The 12 Metre Golden Year of Racing in Newport

Co-Captains Carol Swift and Charlie Milligan with the American Eagle's crew

The team Swift/Milligan, under Carol Swift and Charlie Milligan, sailing the American Eagle out of The New York Yacht Club, won all 5 races in the Newport 12 Metre Yacht Regatta, also winning top of class, and the magnificent trophy for best performance of all competing boats .

The “Golden Year” is proving to be a landmark season in the sport of sailing, according to organizer Jan Slee. Over thirty-five 12 Metre yachts from 10 countries sailed into Newport last weekend for the 12 Metre Worlds, the largest show of the 12 Metre Class since the 2001.

The 12 Metre yacht has graced the waters of the world for over 100 years. Prized for its speed and elegance, the 12 Metre debuted as the victorious Columbia in the 1958 America’s Cup and the 12 Metre Class overwhelmed the competition until 1987, a year that saw over two dozen 12 Metre yachts compete.

The five regatta “Golden Year Tour” ends in 2009 with a regatta in New York Harbor, and includes competitions in Newport, Edgartown, Nantucket, and New York. The season is featuring fierce competition in these dazzling locations among the legends of sailing in boats that defined the Golden Age of American sailing.

History of the Current Trophy:

In the early ‘60s Felix De Weldon was commissioned by the English Speaking Union ~ Newport Branch to sculpt a trophy known as the English Speaking Union Yachting Trophy which was given to the winning ESU branch for a sailing competition in Dragon Class yachts. While in the possession of the Seawanhaka Yacht Club, the last known winner, the trophy was stolen and melted down for its metal value. It was later learned that the original was not cast of sterling silver.

Mr. De Weldon was asked to create a replica of the trophy with the insurance proceeds. The current cup is cast in base metal with a gold gilt finish. The trophy had gone missing until 2004 when it was found in the archives the Newport Art Museum.

In 2007, the trophy was bequeathed by the English Speaking Union ~ Newport Branch to the 12 Metre Class, and now serves as the permanent Newport Trophy.

Newport Trophy Winners are: 2007: Courageous and American Eagle; 2008, Northern Light; 2009, American Eagle.

Carol Swift and Charlies Milligan, Co-captains. woith the trophy

The magnificent trophy canbe viewed in window of Swift-Morris Interiors at 69 Mill Street, Newport, for the next few weeks. It will then be returned to its home at the 12 Metre Yacht club on the top floor of the Clarke Cooke House.

Other important sailors were Jeff Johnstone (of J Boats), Michael Keyworth, Bill Titus (of Northrup & Johnson) and Herb Marshall (who owns American Eagle) and the A Team: Terry Glackin, Mike Partin, Jarrod Lazor, Michael Tamulaites, Eric Sylvestri, Dan Gallagher, Dan Vullemier, Spencer Lee, Justin Cofield, and Terry Wilson.

Newport salutes them all.

The winning crew post-race