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YACHTING MONTHLY CUP Model Yachting’s equivalent to the “Americas Cup” In 1922 there was an active model yachtsman in the London area, Bill Daniels, who challenged “any model yachtsman world wide” to meet him in a race or series of races. He convinced his friend the editor of the sailing magazine Yachting Monthly, to donate a trophy for this contest and the “Yachting Monthly Cup” annual event was born. The yachts used for this challenge, which we now know as A class, were built to a formula, devised by the editor and Bill, and was loosely based on the 6 metre rule at a scale of 2 inches to the foot, and produced boats with an overall length limit of 19 feet 6 inches! although most were around 6 feet in length. The class was called the “Yachting Monthly 6metre” There was a club founded for this class The YM6mOA (Yachting Monthly 6 metres Owners Association) was founded in 1924, probably by Mr W J Daniels at the Rick Pond in Home Park Surbiton, south London. This club still exists but is now known as Hampton Court MYC. The first event was held at Gosport MYC in 1923 and was won by Bill himself sailing a boat he had designed & built for its owner J Scott Freeman a solicitor and keelboat sailor from the Upper Thames YC. Daniels went on to win the next two years securing the YM cup outright for his owner Scott Freeman, who donated the cup to the UTYC for competition in 14 foot dinghys, where it remains to this day. That could have been the end of the story, except that Yachting monthly very kindly presented a further very grand silver cup in 1926, which cannot be won outright and this trophy is still raced for to this day. The Yachting Monthly Cup centre. The Cup was challenged for every year in a similar format to the America’s Cup with the previous winner defending and a new hopeful skipper challenging. Many Americans challenged unsuccessfully as is reported below from a story in an American Model Yachting publication. In some articles, John Black, who had represented USA on several occasions, was described as the “Sir Thomas Lipton” of the model yachting world, in that he failed to win the Cup, time after time. According to a later article in Marine Models of 1937, this point was echoed: “a well-known model ”. yachtsman has said that this Cup has caused as much grief to America as the America’s Cup has to England The point being made here is that it was a period (1923–1948) when America would dearly have loved to win; it was by far the biggest challenge in model yachting. A win for Bill Bithell and Fred Pigeon in 1948 on British waters would be momentous indeed. This is just what happened. The Event continued every year and reached it’s zenith in its 50th anniversary year, 1973 at Fleetwood when 56 competitors raced for the MYA National Championship and 13 boats from 8 nations challenged for the YM cup. As time passed interest in the A class fell but the National Championship survived and celebrated it’s centenary in 2023 at Gosport. Although the large number of entries are a thing of the past, there are a dedicated number of about 20+ boats racing each year with many 2 & 3 generational families taking part. The 2nd YM Cup which celebrates it’s own centenary this year is still raced for, although not in it’s original challenge format. In 1986 as overseas entries dried up, the event was changed to a knock out competition held on the Wednesday of the Championship week, and was won the first time by a boat from Portugal! The Fleetwood club, the centenary hosts look forward to welcoming as many boats as possible to the centenary celebration regatta. Derek Priestley President Fleetwood MYC & MYA