New format for historic Morna Cup this Saturday

2:06 AM Thu 12 Nov 2009 GMT

'M F Albert’s Rawhiti which won the Morna Cup outright in the RSYS season of 1927-28. From the watercolour by John Allcot in the possession of the RSYS' Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron

The Morna Cup, one of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron's classic offshore races, will be sailed this Saturday under a new format designed to attract a larger fleet from all Sydney clubs.

Instead of being a two-day, two-race series from Sydney Harbour to Pittwater on the Saturday, with a return race on the Sunday, the 2009 Morna Cup will be a one-race event on Saturday, starting at Watsons Bay and racing to a mark east of Long Reef and finishing back at Watsons Bay.

The combined Short Ocean Pointscore (SOPS) fleets of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron, the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia and Middle Harbour Yacht Club will be competing. However, the race is also open to casual entries that comply with Category 4 safety.

The Morna Cup is one of three classic offshore races conducted by the Squadron over the summer season, the others being the Gascoigne Cup in the spring and the Milson Cup in the autumn.

The Morna Cup is a sterling silver cup presented to the Squadron by a former Commodore, Sir Alexander Cormick in 1913 and named after his famous yacht Morna.

It was raced for, from the seasons of 1913-14 to 1928-29, with the exception of the war years, with Rawhiti, owned by R F Albert, winning the Cup outright in 1928-29.

In 1971, Mr Albert's son, Alexis (later Sir Alexis) Francois Albert, Commodore of the RSYS from 1971-75, donated the Morna Cup to the Squadron, as he felt its rightful place was in the clubhouse and this was something his late father would have wished.

The Squadron accepted the Cup on the basis that it should become a perpetual trophy and it is currently awarded to the PHS winner of the Spring Offshore Regatta, now a single short ocean race this coming Saturday.

The name of the winning yacht will be engraved on this fine trophy, joining an illustrious list of past winners of the Morna Cup.

by Peter Campbell

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New format for historic Morna Cup this Saturday

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