Alexandra Cup Contestants Arrive in PT for WBF

With Aloha and Lady Van already in PT and Pirate on the way, this promises to be a very special WBF weekend on the Bay.

If you have not seen these boats, you owe it to yourself to head to Pt Hudson and take a look. While the 6 Meters are essentially half-size 12 Meters, the R Boats are 1/3rd size J-Class boats and from the same era. In this case, 1/3rd size means 40 feet long and 9000 lbs displacement, of which 6000 lbs is in the keel. The other 3000 lbs supports a huge sail plan and a very bendy, tweaky rig. On the newly restored Lady Van you can see how light and careful the construction and restoration has been. To admire these boats at the dock is wonderful, and to see them fleet racing on the Bay is going to be a thrill.

The Seattle Yacht Club has challenged the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club to a match race series to be held in Vancouver this October in 1920’s vintage ‘R’ class sloops. At stake will be the Alexandra Cup, a match race trophy dating back to 1907.

The Charter for the cup allows any recognized yacht club in North America to participate. If there are multiple entries from either country, eliminations will be conducted in Canada (current Defender) and/or the US (current Challenger) to determine which teams will meet as Challenger and Defender in the finals for the Alexandra Cup.

The two ‘R’ class sloops were restored in Canada. In Vancouver the Lady Van, a 1927 Chas. Nicholson design, was restored by a syndicate from the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club and on Vancouver Island the Aloha, designed in 1923 by Edson B Schock, was restored by a Sidney North Saanich YC group. A third R-Class yacht is currently under restoration in the Vancouver area.

The Seattle Yacht Club is placing their hopes on Pirate, a 1926 ‘R’ boat which took part in last year’s WBF after being immaculately restored by a group from Seattle. (see details on Pirate at: www.r-boat.org/ ).

The series is open to all recognized North American yacht clubs. All that is required is access to a restored ‘R’ boat that measures in under the 1927 rules. A booklet detailing the 1927 Universal Rule for Marconi rigged “R” class sloops built after 1925 with amendments is available at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club site here. The event website has more details regarding the event rules as well as contact numbers for the organizers. http://royalvan.com/AlexandraCup_2010.asp