's Rawhiti became the first yacht to win the Gascoigne Cup three times, in 19922-23, 1924-25 and 1929-30.

After World War II with yacht racing resuming, Norn notched up her second win in the 1949-50 season. Her three successive victories came in the 1952-53, 1953-54 and 1954-1955 seasons, while other multiple winners in that decade also included D J Palmer's Even, with other 'metre' boats achieving success.

Caprice of Huon scored her first win, with Bill Northam on the helm, in the season of 1960-61. Gordon Ingate took over Caprice of Huon in 1962, scoring three successive wins in the Gascoigne Cup before taking the boat to England for the first of her two illustrious Admiral's Cup campaigns. Gordon won the Gascoigne Cup twice more with Caprice of Huon, in the seasons of 1966-67 and 1969-70. Another two-times winner in the 1960s was M R L Dowling's Tashtego.

The 1970s saw many Sydney Hobart Race competitors successful, including Jack Rooklyn's maxi Apollo and Stan Edwards' Margaret Rintoul II, the former Fastnet Race winner Ragamuffin. Remarkably, since the 1975-6 summer sailing season, the only yachts to have won the Gascoigne Cup more than once have been P J Watts' Arabesque in 1995 and 1996 and Phil Bennett's King Billy in 1993 and again last season.

However, over the last three-plus decades many well-known yachts have received a fine miniature of the majestic Gascoigne Cup, including Marshall Phillips' Sweet Caroline, Bart Ryan's Adrenalin, Jeremy Whitty's Szechwan, Ton Dunn's Sydney Hobart winner Ex-Tension, the former One Ton Cup winner Stormy Petrel, then owned by the late Tony Pearson, R N Tinning's Basilisk, Bill Manning's Cyan, Sean Langman's offshore flyer AAPT, and another successful ocean racing yacht, David Beak's Mr Beaks Ribs which won the CYCA Blue Water Pointscore last season.

This coming Saturday, the Gascoigne Cup will again be sailed offshore, weather permitting, but the start and finish could be within Sydney Harbour. Once again it promises to maintain the great tradition of this historic ocean racing event as a strong fleet does battle to have their name engraved on the base of the trophy as the first placed yacht on Performance Handicap.

Those 101 winners of the Gascoigne Cup represent a history of inshore and offshore yachting in Sydney over 124 years, now sailing into the event's second century of competition on Sydney Harbour and offshore.