|
"I will try again…" murmured Sir Thomas Lipton ducking his head, almost embarrassed in the face of the plaudits he had just received, and after a long pause, he repeated a little more loudly: "Yes, I will try again".
This scene took place in November, 1930 when the New York Mayor handed him the "Gold Loving Cup" after his fifth failure in the quest for the America's Cup, "The Auld Mug" as he nicknamed it affectionately.
Nevertheless this last crushing defeat had affected the man appointed as "the world's most cheerful loser".
Aboard his steam yacht Erin, the ex-Albion, the usually unmoved Sir Thomas let slip his disappointment at the conclusion of the fourth race, the Vanderbilt J Class Enterprise having outstripped Shamrock V by five minutes and 54 seconds: "It's no good. I can't win, I can't win," he exclaimed.
Some weeks later, Lipton learnt by a telegram that the Royal Yacht Squadron, which had closed for a long time its doors to "the King's grocer", had finally accepted his membership.
He had for more than 30 years defended the honour of Great Britain on the water. He died on October 2, 1931, without having had the time to visit the club.
Born on May 10, 1850 in a poor Irish family in Glasgow, Lipton emigrated to the United States at 15, where he discovered the world of business. He returned to Glasgow in 1869 with considerable savings and opened a grocer's shop, which, thanks to his dynamism, quickly prospered.
He was soon specialising in the tea trade and in 1890 acquired land in Ceylon where he began cultivating the famous plant. Thomas had invented "Lipton Tea".
He did not forget his modest origins, however, even when knighted in 1898 by Queen Victoria.
Certainly, this fantastically wealthy storekeeper was barely tolerated by the gentry. He was nevertheless a close friend to the royal family. It was the future King Edward VII who introduced him to yachting.
At 50, Sir Thomas Lipton began his long quest for yachting's Holy Grail: the America's Cup. He would erase the painful memory left by quick-tempered Lord Dunraven after the Valkyrie III failure in 1895.
He would repeatedly challenge the position of the New York Yacht Club as to how to compete for the Cup and he would finally allow three prestigious British yacht designers to make use of all their talents.
In the annals of the trophy, this was an unrelenting challenge to the Americans - five campaigns in 31 years, five Shamrocks, five disappointments and five unforgettable encounters.
In 1899, Lipton asked the Scottish designer William Fife, Jr. to design Shamrock I, which was soundly beaten by Columbia, the defender modeled by Nathanael G. Herreshoff, by three wins to nil.
In 1901, Sir Thomas returned with Shamrock II, a George Lennox Watson design tested for the first time in Cup history in a tank test basin. Columbia still managed to out sail the challenger.
In 1903, Fife designed Shamrock III, but that was beaten by Reliance, the Herreshoff design.
In 1920, Sir Lipton with his Shamrock IV, designed by the ebullient Charles E. Nicholson, went closest to making Cup history. Shamrock IV won two races against Resolute, another Herreshoff design, before letting victory escape her by losing three races in a row.
In 1930, Lipton's final attempt was with Shamrock V, the J Class designed by Nicholson. For the Americans, William Starling Burgess designed for Harold "Mike" Vanderbilt Enterprise, the "mechanical" boat which crushed the classic Irish yacht.
Lipton had been anxious to christen all his boats "Shamrock", a very Irish emblem.
Sir Thomas had understood the positive effect an America's Cup campaign could have on his business. In a few years "Lipton Tea" had invaded the United States.
J.T.
|
)
