The victorious 1913 One Ton Cup team with Algernon sitting front centre and designer Morgan Giles to his left. The yacht pictured on the right is his 1914 ‘Six’, Stella, with which he was cruelly prevented from repeating the previous year’s triumph by the outbreak of war. She was another Morgan Giles flyer, perhaps the most technically advanced 6 Metre of her day and considered the best yet by her highly successful designer who had returned from the Mediterranean regattas that spring brimming with innovative new ideas
until the outbreak of war in 1914, chal- lenging at European as well as English regattas while playing a full part in national competitions. His cut-and-thrust racing personality, as one of the most formidable 6 Metre competitors both in Europe and in the south of England, contrasted totally with his quiet, calm non-racing self. An early post-Olympic photograph
from 1900 shows him as youngish, a little posed… and a little nervous. Fame and confidence must have come with his yachting successes: a later 1913 portrait is of a mature, victorious man at the zenith of his power. He had commissioned the Fife ‘Sixer’
Cingalee in 1910, winning the champion - ship of the class with her and gaining 27 prizes out of 31 starts. In 1911 he pur- chased and modified a Laws 6, Sioma, and by the year’s close she flew no fewer than 60 prize flags, many from the Mediter- ranean where she won three International Cups at Nice, Cannes and Monte Carlo. In 1912, although Algernon was surely
the challenger-of-choice for the One Ton Cup, his friend George Martin was roped in to represent the Royal Thames YC. However, by 1913 Algernon’s stage was
set. Some grumbled at his selection, despite Sioma’s previous results and his specially built replacement, Cremona. Those grumblers soon had to shut up.
The venue was Stokes Bay, just across the water from Algernon’s Sea View, so he knew the tides and currents and how every shift of wind or wave could be used to the best advantage. This proved the decisive factor in a very tough fight. Algernon’s victory photograph shows a
helmsman in his prime with Frank Morgan Giles, Cremona’s designer, and another Royal Thames YC stalwart Mr TD McMeekin, flanking him on either side. He now looked every inch a man who has raced himself out of his family’s shadow and into the history books.
48 SEAHORSE
War In 1914 his new Morgan Giles-designed 6 Metre Stella looked to be about to repeat the story, both in Europe and at home; and this time Maudslay was a shoo-in for the defence of his One Ton Cup. Yachting Monthly also commented that his eyesight was impaired, which made his current vic- tories all the more impressive. Everyone was eager to see how Stella’s innovative deep and narrow design and large sailplan, offering real potential for speed in light and moderate airs, especially to windward, would fare in international competition. Suddenly the guillotine of war fell, and
everything was cancelled. George Martin sailed off up to Scotland to take command of a motor launch and set up submarine defences in the Firth of Forth. Morgan Giles had a series of fantastic
adventures in the Irish Sea and there- abouts. Algernon with his poor vision ended up as Secretary of the War Refugees Committee… Everyone’s duels and dreams had to be set aside – the great battles of the Edwardian fighting ‘Sixes’ were over. But these men had learnt valuable
lessons from their racing years out on the water. They could think on their feet and were not fazed by the unknown. They were winners and they were brave. It must have been hard for Algernon to
be confined to a desk while his friends were away at sea, fighting to save the world they knew from destruction. However, with hallmark dedication he
devoted all his energies into his work. Terrible events were taking place over in Belgium as the population in flight poured into Britain’s eastern ports. Traumatised families arrived with nothing but the clothes they stood up in, and Algernon’s War Refugees Committee took up the challenge to meet their needs. The Belgians were described as looking as pale as if they had seen ghosts and they spoke openly of the horrors of war. It was a task that required
someone of the highest ability. Algernon rose magnificently to the occasion. In 1916 he wrote to a Bath committee
describing the placing of over 220,000 people through a network of some 3,000 similar groups. Presumably he was simi- larly organising 3,000 such letters, helping to establish systems and keep spirits high. Algernon’s attention to detail, compas-
sion and gentle diplomacy shine through the preserved documentation; how many lives were supported and saved by his thorough and humane organisation we shall never know, but by 1917 he had been awarded the CBE for outstanding service to hundreds of thousands of frightened, displaced people for whom he and his administration had done their brilliant best to provide food, warmth and shelter. Later in the 1920s the Belgian govern-
ment heaped further honours on him to try to express their gratitude for what he had done. Knowing Algernon, he would have preferred they had not bothered.
Reconstruction After the war yachtsmen looked around at the devastation of their sport. Some, like Algie, whose wealth had survived, tried to pick up where they had left off. A One Ton Cup was scheduled, although the French pleaded poverty, asking to be allowed to use their existing 6.5 Metre boats. Algernon and his old racing rival Sir
Ralph Gore gallantly ordered a brand new 6.5, Cordella, Morgan Giles-designed, Camper & Nicholson-built; apparently the two owners alternated at the helm, and they were victorious. This was the third consecu- tive Royal Thames One Ton victory, and someone wrote to say that ‘morally’ it should also be Algernon’s third in a row, because he had been a dead cert to win in 1914. Officially he only did the double. At the same time Algernon had been
tirelessly working towards a new 6 Metre competition – the British-American Cup.
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