The Canada's Cup has a employed a variety of design
types over the last 100 years, from the P-class
Universal Rule boats of the turn of the century
to the 8-Metres of the International Rule of the
1930s and 1950s and on to the offshore keelboats
of the Cruising Club of America Rule and International
Offshore Rule of the 1960s through the 1980s. But
design-more to the point, participating clubs agreeing
on a design-has long been one of the sticking points
to arranging matches.
After the 8-Metre heyday of the
1930s, in which three vigorous series were held
from 1930 to 1934 between the RCYC and Rochester
Yacht Club, the cup fell dormant essentially for
thirty-five years. A depression and a world war
were in part to blame, but trying to decide what
sort of design development the cup should foster
was a major impediment to keeping the trophy active.
A one-match revival in 8-Metres, won by the RCYC,
was held in 1954 as part of this Club's centennial
celebrations, but another 15 years passed before
the trophy returned to regular competition with
the switch to offshore keelboats designed initially
under the CCA in 1969, then the IOR. Between 1969
and 1988, seven matches were sailed as the contest
was held on an almost regular three-year basis.
After the 1988 win by Bayview Yacht Club in IOR One
Tonners, the cup entered another period of stasis.
IOR competition was on the decline, and it was difficult
to decide what should supplant it for the venerable
trophy. A bold initiative was agreed to for 1994:
a match in level-rating 30-foot MORC designs. The
MORC boats were a good ten feet shorter than the designs
traditionally used for Canada's Cup, but they brought
unprecedented participation to the Canadian challenger's
selection trials. In addition to Absolute, the contender
from the RCYC, which hosted the trials, entries also
appeared from first-time Canada's Cup participants
National Yacht Club and Sarnia Yacht Club. Absolute
won the trials and travelled to Lake St. Clair to
meet Champion Eagle of Bayview. There, unfortunately,
a weakness of the MORC rule was exposed. MORC's minimal
controls on design dimensions permitted two very different
yachts to show up for the finals. Absolute was a light-air
rocket, while Champion Eagle prevailed in moderate
to heavy conditions. After taking a 2-1 series lead,
the Absolute team watched the weather turn in Champion
Eagle's favour as the Bayview defender ran up six
straight wins to take the best-of-13 series, 7-2.
With MORC struck off for future contests, RCYC and
Bayview strove to choose a design that could foster
close competition. In 1996, Champion Eagle skipper
Wally Cross proposed a match in former America's Cup
12-Metres, but nothing came of it. Finally, the two
yacht clubs opted for the break with tradition in
the interest of getting the trophy back in regular
competition. As a one-design, the Farr 40 should ensure
very close racing, placing a renewed emphasis on crew
skills and tactics. The design is also in the traditional
size range of Canada's Cup yachts. Everyone would
like to see a repeat of the 1988 match, in which a
pair of IOR One Tonners, Bayview's Challenge 88 and
RCYC's Steadfast AT&T, struggled through all seven
races of the final series in Toronto to secure the
upper hand. Only after a furious tacking duel on the
final leg of the final race did Challenge 88 prevail
with a win of less than 20 seconds and return the
trophy to Bayview Yacht Club after a ten-year absence.
In the fall of 1896, cutter Canada, R.C.Y.C. AEmilius
Jarvis skipper, successfully defeated Vencedor, C.Y.C.,
J. G. Barbour skipper at Toledo. Thus the "Canada's
Cup" match racing legacy between Canada and the
United States was born. The Canada's Cup Race was
originally planned to be held every two years but
circumstances on several occasions made that impossible.
Over the past 105 years, 18 match races have been
run. Canada has won 7 Canada's Cup matches and the
U.S. has won 11. The details are as follows;
1899 Sloop Genesee of Rochester, Chicago Yacht Club,
C. G. Davis skipper, defeated sloop Beaver, R. C.Y.C.,
AEmilius Jarvis skipper at Chicago.
1901 Sloop Invader, R.C.Y.C., AEmilius Jarvis skipper,
defeated sloop Cadillac of Detroit, C.Y.C., W. M.
Hale Thompson skipper at Chicago.
1903 Cutter Irondequoit, Rochester Yacht Club, Jas.
Barr skipper defeated cutter Strathcona, R.C.Y.C.,
AEmilius Jarvis skipper at Toronto.
1905 Sloop Iroquois, R.Y.C., L. G. Mabbett skipper,
defeated sloop Temeraire, R.C.Y.C., E. K. M. Wedd
skipper at Rochester.
1907 Sloop Seneca, R.Y.C., Addison G. Hanon skipper,
defeated sloop Adele, R.C.Y.C., AEmilius Jarvis skipper
at Rochester.
1930 Sloop Thisbe, R.Y.C., W. P. Barrows skipper,
defeated sloop Quest, R.C.Y.C., N. R. Gooderham skipper
at Rochester.
1932 Sloop Conewago, R.Y.C., Wilmont V. Castle skipper,
defeated sloop Invader II, R.C.Y.C., Walter Windeyer
skipper at Rochester.
1934 Sloop Conewago, R.Y.C., Wilmont V. Castle skipper,
defeated sloop Invader II, R.C.Y.C., Walter Windeyer
skipper at Rochester.
1954 Sloop Venture II, R.C.Y.C., David Howard skipper,
defeated sloop Iskareen, R.Y.C., Howard Klitgard skipper
at Rochester.
1969 Sloop Manitou, R.C.Y.C., P. R. Connolly &
G. Fisher skippers, defeated sloop Niagara, C.Y.C.,
John Lovett skipper at Toronto.
1972 Sloop Dynamite, B.Y.C., Lloyd Ecclestone skipper,
defeated sloop Mirage, R.C.Y.C., G. Fisher skipper
at Toronto.
1975 Golden Dazy, B.Y.C., Don Criner skipper, defeated
Marauder, R.C.Y.C., David Howard skipper at Detroit.
1978 Evergreen, R.H.Y.C., Don Green skipper, defeated
Agape, B.Y.C., Terry Kohler skipper at Detroit.
1981 Coug, R.H.Y.C., Tony Ronza skipper, defeated
Black Magic, B.Y.C., Mike Thompson skipper at Hamilton.
1988 Challenge 88, B.Y.C., John Unis skipper, defeated
Steadfast AT&T, R.C.Y.C., Fred Sherratt skipper
at Toronto
1994 Champion Eagle, B.Y.C., Wally Cross skipper,
defeated Absolute, R.C.Y.C., Hans Fogh skipper at
Detroit.
2001 Defiant, R.C.Y.C., Terry McLaughlin skipper,
defeated Saturn, B.Y.C., Robert Hughes skipper at
Detroit. .
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