Footage discovered in the Whitstable Yacht Club archives showing a rare color documentary on the 1967 Admiral’s Cup. It is possible this film was sent to select Yacht Clubs by the sponsor of the event to be shown to members, and the Whitstable Yacht Club was lucky enough to receive a copy to store it in their archives.

“Australia returned down under with renewed vigour towards the event. Sir Robert Crighton-Brown commissioned Balandra, built to the same design as Quiver IV, while Bob Miller collaborated with Ted Kaufman to design Mercedes III. These joined Caprice of Huon for her second attempt. In Britain, Firebrand, after modifications, rejoined the team with Noryema V and Prospect of Whitby. 10 years after the first event, there were now eight teams – it was the first time both Finland and Spain had fielded entries alongside Holland, France, Germany and the USA.

In the Channel Race, France took the overall lead with solo star Eric Tabarly on Pen Duick III, but Australia took the team lead, 26 points ahead of Britain. In the Britannia Cup a series of almost farcical events by the French and US handed the Australian team further points although only one more than the competitive British team. In the New York Yacht Club Cup, the USA regained some pride to win but the universally strong performance of the Australians took them 17 points ahead of Britain and the USA. In the Fastnet Race Pen Duick III took the win but the Australian team continued to perform to win the race on points and take home the Admiral’s Cup for the first time with an overall margin of 107 points.”

1967: When Australia First Won The Admiral’s Cup (Part 1 of 2) – Australian National Maritime Museum

Resources

Royal Ocean Racing Club:
http://www.rorc.org/admiral-s-cup

Whitstable Yacht Club:
http://wyc.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/WhitstableYC/