Major influences. As the son of a wealthy industrialist Tid Coats (left) was fortunate to have a father in Sir Thomas Glen Coats (far left) prepared to indulge his son’s by comparison esoteric choice of vocation. Below right: after successfully completing his apprenticeship with designer George Alfred Mylne the two went on to be both career rivals yet also lifelong friends. Below left: the (very serious) Robert Morris was for many years Tid Coats’s skipper, though with his considerable talents Coats was normally at the helm
In June 1910, 6 Metre Cynthia attracted
much notice simply because she was the latest Glen Coats design. The build was largely unhurried because Tid, his father and brother were holidaying in Canada leaving all overseeing to Mylne, still beavering away in the Glasgow office. Her rig was a surprise: the sail was set by means of a yard, lugsail fashion, but it ‘ran away to a point at the peak, and the yard ran practically parallel with the mast, with the result that it func- tioned for all working purposes like a Bermudan or shoulder-of-mutton sort’. This rig may also have surprised the
‘fair sex’, because in a Ladies’ Race poor Cynthia was crashed into another boat, leaving her boom smashed, mainsail torn and several planks sprung. Tid’s reaction is not recorded… Thankfully, with money no object, his pioneering little craft was towed away miserably to be fixed. The press reported that this was completed with such skill that when she reappeared no trace of the disaster remained. And what a year Cynthia and Tid
owners (including George and Andrew Coats) their boats could compete as freely as on the Clyde, once races had been pro- vided at the southern regattas. Further- more, the Twelves were large and roomy enough to travel from port to port. Journalists expressed hope the English
clubs would encourage a British class, rather than one solely based north of the border – but this took some years to accomplish. For the 1908 Olympics, Charles MacIver’s Mylne-designed 12 Metre Mouchette took on Tid’s Hera… and lost. This time the Glen Coats boat did beat the Mylne. The young millionaire was awarded a
brace of commemorative gold medals, one as Hera’s owner and one as her helmsman. It was toasted as a Corinthian victory, jokingly described as Scotland versus Eng- land because MacIver was Liverpool- based although one of the longtime stal- warts of the Clyde season. The British Twelves remained based in Scotland, hence its choice for the Olympic venue. After another Scottish-based season with
Hera, this time coming fourth out of five in the season’s end, losing out to both Fife
54 SEAHORSE
and Mylne’s boats, Tid decided to change class and designed himself a new ‘Six’.
Rising star In 1909 he had been elected Vice Com- modore of the Royal Largs Yacht Club and represented them in London at the YRA. This was only to be expected for a member of his fantastically high-status family, but Tid was soon to use these meet- ings with his southern counterparts to lever himself into their consciousness before beating them in their own waters. His stutter was no impediment: super- wealthy Coats men expected to take their place in the public eye. Tid was never afraid to send a terse letter to yachting publications when they had misrepre- sented his aims or position in print. Although Alfred Mylne did travel south
for YRA meetings he headed back to the Clyde as soon as humanly possible, prob - ably not solely for work reasons. His pro- tégé, by contrast, worked if and when he wanted. The family business kept churning out the funds for him to spend them on his pseudo-professionalised hobby.
enjoyed, after that. Leaving the Clyde as top boat in a strongly contested class, she was carefully packed up and sent off by train down to Burnham where the East of England club were offering a 40 Guinea Cup to be won outright; the Royal Thames Yacht Club had offered a second trophy. With 11 ‘Sixes’ engaged it was the largest fleet of any class yet assembled under the International Rule in the United Kingdom, and six of the boats were the latest creations of the prominent designers of the day. Tid was taking on the best of the
English. Frank Morgan Giles was there in person, racing Claire, a yacht owned by his business partner, Harry May’s family, which the press described as being of ‘special interest’. Cynthia was also up against a Mylne Six, Sibindi, and Snow- drop II, belonging to Captain Dixon, by reputation the finest small boat sailor in Europe. Will Fife III was represented by Cingalee, with Algernon Maudslay, another top-class 6 Metre racer, at the helm. The rugged and determined Clyde
yachtsman George Moir had encouraged the 6 Metre class on the Clyde from the outset, and was fiercely enthusiastic about north/south interaction. Tid had designed him a new Six in 1909 but she proved too slow to bring south. He journeyed down notwithstanding to lend his expertise and support for Scotland’s attempts on the Cup. Coila II, the second Scottish Six,
designed by another up-and-coming Clydesider, FJ Stephen, proved hopelessly
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