Klassiske Linjer nr 10 1999 - Klassisk Treseiler Klubb

18
Glimpses from the French yachting
scene: 1890 – 1940
CHRIS ENNALS
It may seem presumptuous of
me to attempt such an outline,
relying as I do solely on
Norwegian sources.
Nevertheless, one of the
The French schooner
SUZANNE, 1913
KLASSISKE LINJER NR.10 MAI 1999
purposes of the Royal
Norwegian Yacht Club´s magazine
SEILAS, founded 1906,
was to publish reports from
regattas held abroad, especially
if there was Norwegian participation.
For the year 1913, then,
I was able to find some information
on the third Europe
Week at Le Havre, the French
seaport on the English Channel,
or La Manche. But first I must
describe how French yachting
really got going.
In the year 1890 some members
of the «Societe Maritime
du Yacht Club de France»
decided to form a syndicate to
encourage French yachting
design and building. On 24
March 1891 this syndicate
offered «La Coupe de France»,
the French Challenge Cup, as
an international trophy –
15,400 francs were collected
for this purpose. Owners of
yachts from 5 - 20 tons were
invited to compete, but only
recognized European yacht
clubs could present a challenge,
and the competition had
to be held in French territorial
waters. This last stipulation was
modified in 1895 to «up to 200
nautical miles from France».
Both the Royal Thames and
Royal Temple Yacht Clubs from
England presented challenges;
the Temple´s challenge was
accepted and in May 1897 the
English club beat the French at
Cannes with their yacht
GLORIA. Before the First World