Above: after bursting her spinnaker in a violent sea Sid Briggs repaired the sail using Jolie Brise’s tablecloth – the colourful repair reached Bermuda intact. Left: surely a famous yacht’s finest hour… new owner ‘Bobby’ Somerset at the helm during the 1932 Bermuda Race when Jolie Brise (with Herbert Stone once again in her crew) went to the assistance of the schooner Adriana which was being rapidly consumed by a fire onboard. Somerset turned back and located the burning yacht; coming alongside under sail, Jolie Brise was badly charred during the action but managed to take off 10 of the 11-man crew. Tragically Adriana’s helmsman Clarence Kozaly, last to leave his flaming yacht, fell between the two vessels as he leapt across and was lost
he could to get an American entry for the upcoming Fastnet Race. Clearly Jolie Brise’s Bermuda adventure
had been much more than a recreational joy ride for Martin and Stone, who were working closely together to develop ocean racing as an international sport. Herbert Stone had been one of the founders of the Cruising Club of America in the winter of 1921-2, their second commodore in 1923 and the powerhouse behind the revival of the Bermuda Race in the same year, much of it by sheer force of personality. In a very similar way George had driven
the organisation of the inaugural Fastnet challenge, and founded the British ORC in 1925. It is no coincidence that Stone was the first to be telegraphed with news of Jolie Brise’s arrival in New York, nor that Stone had presided over the magnificent CCA dinner given in her honour soon afterwards. Most significantly, he had sailed on her in the race itself, which was the strongest official endorsement he could have given. George wrote later that it was delightful
to find that he was ‘a fine seaman and a real racing helmsman… to him sailing a boat means the practice of a fine art… and he has an artist’s touch upon the tiller’. There too they were similar, and under-
stood each other instinctively. George didn’t pass his tiller to just anyone, espe- cially under racing conditions. In February 1926 George had written to
42 SEAHORSE
Yachting, which Stone part-owned and edited, that ‘the immediate cause for setting up the first Fastnet was when we heard an American was coming over to challenge us, and we felt we must do our best to give him a good race’. This reminds us that the foundation of our modern RORC was an intent to develop international, rather than simply British, competition. Like Stone, George had a statesman’s
set of mind and a diplomat’s vision for the future; his follow-on dream, after estab- lishing the ORC, had been for Jolie Brise to cross the Atlantic to take part in the Bermuda Race, as an ambassador for ocean racing, then challenge Americans to a transatlantic contest for a prize of 100 guineas with the 1926 Fastnet Race wait- ing for them when they arrived in Europe. In May Malden Heckstall-Smith, writ-
ing in Yachting Monthly, claimed there was an aspiration in America that crossing the Atlantic post-race to take part in the Fastnet would become a ‘supplementary feature’ to the Bermuda contest. Four boats did express interest and Sir Charles Allom offered a cup but, alas, preparation time and finance were in short supply so nothing came of the Big Idea in the end. However, the Alden-designed Primrose IV did get over to join the Fastnet, as Herbert Stone had promised, and International Ocean Racing in its ORC and CCA/RBYC 1920s-form, was up and running. Not all great dreams can be achieved.
George Martin was only partially successful, by his own radically high standards. On returning to England he ran into life-crip- pling problems – no one is certain whether the issue was financial or medical – and he was forced to sell his beloved Jolie Brise. He also attempted to resign as ORC Com- modore, although the committee refused to permit it, because ‘his name is well-known in foreign countries and his reputation as a yachtsman is of great assistance to the Club’. George’s stature across the yachting
world was, however, further established by the award of the Blue Water Medal for 1926, which is presented annually by the CCA for ‘meritorious seamanship and adventure upon the sea displayed by ama- teur sailors of all nationalities, that might otherwise go unrecognised’. He was the first Englishman to be so honoured. In modern times the Blue Water Medal has been awarded to the likes of Francis Chichester and Alec Rose, but even in the early days it was extremely prestigious. The ever shrewd Herbert Stone, as
Commodore of the CCA which awarded the prize, was achieving a dual purpose – the first being the formal recognition of George Martin’s personal achievement in his double transatlantic voyage and the Bermuda Race, and the second being the strengthening of the developing traditions of international competition and sporting friendship between ocean racers in their two countries, something that these two determined and gifted men were working tirelessly to establish. Much was to follow from their vision. Clare McComb is George ‘EG’ Martin’s great-niece
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