Sore Loser

by Prentice Cushing  

1997

Those of us who donated to the AMERICA'S CUP HALL of FAME to help with the Sappho mast placement and plaque-mounting may have chuckled over the most recent announcement of the 1997 Induction of selectees for the HALL of FAME whereby we are advised that Past Commander James. L. Ashbury of the Royal Harwich Yacht Club will become the latest Member. In view of his protracted battles with the New York Yacht Club in general and William P. Douglas in particular, some may think that he belongs in a Hall of Infamy! It will be recalled that when Sappho was first built on speculation by Poillon Brothers in Brooklyn, she was sent to England in 1868 with the hope of selling her. Although the big 274tonner made a good crossing (New York to Cowes in fourteen days) she finished last in a Royal Yacht Squadron race around the Isle of Wight, having been beaten by a fleet of smaller yachts. The winner was Cambria , a 227-ton schooner owned by Mr. Ashbury . He was the son of a wheelwright who invented a railway carriage and acquired a large fortune. It was said that he sought social prestige through yachting. After Mr.Douglas purchased Sappho in England he turned her over to builder and able sailor Captain Bob Fish, who stripped her planking, adding hips to the frames and reballasted her, so that she became a much faster and more stable yacht. Mr. Ashbury, being aware of her poor original performance, issued in 1869 the first challenge for the Cup Race to be held in August of 1870.  

In the spring of 1870 Mr.Douglas and Captain Bob, by now Sailing Master of Sappho, went to England, crossing in twelve days and nine hours. After much acrimonious correspondence, Mr.Douglas and Mr.Ashbury engaged in a series of three races starting 10 May 1870. In the first Sappho was so far ahead that Cambria withdrew; Ashbury refused to start the second race because he disliked the course. In the third race Sappho beat Cambria by two hours and sailed home to the acclaim of his friends and Douglaston neighbors, as previously reported here.  

Mr. Ashbury was certainly a keen sailor and was proud to have had Cambria be the first British yacht to transit the Suez during opening ceremonies. He was the first challenger for the Cup, when Cambria was forced to sail against a whole fleet of eighteen schooners (not including Sappho) rather than in a match race (as was America in the race that started the whole series). He seemed to be a good sport about it, donated several cups to the Club and continued to race in American waters until the end of October. After returning to England he again challenged, but wrote complaining about this situation. For the second challenge the NYYC, at the insistence of sportsmanlike George Schuyler (sole surviving member of the original America syndicate), agreed to a match race but retained the right to pick any one of four yachts for each race.

After Sappho's earlier performance and knowing he would be facing Sappho in the forthcoming second challenge, the assiduous letter-writing Mr.Ashbury bombarded the NYYC requesting numerous changes to the conditions for the match, all contrary to the Deed of Gift, including a proposal to sail twelve races, one for each of the yacht clubs he could represent (not including the Royal Yacht Squadron) if was initially unsuccessful. Meanwhile he had commissioned Michael Ratsey to build a new challenger, the schooner Livonia which was as much a copy of Sappho as he could contrive. As we all know, the now 3 10-ton Sappho won the Cup on 23 October 1871, but not in Mr. Ashbury's eyes.

At the NYYC General Meeting of I February 1872, held in the Clubhouse at Madison Avenue and 27th Street, a letter from Mr.Ashbury accused the Club of numerous unfair practices with the result that the Club returned to him the cups he had presented in 1870. That summer, when he took Sappho to Europe, he withdrew from a French regatta when he teamed that Livonia was entered, but sailed unofficially and walloped her. The NYYC-Ashbury feud ended unpleasantly in October when the Club sent a long letter of defense and particulars to the Royal Yacht Squadron (original donor of the Cup) with copies to other foreign clubs.

Mr. Ashbury's plethora of protesting correspondence did indeed result in ending the practice of using more than one yacht to defend the Cup. Today he would probably be considered just another sea-lawyer who prefers the protest room to the race course. It is good to see some of this recent maneuvering disappearing, probably in good measure owing to the new Rules 31 & 44, which permit use of a 360 degree or 720 degree turn on the course when a protested yacht feels responsibility. I recently served as Chief Judge at MORC Internationals for the Rudder Trophy (which our own Dave Knickerbocker won in the sixties) and was pleased to have only one case, which we did not hear after the protester found that he was in error on facts and withdrew. Let's hope that universal good sportsmanship is on the way back and that Mr.Ashbury is looking down on the Hall of Fame knowing that he deserves the honor and is having second thoughts about protesting rather than sailing!