Lot Details
Lot 327
Whiting Sterling Silver Yacht Trophy
1880s
Oval with scroll border, the center acid etched with yacht in rolling sea, the rim acid etched "Race Between the Captain of the Dauntless and Owner of the Coronet. March 12th 1887". Length 10 inches, approximately 9 ounces.
For two weeks in March 1887, the American public waited for news from London about the transatlantic yacht race between the Coronet and the Dauntless, two of the largest schooners at the New York Yacht Club. The Royal Thames Yacht Club in London proposed a race for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Year and Mr. R.T. Bush, owner of the Coronet challenged other club members to race over to join the race. A prize of $10,000 (almost $250,000 in today's currency) was put forward. The Dauntless's owner G.H. Colt took up the challenge and the two yachts set out for the finish line at Queenstown, Ireland from New York City on March 12th, 1887. The first transatlantic yacht race was only held in 1866 and this first generation of races could be treacherous as they battled weather and currents without modern equipment to help them through. Newspapers anxiously published sightings of the yachts as reported by ocean liners and other vessels as they arrived in port. On March 27 the Coronet arrived in Queenstown and claimed victory; the Dauntless, the favorite of the club, was thirty hours later. Newspapers reported a rough crossing with "mountainous waves... but fortunately no icebergs or fields of ice". The image on our trophy depicts one of the ships tossing in heavy seas and it is interesting that this commemorates the event without naming the winner and end of the race.
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