Harmsworth Cup


The Harmsworth Cup, popularly known as the Harmsworth Trophy, is a historically important British international trophy for motorboats.

History

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 and may have been relaxed further since.
It was founded by the newspaper publisher Alfred Charles William Harmsworth in 1903.
In 1903, the course was from Cobh to the marina in Cork, Ireland. It was a poorly organised affair, with many boats failing even to start due to the British organisers claiming the French boats were not completely built in France, and thus they were excluded from the race. Thus there were three entries, but the organisers insisted in running heats before the final race. Mr F Beadel was excluded from competing in the final despite putting in a better time over the -mile course than Thornycroft England won the trophy in 1903 with Dorothy Levitt driving a Napier-powered, 40-foot steel-hulled boat at 19.53 mph at Queenstown in Cork harbour. It was owned and entered by Selwyn Edge a director of Napier Motors. France won in 1904. In 1907, it was won by Americans for the first time. The US and England traded it back and forth until 1920. From 1920 to 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."
The Harmsworth was reinstated in 1949 and remained in American hands until 1959. In 1959, Canadians won the award. 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.
In 1989 it was awarded to Stefano Casiraghi, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.
The trophy has been awarded sporadically from 1986 through to 2018, with a total of eleven earned in that time.

Trophy winners

YearVenueBoatOwnerCountryDriverAve. speed
1903Queenstown (now Cobh), IrelandNapier ISelwyn EdgeUKE. Campbell Muir/Dorothy Levitt19.53
1904Solent, UKTrefle-à-QuatreEmile ThubronFranceCharles-Henri Brasier26.63
1905Arcachon, FranceNapier IISelwyn EdgeUKLord Montagu26.03
1906Solent, UKYarrow-NapierLord MontaguUKLord Montagu15.48
1907Solent, UKDixie IEdward J. SchroederUSBarkley Pearce31.78
1908Huntington Bay, United StatesDixie IIEdward J. SchroederUnited StatesBarkley Pearce31.35
1910Huntington Bay, USDixie IIIFrederick K. BurnhamUSFrederick K. Burnham36.04
1911Huntington Bay, USDixie IVFrederick K. BurnhamUSFrederick K. Burnham40.28
1912Huntington Bay, USMaple Leaf IVSir E. Mackay EdgarUKThomas Sopwith Sr43.18
1913Osborne Bay, UKMaple Leaf IVSir E. Mackay EdgarUKThomas Sopwith Sr57.45
1920Osborne Bay, UKMiss America IGarfield WoodUSGarfield Wood61.51
1921Detroit, USMiss America IIGarfield WoodUSGarfield Wood59.75
1926Detroit, USMiss America VGarfield WoodUSGarfield Wood61.12
1928Detroit, USMiss America VIIGarfield WoodUSGarfield Wood59.33
1929Detroit, USMiss America VIIIGarfield WoodUSGarfield Wood75.29
1930Detroit, USMiss America IXGarfield WoodUSGarfield Wood77.23
1931Detroit, USMiss America VIIIGarfield WoodUSGeorge Wood85.86
1932Detroit, USMiss America XGarfield WoodUSGarfield Wood78.49
1933Detroit, USMiss America XGarfield WoodUSGarfield Wood86.94
1949Detroit, USSkip-a-longUSStan Dollar94.1
1950Detroit, USSlo-Mo-Shun IVUSLou Fageol100.6
1956Detroit, USShanty IUSRuss Schleeh90.2
1959Detroit, USMiss Supertest IIIJ. Gordon ThompsonCanadaBob Hayward104.0
1960Picton, CanadaMiss Supertest IIIJ. Gordon ThompsonCanadaBob Hayward116.3
1961Picton, CanadaMiss Supertest IIIJ. Gordon ThompsonCanadaBob Hayward100.2
1977Limit UpUKMichael Doxford-
1978TaurusAustraliaDoug Bricker-
1979Uno MintUKDerek Pobjoy-
1980Long ShotUSBill Elswick-
1981Dania, FLSatisfactionUSPaul Clauser & Errol Lanier78.6
1982PopeyesUSAl Copeland-
1983Fayva ShoesUSGeorge Morales-
1984UK/BahamasUKHill, Jones & Wilson-
1985UK/BahamasUKHill, Jones, Wilson & Williams-
1986St. Louis, US/UKUSSeebold/ Seebold, Thornton-
1989Atlantic City, USGancia Dei GanciaMonacoStefano Casiraghi-
1993Cowes, UKLa NuevaArgentinaDaniel Scioli91.6
1994Cowes, UKBP MarineNorwayAndreas Ugland51.3
1995Cowes, UKAdmiral Casino TivoliAustriaHannes Bohinc86.56
2002Cowes, UKSuper Classic 40ItalyBuonomo/De Simone52.40
2003Cowes, UKWettpunkt.comAustriaHannes Bohinc78.00
2004Cowes, UKGrand Argentina SonyItalyFabio Buzzi/Lord Beaverbrook75.93
2010Cowes, UKRed FPTItalyFabio Buzzi59.58
2011Cowes, UKCinzanoGermanyMarkus Hendricks65.26