Images(4)

Sailing Club Programs

Date1892 - 1941

Object numberANMS0201

NameArchive series

MediumPaper

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Mary Shaw

Terms

DescriptionThis archive series numbered [001] - [010] consists of sailing club programs collected by businessman, entrepreneur and keen sailor Mark Foy. Included are programs for the 1892 Australian Anniversary Regatta, 1895 Brock Trophy, 1899 Port Jackson Dingy Sailing Club, 1900 Sydney Flying Squadron General Handicap, 1904 Grand Aquatic Gala, 1925 WA Interstate Regatta, 1934 Sydney Flying Squadron, 1934 Wally Douglas Memorial Cup, and 1941 F W Moppett Memorial Cup. The material was donated by Foy's granddaughter Mary Shaw.History"Who cares who wins when no-one knows? And the kernel of this sport is always wasted, not only to the spectators but to the competitor... who cares what the boats are doing when they sail out of sight?" In 1895, entrepreneur and founding Commodore of the Sydney Flying Squadron Mark Foy (1865-1950) wrote this about the manoeuvres of the big yachts in regattas. He preferred the potential of Sydney's smaller open boats. Open boats, or skiffs, were beamy boats with huge sails - and large crews of waterfront workers for ballast. Based on workboats from six to 24 feet (1.8 - 7.3m) long they were a spectacle on Sydney Harbour. Skiff racing was a tough working-man's sport. Foy introduced rules to make the sport more lively - coloured emblems for the sails, a short triangular course with handicapped stat, large prize money and spectator ferries with punters following the races. By the 1920s the open boats were standardised as 18-footers and were racing in Western Australia and Queensland. In 1898 he challenged the Medway Yacht Club in England to a match race series entitled the Anglo Australian shield. Unsuccessful, he challenged again in 1898.