Left/above: Cremona, with Algernon at the helm, beating off the best 6 Metres from seven other nations to win the One Ton Cup at Stokes Bay in 1913. She started life as Chaero, but under her new name she first romped through the Mediterranean fleet, taking seven wins and 15 ‘flags’ in 16 starts, then dominated the Royal Thames races to end up ‘Best 6 Metre of the Year’, both nationally and internationally. Striking a pose (right), the young Algernon looks quite the dapper young man about town. Rivals knew better… at Cremona’s helm he was a different animal, pushing at every mark, merciless to competitors, with victory the only acceptable result
took up the family sport and by 1894 he was sailing with the newly formed Sea View Yacht Club, on the Isle of Wight, gaining experience in a variety of craft including half and one-raters. He soon graduated from being a racing
member to one of the club committee, now with a real say in how things were run. In 1900 he was also racing in French coastal regattas with considerable success. The papers talk of victory in the Prix
d’Honneur, the International Cup and ‘class prizes’. We do know that he came home bearing two Olympic gold medals…
Algernon at the Sea View Sea View needed someone dedicated and efficient to organise their regular regattas for a growing and enthusiastic member- ship. Algie, as he was known, may not unreasonably have felt inexperienced com- pared to his formidable father, who sailed competitively well into his eighties. It was a tall order for any son to follow and before 1914 there were six other Maud- slay members registered at the club. Nonetheless Algernon was described as
the ‘backbone’ of the Sea View, an admin- istrator par excellence and diplomat above all else, liaising between the Honorary Flag Officers and the committee members who made the real decisions. He was officially nominated Secretary and Treasurer in 1898 and the local press described him in terms such as ‘energetic’ and ‘popular’; during these years the club was a lively place offering many well-organised regattas, with excellent luncheons, bunting and fife bands on parade to add to the general occasion of racing events! In 1899 Algernon contracted severe blood poisoning from a rusty nail, a
potentially lethal situation in the days before antibiotics, and it made the news - papers. He later courteously turned down the committee’s offer of regular payment. Sea View historian John Turner kindly
provided information from the archives that confirms his calm common sense and generosity to fellow members. One letter successfully fended off an officious and inappropriate prosecution regarding the licensing laws, which had been applied to everyone in the club! On another occasion Algernon offered to cover half the club house costs for two years, to relieve a recent widow from an inherited financial obligation. All this is typical of the man – a popular administrator, deeply thoughtful and self-effacing, a singleminded but always gentlemanly competitor. Meanwhile, out on the water Maudslay
was enjoying increasing success and was considered an opponent to be reckoned with racing internationally.
1900 Olympic muddle The set-up at Meulan-en-Yvelines, where he won his two gold medals, was nothing like our Olympics of today. Algernon had been roped in as helmsman for the Interna- tional Challenge Cup after Lorne Currie, owner of the Linton Hope-designed Scotia, was suddenly called away. This was a breakthrough to considerable fame. The newspapers described him as a
‘very well-known Solent yachtsman’ and ‘a splendid crew’, while noting it was ‘his first trial in unballasted skimming dishes’. The Field had already declared of Scotia
that: ‘it is essential that the crew should be experts in this kind of sailing… and also they must be big men and very active’. Algernon was luckily quite tall, and
clearly expert, for they offered him the helm for the Olympic Games. The races were the most congested of
competitions you can imagine, with many classes running together in what was effec- tively a mass start. There was only the briefest of intervals between the starting gun for each group – which meant the river was soon absolutely blocked with vessels of all shapes, rigs and sizes. It was extremely difficult to keep clear
and the big boats, which started later, soon caught up with the little ones so that ‘at the turning mark every boat was huddled up together’. Algernon must have been partic- ularly fed up with the muddle, given his own expertise at organising races. However, Scotia was successful, so in
the end his helmsmanship won through; the two glittering golds were a just reward for steering his little yacht to victory through all that confusion. On his return from Paris Algernon
Maudslay’s influence as a leader among yachtsmen continued to grow. When he crossed the Atlantic in 1901 to crew Grey Friar for the Seawanhaka Cup, contacts were made that were to prove vital follow- ing the end of WW1.
International Rule 1906 The International Rule posed a magnifi- cent challenge for designers and yachtsmen alike. Ten ‘developmental’ classes offered tremendous scope to refine, improve and develop different theories. The 6 Metre Class became very popular for being fan- tastic fun to race and small enough to be able to transport easily; plus it was possible to commission a new boat every season without being a multi-millionaire. Algernon took up the class, from then
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