Opposite: Kiel International Regatta 1912 – the second edition of the event and the distant precursor to today’s huge Kieler Woche. This was also an opportunity for the Kaiser to showcase his large imperial navy in front of heads of state and powerful international dignitaries. If the show of might was meant to protect Germany from threat of war it tragically failed to do so. Lord Queenborough (above) in later life in Deauville. Before 1914, as Almeric Paget, he was a regular attendee at the continental regatta season. Post war, now ennobled, he was a fixture on the French Riviera social scene! Nevertheless, post WW1, as flag officer at the Royal Thames, he worked hard to encourage international competition, personally contributing the Queenborough Cumberland Cup which on its debut in 1925 was won by French yachtswoman Virginie Hériot, who later won a gold medal in the 8-Metre class at the 1928 Olympic Games
international membership had increased recently, which had materially contributed towards the attainment of one of the principal objectives of the club – namely to become ‘an international headquarters for yachting men from all over the world’. It was an extraordinary statement,
which explains why procuring the lease for their expanded and new clubhouse had been such a priority. Paget intended to confirm the Royal Thames as the hub of world yacht racing, riding on the back of the new International Rule. But 1912 was the year when the Royal
Thames also took on diplomacy far beyond its yachting brief. The Kaiser was determined that the
Second International Regatta, scheduled for Kiel at the 25th anniversary of the Imperial Yacht Club, would swerve his political as well as sporting purposes. A huge gathering of warships, displaying the growing might of German naval hard- ware, had been assembled to impress the many visiting nations. Sailors and specta- tors alike marvelled at the men-of-war of the German High Seas Fleet, drawn up in two long lines, where newly constructed dreadnoughts were flanked by submarines and destroyers, all moored beside great liners loudly bedecked with German flags. For Kiel one of the largest and finest vessels of the Royal Mail Packet Company,
the SS Araguaya, was chartered to act as a flagship and floating clubhouse. Several hundred Thames members signed up for the voyage, and 20 or so yachts were entered for the different regatta classes. Meanwhile, an exact replica of the club’s famous Cumberland Cup from 1775 had been commissioned from the Crown Jewellers, and a great banquet arranged at which this veritable ‘work of art’ would be presented to the Emperor himself. At the banquet speeches both the
Emperor and the Royal Thames represen- tatives stressed the ‘natural and precious amenity’ between their countries, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship forged by their shared love of sailing and the sea. Meanwhile, back home the press
declared the club to have assumed ‘an almost official character’ as the representa- tive for all British yachtsmen. Almeric Paget’s aims had proved realistic. In Kiel British yachting was the Royal Thames. Paget even had in-depth discussions with
the Kaiser, including at one formal dinner where Wilhelm expressed his fury that a recent meeting with a British diplomat, to discuss a proposed entente cordiale, had not produced the promised documentation. Despite visible anger, the emperor
apparently declared to his possibly startled guest: ‘So you see, Mr Paget, I am not as much of an ogre as your people make out.’
Fortunately Almeric was a seasoned politi- cian and most likely managed to leave without straining already deteriorating Germano-British relations even more. Post war, now appointed Lord Queen-
borough, Almeric’s ambition for the club was, if anything, more far-ranging and determined than ever. In 1922 he offered a new international trophy, to be named the Queenborough Cumberland Cup, to be ‘challenged for by yacht clubs of the British Overseas, the USA and all nations in the IYRU’. It took until 1925 for the inaugural races to be held, as a contest in 8-Metres. The Thames had always encouraged
local classes and regattas, with cups, prize- money and contributions; but now Queen- borough’s wide-angled view of the sport of yacht racing was extending further and fur- ther across the emerging post-war world. He cared about small boat sailors too. In
March 1924, the day before the National Small Craft Exhibition opened, an impor- tant press lunch was given by the ‘promot- ers’ who were described as ‘several power- ful yachtsmen’. And in the chair was none other than Lord Queenborough, flanked by other Royal Thames stalwarts. This might have surprised exhibition visitors, for small boat sailors felt they were unlikely to be welcomed at the Royal Thames. Queenbor- ough, though, clearly did not agree. His speech stressed the importance of
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