A fleet of 46 offshore racing yachts this Saturday will sail for one of Australia’s oldest and most prestigious yachting trophies, the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s Gascoigne Cup, over a 20 nautical mile course off Sydney Heads.
The entries range from the tiny Farr 747 Therapy, skippered by Tom Cehak, through to Andrew Short’s 80-footer Andrew Short Marine Brindabella, a past line honours winner of the Rolex Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.
The Cup is part of the season’s short ocean pointscore, with 25 boats entered in Division 1 and 21 in Division 2. The Cup is awarded to the yacht with the lowest corrected time based on PHS handicaps, although IRC results are also declared.
The Gascoigne Cup has been in the possession of the Squadron for 122 years ago and raced for almost every sailing season.
Colonel F G F Gascoigne, the father of Captain Gascoigne, aide-de-camp to then Governor of New South Wales, donated the trophy in 1885, to be known as the Gascoigne Cup, to be competed for annual by yachts over 5 tons, until won three times in succession by the same yacht and the same owner. Captain Gascoigne was an active sailing member and later became owner of the yacht Carina.
The course was to be ‘at least 30 miles, including an ocean stretch,’ although it is now about 20 nm in length and raced wholly offshore except in heavy weather.
For the first race for the Gascoigne Cup, the RSYS added 20 pounds, 15 pounds for second and 10 pounds for third. These days, the prize is prestigious only - and the name of the winning yacht engraved on the old trophy.
The inaugural deed of gift for the Cup decreed that is was to be open ‘to yachts of the RSYS and other colonies (States) if their members were honorary members of the Squadron.’ The crews were to be amateurs, except for the yachts’ regular working hands.
The presentation of the Gascoigne Cup back in 1885 must have given quite an impetus to yachting racing as the opening of the sailing season saw ‘six yacht clubs participating, the biggest muster of yachts ever seen on Sydney Harbour until that time,’ according to the records of the RSYS.
Over the century and more of competition, many famous yachts has won the Gascoigne Cup, in latter years becoming part of the interclub short ocean pointscore racing off Sydney Heads.
In the late 1800s, the ‘midget’ race Ioanthe won the Cup twice, as did Thelma, owned by the then Commodore of the RSYS, Sir Alexander MacCormick, an eminent surgeon from Scotland. A two-times winner in the early 1900s was Culwalla 1, while in the 1930s the famous Bona won the Cup.
The deed of gift also declared that a yacht had to win the Gascoigne Cup in three successive seasons, under the same owner to retain the trophy. It seems that no yacht has yet achieved that goal.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the race to win the Gascoigne Cup was again keenly contested with winners including the Sydney Hobart handicap winner Cherana, designed by the late Alan Payne, the 8m class yachts Norske and Even, along with Norn and the topsail schooner Ada, later to become Astor and line honours winner of the Sydney Hobart Race.
Last year the Gascoigne Cup went the Sydney 36CR Amante, skippered by Dennis Cooper from the veteran former world One Ton Cup winner Stormy Petrel (Kevin O’Shea). Both yachts are entered again this year. – Peter Campbell Close Window »
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