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History
The Southern Gulf Coast Yachting Association, forerunner of the Gulf Yachting Association, was organized in April 1901 with the following five charter members: Bay-Wave-land, Biloxi, Pass Christian, Mobile and the Southern Yacht Club of New Orleans. Later in the year Pascagoula joined and the first Flag Officers were Albert Baldwin of Southern, President; and the Commodores of the other clubs, E.J. Bowers, BWYC; T.P. Dulion, BYC; J.H. Menge, Jr., PCYC; Walter Gautier, PYC; and J.C. Bush, MYC as Vice Presidents.
This association was active until World War I, however, it was re-organized in 1920 as the Gulf Yachting Association when Commodore J.H. Cross of Pensacola Yacht Club served as first President of the GYA.
Two events preceded the reviving of the GYA that undoubtedly had a significant bearing upon it.
First, Rathborne DeBuys, an architect and sailboat racing enthusiast, noting the decline in sail racing, designed a fleet of gaff rigged sloops to be owned by the yacht clubs and named it the "Fish Class" representing the fish located in the central Gulf, i.e., tarpon, mullet, marlin, etc., and such names were placed on the stem of the sloops. As these club-owned fleets grew, the names were replaced by numerals on the sails together with the emblem of a fish. At one time, there were over one hundred Fish Class sloops owned by the member clubs of the GYA.
The same year, 1919, Sir Thomas Lipton, a one-time resident and frequent visitor to New Orleans, to further the sport of yachting, had a cup made in England and presented it to the Southern YC to be known as the Sir Thomas Lipton Challenge Trophy.
The SYC placed the Lipton Cup in competition to be sailed for in club owned Fish Class sloops, with the winning club to hold the perpetual trophy for one year and automatically becoming host and defending champion for the following year.
Pensacola successfully challenged Southern in the first Lipton Cup Series in 1920 and the annual Labor Day weekend Lipton Cup Series began. A resume of the results of the Series is listed elsewhere in this program.
Under GYA rules, the defending champion must, each July, issue an "intent to defend" the Cup and accept "challenges" through a specified date in August from the other GYA member clubs. If, however, the defending champion elects not to defend, then the club finishing second in the most recent series becomes the host and defends.
Very few changes have been made in that format except following Biloxi's remarkable four successive wins in the mid 50's, the rules were changed so that no club may host the Series for more than two consecutive years, and no skipper may participate in. but one race each Series.
After 50 years of competition for the Lipton Cup in the Fish Class sloops, the Cup was retired in 1969 when the Flying Scots Class replaced the Fish boats. In place of the Lipton Cup, a half model replica was made carrying the indentical measurements and designs and placed on a plaque with all previous winners names engraved upon it. This new cup is awarded to the winning club and held by them for the ensuing year. The cup is currently affixed to the wall in the BWYC lounge for your viewing pleasure.
J. GILBERT SCHEIB