The Admiral's Cup was once one of the most illustrious regattas in international sailing: first held in 1957, the unofficial world championship of ocean sailing attracted the best national teams, the most famous sailors and outstanding designs of their time to Cowes on the Isle of Wight. In its heyday, the Admiral's Cup was the centre of the sailing world.
Four German Admiral's Cup victories since 1973
In 23 Admiral's Cup editions up to the last summit in 2003, host nation Great Britain had won nine. Germany has won four times, the USA and Australia three times each. Albert Büll's "Saudade", Hans-Otto Schümann's "Rubin" and Dieter Monheim's "Carina III" first won the gleaming gold pot for Black, Red and Gold in 1973 - triggering hype in their home country more than half a century ago.
In 1983, Willi Illbruck's "Pinta", Hermann Noack's "Sabina" and Tilmar Hansen's "Outsider" took German victory number two. Just two years later, the crews of Tilmar Hansen ("Outsider"), Hans-Otto Schümann ("Rubin VIII") and Peter Westphal-Langloh ("Diva") were back at it again. The fourth German victory is still a vivid memory for many: in 1993, Willi Illbruck ("Pinta"), Hans-Otto Schümann ("Rubin XII") and Udo Schütz ("Container") drank together with their sailors from the legendary ornate Admiral's Cup.
France, Italy, the Netherlands and New Zealand have also left their mark on Admiral's Cup history with victories. Australia has been the defending champion since the last edition in 2003. Since then, all attempts to revive the title have failed. Until now.
Admiral's Cup comeback with new ideas
After several failed attempts, two ideas have apparently brought about a turnaround: the reduction of the teams to two instead of the previous three boats and the opening up to club and regional teams instead of the previous national teams.
112 days before the official starting signal on 17 July, 15 two-boat teams have registered for the 24th Admiral's Cup, including three German duos. They include Germany's best-known sailor Boris Herrmann, who will be racing alongside Team Malizia's founder Pierre Casiraghi for the team from the Yacht Club de Monaco.
The mood among the Admiral's Cup organisers from the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) is now as brilliant as the cannons on the Cowes promenade. The starting gun for this summer's comeback edition will be fired from one of them.
Top team from Hong Kong registered
The latest attempt to revitalise the once glorious Admiral's Cup is on a promising course. 15 teams and 30 boats are on the entry list. This summer's restart includes "Gingko" and "Red Bandit" for the Bavarian Yacht ClubEdelweiss" and "Elida" as Hamburg Sailing Team as well as "Imagine" and "X-Day" for the Greifswald Regatta Club three German teams took part.
Most recently, a team from the Royal Irish Yacht Club and a co-favoured duo from the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club were officially added. In addition to his TP52 rocket "Beau Geste", Karl Kwok also had the Botin 40 "Beau Ideal" built so that he could provide the two-boat team for the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club himself. He relies on proven professionals, but also gives young up-and-coming sailors a chance.
Hong Kong took part in the Admiral's Cup five times in a row between 1975 and 1981. Most recently, Karl Kwok's ILC 40 "Beau Geste" was also part of the team in 1995. Kwok and his current crews have won three ORC Sailing World Championships and the RORC Caribbean 600 in recent years.
Small rocket for the Admiral's Cup
Kwok's TP52 "Beau Geste" will now be the big boat in the team, while the Botin 40 "Beau Ideal" will be the new small projectile, which is currently being finalised at the British shipyard Carrington Boats. Manager and successful helmsman of the campaign is also Gavin Brady for the Admiral's Cup.
"The vision for the Botin 40 'Beau Ideal' was to build a PAC40, so to speak, but of course nothing comes for free," commented Brady on the new build. "When you're building a boat that can race both inshore and offshore, you have to make compromises: So the general philosophy was to keep things as simple as possible."
Gavin Brady continued: "In many ways 'Beau Ideal' is more normal than some of the other race boats. You're not going to walk across the dock and say, "Wow!" but it will be a boat capable of doing all 600-mile races and transatlantic races - and be just as competitive in inshore races."
Admiral's Cup training starts in May
Gavin Brady also praised the organisers for their wise and far-sighted forward planning: "It was good of the RORC to plan so long-term for the Admiral's Cup. It makes the logistics and management much more economical and easier, especially when you are building a new boat. We plan to train with both 'Beau Geste' and 'Beau Ideal' in May."
They are likely to meet other prominent crews soon. Stefan Jentzsch's crew on the Botin 56 "Black Pearl" is also preparing for the Admiral's Cup. She is the big boat in the New York Yacht Club team. Donald Thinschmidt on the Kerr 43 "Abracadabra" is the small boat. Click here for the complete entry list.
From this summer, the Admiral's Cup will once again become a flagship event in the sport of sailing. At the same time, the revival will put a golden exclamation mark behind the centenary of the Royal Ocean Racing Club.
Historic look back at the Admiral's Cup year 1973 - the first time a German team won:
