A History of the North American Silver Star Championship
by David Bolles
The North American Silver Star Championship is relatively a latecomer to the Silver Star series held by the Star Class. Originally the North Americans were sailed only when the World's was not sailed in the North American continent.
The oldest Silver Star event of the Star Class is the Championship of Europe, which began in 1932, followed by the Western Hemisphere Spring Championship, which began in 1934. The first N.A.'s was held in 1939 at Treasure Island in San Francisco Bay in conjunction with the 1939 World Fair. That year the World's was sailed in Kiel, Germany. The first N.A.'s was won by Walter Sumner and Jack Watson of the San Diego Bay fleet.
The series was not held again until 1948 in Puget Sound, and was won by the local fleet representatives Charles Ross and Robertson Ross. Then, starting in 1952 the World's was held in Europe for consecutive three years. Whether coincidentally or not, starting in 1952 the N.A.'s have been held annually ever since. Originally the rules for who was allowed to sail in the N.A.'s was very strict. Only two boats per fleet, based on that fleet's qualification series, were allowed to participate in a Silver Star event. Exceptions to this were when low turn-out was expected, for example in 1964 at Galveston Bay and 1968 at San Francisco where 3 boats per fleet were allowed.
Starting in the 1970's the hosting fleet was allowed to have additional entries as a reward for holding the series. For example, in 1972 at Toronto the Lake Ontario Canadian fleet entered 4 boats, and in 1975 at Mobile the Mobile Bay fleet entered 6 boats. The first "open" N.A.'s was in 1985 at San Diego, with 14 boats from the San Diego Bay fleet and 7 boats from the Newport Harbor fleet. The N.A.'s have been open ever since.
NORTH AMERICAN TROPHIES
Winning Skipper: The Royal Canadian Yacht Club Trophy
Winning Crew: Ned Hay
Winner, tuneup: Paul Masson
Winner, 1st Race: Jack Daniels
Winner, last Race: Edward Hay
Winner, Master's (over 50): North American Master's Trophy
The Royal Canadian Yacht Club Trophy is for the winning skipper of the North American series. It was donated to the North American Championship in 1952 by the Royal Canadian Y.C. which hosted the event in Toronto that year. This was the third time the Championship had been held, and apparently the perpetual trophies had yet to be organized.
The Ned Hay Trophy is for the winning crew of the series. It was donated in 1954 by Edward Hay of the Cape Ann fleet. Edward Hay was the honorary chairman of the 1954 North American Championship which was hosted by the Cape Ann fleet. The Edward Hay trophy is for the winner of the last race of the North American series. The original trophy was donated by same Edward Hay who donated the winning crew trophy to the North American Championship in 1954. Then, in 1965 the trophy was replaced by a more elaborate trophy donated by the Eastern Shore of Maryland fleet. Until 1974 the trophy was for the winner of the 5th race, but starting in 1975 the Class voted in six race / one throw-out scoring system so the trophy went to the winner of the 6th race. However, in cases where the number of races in the series is curtailed the trophy is awarded to the winner of the last race, be it the fifth or even the fourth race.
The North American Master's Trophy was donated by John M. MacCausland and first raced for in 1988 at the Ithaca North American Championship. It goes to the best skipper over 50. The score for this trophy is keep separately from the score of all the competitors in the Championship, this score sheet having only those skippers over 50 on it. The trophy is dedicated to Durward Knowles, the grand master of all the masters in the Star Class. It is a brass ship's lantern built by MacCausland.
