The Harmsworth Trophy

When Sir Alfred Harmsworth (later Lord Northcliffe), proprietor of the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror, presented the British International Trophy in 1903, his aims were to “encourage the development of high-speed power-craft and to foster international competition”.

Not surprisingly, the Trophy quickly became known by its more popular, and obvious, name – the Harmsworth Trophy

It was first raced for under the auspices of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, in Lord Northcliffe’s native Ireland in 1903, before competition moved to the Solent and then onto America.  The names engraved on this magnificent bronze trophy record some of the greatest competitors in the sport of powerboat racing from around the world.

One of the races in Detroit in the 1930s attracted the largest number of spectators ever to attend a sporting event, with more than one million people lining the banks of the Detroit River to watch the pioneers of powerboat racing battling for this historic trophy.

Such is the importance of the Trophy that, at the end of 1992 and early in 1993, it was loaned to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, where it went on display in their Sporting Glory Exhibition which celebrated 400 years of national sporting trophies.

Commenting on the centennial of powerboat racing’s most famous Trophy in 2003, the Earl of Normanton (who was then Chairman of the Trustees) said:

“Here is a quote from a London newspaper in 1904. ‘Had any shipbuilder been asked, say five years ago, to build a 40ft launch capable of running at 20 knots and upwards he would have declared the problem an impossible one. Yet this has already been accomplished and makers are looking to even better results with improved body design and methods of construction.’

Lord Normanton continued:

“This quote probably delighted Sir Alfred Harmsworth because it was for this very reason that he commissioned and donated this famous trophy to the sport. There is no doubt that during the past 100 years of racing, the Daily Mail British International Harmsworth Trophy has achieved its goal with the development of the Motor Torpedo Boat used in the war being designed as a direct result of racing for this prize. This year’s competitors will be racing in monohulls, capable of speeds in excess of 100mph in rough water conditions. Today, the fastest speed ever achieved on water is an astonishing 317mph by Australian Ken Warby. We’ve come a long way on water since the first race in 1903.”
The Earl of Normanton celebrates the centenary of the Harmsworth Trophy at his home, Somerley.