Harmsworth Cup

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The Harmsworth Cup is the popular name of the historically important British International Trophy for Motorboats.

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 [1] and may have been relaxed further since.

It was founded by Alfred Charles William Harmsworth in 1903.

In the beginning, it was a very primitive affair, with many boats failing even to start. [2]

England won the trophy in 1903 with Dorothy Levitt driving a Napier powered, steel hulled, boat at 19.3 mph in Cork harbour, Ireland. It was owned and entered by Selwyn Edge the owner of Napier Motors. France won in 1905.

In 1907, it was won by Americans for the first time. [3]

The US and England traded it back and forth until 1920. From 1920-1933, 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 1929 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." [4]

The Harmsworth was reinstated in 1949[5] and remained in American hands until 1959.

In 1959, Canadians won the award. [6] 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 intil 1986.[7]

The trophy was awarded sporadically from 1986 through to 1995. In 1989 it was awarded to Stefano Casiraghi, husband of Princess Caroline of Monaco.