1930 Transpacific Yacht Race Trophy
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GUEST:
Well, I've got a sailing trophy that was my grandfather's from the 1930 Hawaii race, Los Angeles to Hawaii. He made it in, what, 12 days and some-odd hours and so many minutes. And the trophy was presented by Sir Thomas Lipton, who... I happened to find amongst the family stuff an old portrait of Lipton from 1925 with his signature on it.
APPRAISER:
So tell me about your grandfather and this particular race.
GUEST:
I think it's run every four years or so, or used to be. I'm not sure it still is. He had the Enchantress, which won the race in '30. He had it for many years. He had a lot of boats, but that was his favorite, I think. It was a 132-foot schooner.
APPRAISER:
Well, the Transpacific Yacht Club actually sponsored this race. The trophy was presented, as you said, by Sir Thomas Lipton. And the race still does go on. It's held every two years. First came about in 1906, and it is one of the longest-continuing running yachting race for long distance still in existence. This was won in 1930. It was made in 1929 by a company in London called Goldsmiths and Silversmiths Company. It's hallmarked very clearly, just to the left of the shield. A lot of yachting trophies and presentation trophies in general are very ordinary. They're just basic silver cups. But this one was truly a specifically commissioned piece of silver. It has this great boat finial with the sail on it. It's got these incredible mermaids blowing shell-shaped trumpets. It's got scales all over it. It additionally has the god of the sea head here, in addition to these very fanciful creatures with mermaid tails. Dolphins on the base, and some really wonderful shells and even scales that look like fish scales around the base. But a little more information about Sir Thomas Lipton. He was a really interesting character. He came to the United States in 1865, just at the end of the Civil War, and he stayed here for about five years. And he actually was known for his tea, which, of course, we all have heard of Lipton tea, and that's how he made his fortune. He was a true yachtsman. He was actually very interested in yachting. If this were to come to the public market, I would estimate it for auction at $20,000 to $30,000.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm, wow, wow, that's... That's a lot.
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