Harmsworth Cup

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The Harmsworth Trophy is the popular name of the historically important British International Trophy for Motorboats.

Garfield Wood holding the Harmsworth Trophy

The Harmsworth was the first annual international award for motorboat racing. Officially, it is a contest not between boats or individuals but between nations. The boats were originally to be designed and built entirely by residents of the country represented, using materials and units built wholly within that country. The rules were somewhat relaxed in 1949[1] and may have been relaxed further since.

It was founded by Alfred Charles William Harmsworth in 1903.

In the beginning, it was a very primitive affair, with many boats failing even to start.[2] England won the trophy in 1903 with Dorothy Levitt driving a Napier powered, steel hulled, boat at 19.53 mph at Queenstown (now Cobh) in Cork harbour, Ireland. It was owned and entered by Selwyn Edge the owner of Napier Motors. France won in 1904. In 1907, it was won by Americans for the first time.[3] The US and England traded it back and forth until 1920. From 1920-1933, Americans had an unbroken winning streak. Gar Wood won this race eight times as a driver and nine times as an owner between 1920 and 1933.

Time Magazine said of the 1920 race: "Many a race between shadowy contraband-carrying rumrunners and swift, searchlight playing patrol boats has been run on the narrow Detroit river. Last week 400,000 persons lined the river's edge to watch millionaires race millionaires."[4]

The Harmsworth was reinstated in 1949[1] and remained in American hands until 1959. In 1959, Canadians won the award.[5] The driver, Bob Hayward, won the Harmsworth again in 1960 and 1961. He died in another race in 1961. The Harmsworth was not run again until 1977, and continued to be run until 1986.[6]

The trophy has been awarded sporadically from 1986 through to 2010. In 1989 it was awarded to Stefano Casiraghi, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.

Trophy Winners

Napier motor yacht, 1903
right Dixie III as US Naval vessel
Miss America II
Year Venue Boat Owner Country Driver Ave. Speed (mph)
1903 Queenstown (now Cobh), Ireland Napier I Selwyn Edge UK E. Campbell Muir/Dorothy Levitt 19.53
1904 Solent, England Trefle-à-Quatre[7] Emile Thubron France Charles-Henri ("Hemri") Brasier 26.63
1905 Arcachon, France Napier II Selwyn Edge UK Lord Montagu 26.03
1906 Solent, England Yarrow-Napier Lord Montagu UK Lord Montagu 15.48
1907 Solent, England Dixie I Edward J. Schroeder USA Barkley Pearce 31.78
1908 Huntington Bay, New York Dixie II Edward J. Schroeder USA Barkley Pearce 31.35
1910 Huntington Bay, New York Dixie III Frederick K. Burnham USA Frederick K. Burnham 36.04
1911 Huntington Bay, New York Dixie IV Frederick K. Burnham USA Frederick K. Burnham 40.28
1912 Huntington Bay, New York Maple Leaf IV Sir E. Mackay Edgar UK Thomas Sopwith Sr 43.18
1913 Osborne Bay, England Maple Leaf IV Sir E. Mackay Edgar UK Thomas Sopwith Sr 57.45
1920 Osborne Bay, England Miss America I Garfield Wood USA Garfield Wood 61.51
1921 Detroit, USA Miss America II Garfield Wood USA Garfield Wood 59.75
1926 Detroit, USA Miss America V Garfield Wood USA Garfield Wood 61.12
1928 Detroit, USA Miss America VII Garfield Wood USA Garfield Wood 59.33
1929 Detroit, USA Miss America VIII Garfield Wood USA Garfield Wood 75.29
1930 Detroit, USA Miss America IX Garfield Wood USA Garfield Wood 77.23
1931 Detroit, USA Miss America VIII Garfield Wood USA George Wood 85.86
1932 Detroit, USA Miss America X Garfield Wood USA Garfield Wood 78.49
1933 Detroit, USA Miss America X Garfield Wood USA Garfield Wood 86.94
1949 Detroit, USA Skip-a-long USA Stan Dollar 94.1
1950 Detroit Slo-Mo-Shun IV USA Lou Fageol 100.6
1956 Detroit, USA Shanty I USA Russ Schleeh 90.2
1959 Detroit, USA Miss Supertest III J. Gordon Thompson Canada Bob Hayward 104.0
1960 Picton, Lake Ontario Miss Supertest III J. Gordon Thompson Canada Bob Hayward 116.3
1961 Picton, Lake Ontario Miss Supertest III J. Gordon Thompson Canada Bob Hayward 100.2
1977 Limit Up England Michael Doxford
1978 Taurus Australia Doug Bricker
1979 Uno Mint England Derek Pobjoy
1980 Long Shot USA Bill Elswick
1981 Satisfaction USA Bill Clauser
1982 Popeyes USA Al Copeland
1983 Fayva Shoes USA George Morales
1984 UK/Bahamas UK Hill, Jones & Wilson
1985 UK/Bahamas UK Hill, Jones, Wilson & Williams
1986 St.Louis,USA/UK USA Seebold/ Seebold, Thornton
1989 Atlantic City, USA Gancia Dei Gancia Monaco Stefano Casiraghi
1993 Cowes, UK La Nueva Argentina Daniel Sciolli
1994 Cowes, UK BP Marine Norway Andreas Ove Ugland
1995 Cowes, UK Admiral Casino Tivoli Austria Hannes Bohinc
2002 Cowes, UK Super Classic 40 Italy Buonomo/De Simone
2003 Poole/Cowes,UK Wettpunkt.com Austria Hannes Bohinc
2004 Cowes, UK Grand Argentina Sony Italy Fabio Buzzi/Lord Beaverbrook
2010 Cowes, UK Red FPT Fabio Buzzi

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1949 Race of the Giants
  2. ↑ 1904 Harmsworth Trophy
  3. ↑ 1907 Harmsworth Trophy
  4. ↑ Time Magazine
  5. ↑ 1959 Harmsworth Trophy
  6. ↑ All Harsmworth races
  7. ↑ (the four-leaf clover was the french symbol of Brasier, automobile manufacturer)

External links

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