It may seem presumptuous of me to attempt such an outline, relying as I do solely on Norwegian sources. Nevertheless, one of the purposes of the Royal Norwegian Yacht Club´s magazine SEILAS, founded 1906, was to publish reports from regattas held abroad, especially if there was Norwegian participation. For the year 1913, then, I was able to find some information on the third Europe Week at Le Havre, the French seaport on the English Channel, or La Manche. But first I must describe how French yachting really got going.

In the year 1890 some members of the «Societe Maritime du Yacht Club de France» decided to form a syndicate to encourage French yachting design and building. On 24 March 1891 this syndicate offered «La Coupe de France», the French Challenge Cup, as an international trophy – 15,400 francs were collected for this purpose. Owners of yachts from 5 - 20 tons were invited to compete, but only recognized European yacht clubs could present a challenge, and the competition had to be held in French territorial waters. This last stipulation was modified in 1895 to «up to 200 nautical miles from France».

Both the Royal Thames and Royal Temple Yacht Clubs from England presented challenges; the Temple´s challenge was accepted and in May 1897 the English club beat the French at Cannes with their yacht GLORIA. Before the First World War, Italian and German boats competed against France; by 1922 the trophy had been won 7 times by England, 5 times by France, once by Italy and once by Germany. My source for this section, KNS Jubilee Book 1933, does not give further details about the sizes of the boats or names as the «Coupe» evolved over the years. Any further information from our ECYU contacts in these countries would be gratefully received. The story of the Norwegian challenge in the «Coupe» must now wait a bit, as I will chronologically progress to Europe Week 1913. The first notice about the event appears in SEILAS January 1913, when KNS receives an invitation to take part from «Societe des Regattes du Havre». The IYRU has decided the event will be held in French waters 25-26 July after the local annual regatta taking place 20 - 24 July. The Societe suggests to the Norwegians that they could fit in these dates before going onto Cowes Week. They also hope the foreign guests can arrive in time for the local races first.

In the early spring, SEILAS next cites the German yachting magazine WASSERSPORT, providing KNS members with a fair amount of gossip about all the magnificent money prizes which have been offered by various private individuals, such as Baron Edmund de Rothschild and the Marquis of Cussy, and various bodies such as «the cafe proprietors of Havre» and especially the Yacht Club de France and Societe du Havre. According to the Wassersport reporter, hotel prices in Le Havre have been raised to an extortionate level for the duration of the events, whereas at Deauville, to be the scene of the final day’s racing, the local authorieties are providing a banquet and giving more prizes; furthermore, the owner of Deauville’s Casino and a neighbouring hotel are giving special rates to the yacht owners! Finally, there is mention of the King Edward VII trophy, which originally was presented for a passage race on handicap between Cowes and St Malo. It is now in the hands of the Societe du Havre, is open to yachts over 30 tons, and will be run between Cowes and Havre on 18 July.

Nearer the time, there is a notice in SEILAS that this passage race will now take place between Dover and Havre on Saturday 19th July! The «Europe» days are still 25 and 26 July, open for all international R classes and the French national 6.5 class. Prizes of great value both in terms of trophies and cash are offered. The biggest yachts can also compete for an overall points win, here getting 10,000 francs.

One must say there seems to be almost a fixation amongst the amateur sailors and gentlemen yacht owners about the prizes, but I suppose that they, like owners of race horses, must have hoped to defray some of their vast expenses by emerging victorious. The trophies in silver were worth a lot, but the challenge cups had to be given back.

The following competitors are mentioned in SEILAS: 10 metres NOREG ex ADORNA ex MAGDA VII, belonging to the Norwegian consul at Nantes, Carl Gutzeit, and TONINO, owned by King Alfonso. Schooner: the English MARGHERITA. 15 metres: King Alfonso´s HISPANIA and Ludvig Sanders´ PAULA III (Germany). 8 metre class: the Norwegian TAIFUN (Th. Glad), and finally the 6 metres Norwegian MOSQUITO (Magnus Konow and her rival the English CREMONA. MOSQUITO had lost to CREMONA in the recent one ton cup competion. However, when we look at the result list published by SEILAS (opposite) in early August, some of these boats are not mentioned at all. Only the results of the 10 m, 8m and 6 m classes are given, perhaps because Norwegian yachts are competing?

In the aftermath there is no further news from SEILAS, no summing up or comments about the success or otherwise of the event. The big mystery is why no French yachts came up to Norway for Europe Week 1914. If they had competed at Kiel Week, as the English 15 metres did, the sail up to Horten would not have been an insurmountable distance. Was it the feeling of total Anglo-Saxon dominance that put the French off?

After World War I had all but crippled France, the 1920 sailing olympics in Ostende only attracted a French entry in the 6.5 m class; their yacht was defeated by the Netherlands. There then followed the Norwegian challenge in the Coupe de France. I quote from my article in CLASSIC LINES November 1997 (No.7). «At this time, 1921, Johan Anker is on a family visit to France and meets French yachting representatives who suggest Norway should make a challenge. In 1922, when the challenge had been sanctioned by KNS, Johan duly visits Le Havre, and his 8 metre BERA beats Madame Heriot’s L’ÁILE 2 designed by Arbaut. The following year there is a return match at Horten: RANJA beats the challenger NAMOUSSA, and then beats COQ GAULOIIS and L´ÁILE 4 in 1924 and 1925 respectively. But in 1926 France finally gets her revenge; CUPIDON beats Ingar Dobloug’s ROLLO 2. Our club has this regatta on videotape, with film of Madame Heriot as a judge on her enormous schooner L’ÁILEE. In KL 4/96 Gustav Dietrichson gives an account of the challenges in Norwegian.»

France, then, was a significant factor on the international yachting scene in the 1920s, culminating in the great victory of Virginie Heriot´s team on her yacht L’ AILE 6 in the 8 metre class at Zuidersee, the Amsterdam olympics of 1928. How about the 1930s? France was represented at Sandhamn in 1930, at the KNS 50th Jubilee in 1933 (see table of competitors in that article) and in the 1936 olympics. In 1939, in the Coppa d´Ítalia, again at Sandhamn, France reached the final with LE GAULOIS against ILDERIM, but the French boat broke her mast in strong winds.

We may conclude, then, that French yachting remained at a top level until the Second World War. Even one or two Norwegian yachts were sold to France during this period (e.g., VINETA ex FIGARO 2, owned by Frank Guillet from 1935 onwards, see separate article). The history of the leading French designers remains to be told in English, but I am proud to present an article by our French ECYU representative in this issue, which is a start at any rate in opening up the French yachting world to those who cannot benefit from the no doubt copious French literature on the subject.