The Boston Teapot Trophy is an annual international award given to the sail training vessel that covers the greatest distance under sail within a 124-hour period - 5 days and 4 hours. A vessel must have a waterline length exceeding 30 feet (9.14 m) with a majority of the crew under 25 years of age.
The race was first established in 1964 by the Sail Training Association (STA) after a two-boat ‘race’ back to Europe from the US following OpSail 1964. It was originally structured for a more traditional yardstick, the greatest distance covered in 24 hours, won by the Italian yacht Corsaro II, under the command of 1952 Olympics sailing gold medalist Agostino Straulino. It was later expanded to 124 hours to create a more challenging race dependent on the skill of the crew to maintain speed rather than simply stumbling into a short term gust of wind.
The teapot now recognized as the trophy was sponsored by Brooke Bond Tea Ltd. Prince Philip was an early patron of STA and its then biennial Tall Ships Races. He presented the first perpetual trophy to CF Ricardo Franke, Captain of ARA Libertad, in 1966. Libertad travelled for an average of , a record she would hold for 24 years until broken by Kaiwo Maru in 1990.
In 2016, Captain Marcus Seidl set the Guinness World Record aboard Statsraad Lehmkuhl, with an average speed of , running a total of . During that run, she saw a high speed of . Overall, Statsraad Lehmkuhl has taken home the trophy a total of 9 times, matching ARA Libertad and second to Juan Sebastián de Elcano with 10 wins. Kaiwo Maru previously held the speed record with travelled at an average speed of .
The trophy is a replica of a simple drum-shaped silver tea pot now found at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Made in 1782 by noted silversmith Paul Revere, best known for his midnight ride immortalized by Longfellow, it is one of six known surviving samples of this style made by him. Original teapots by Paul Revere of this style are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The replica trophy is approximately high and in diameter with an additional silver base engraved with "The Boston Teapot", and housed in a custom protective wooden box, 40cm x 40cm x 20cm (16in x 16in x 8 in), with a blue velvet lining.
The trophy is currently presented to the winning ship by Sail Training International at their International Sail Training and Tall Ships Conference held in November of each year. The winning ship keeps the trophy for the year.
Trophy winners
+YearName of shipShip registryRunning distance (nm)Average speed (knots)Notes1964Corsaro II Italy 1121 nm9 kts1965Gorch Fock Germany1079 nm8.7 kts1966ARA Libertad Argentina1335 nm10.7 kts1967Gorch Fock Germany1040 nm8.3 kts1968Gorch Fock Germany977 nm7.8 kts1969Gorch Fock Germany1191 nm9.6 kts1970ARC Gloria Colombia1058 nm8.5 kts1971Esmerelda Chile1026 nm8.2 kts1972USCGC Eagle United States1100 nm8.8 kts1973USCGC Eagle United States1019 nm8.2 kts1974ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain952 nm7.6 kts1975no entry1976ARA Libertad Argentina1248 nm10 kts1977no entry1978no entry1979ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain1029 nm8.3 kts1980no entry1981ARA Libertad Argentina1115 nm8.9 kts1982Cisne Branco Brazil1101 nm8.8 kts1983Gorch Fock Germany1098 nm8.8 kts1984no entry1985ARA Libertad Argentina684 nm5.5 kts1986Nippon Maru Japan955 nm7.7 kts1987ARA Libertad Argentina1174 nm9.4 kts1988Dar Młodzieży Poland1241 nm10 kts1989Nippon Maru Japan1134 nm9.1 kts1990Kaiwo Maru Japan1350 nm10.8 kts1991Kaiwo Maru Japan1244 nm10 kts1992ARA Libertad Argentina1041 nm8.4 kts1993Nippon Maru Japan1201 nm9.6 kts1994Kaiwo Maru Japan1312 nm10.5 kts1995Kaiwo Maru Japan1394 nm11.2 kts1996no entry1997ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain1126 nm9 kts1998ARA Libertad Argentina1158 nm9.3 kts1999ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain1088 nm8.7 kts2000ARA Libertad Argentina1218 nm9.8 kts2001ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain1184 nm9.5 kts2002ARM Cuauhtémoc Mexico1343 nm10.8 kts2003ARM Cuauhtémoc Mexico1064 nm8.6 nm2004ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain765 nm6.2 kts2005ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain956 nm7.7 kts2006ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain1028 nm8.3 kts2007ARA Libertad Argentina1033 nm8.3 kts2008Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1116 nm9 kts2009NRP Sagres Portugal1230 nm9.9 kts2010Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1443 nm11.6 kts2011Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1216 nm9.8 kts2012Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1265 nm10.2 kts2013ARM Cuauhtémoc Mexico1189 nm9.7 kts2014Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1400 nm11.3 kts2015ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain919 nm7.4 kts2016Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1263 nm10.2 kts2017Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1556 nm12.5 kts2018Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1254 nm10.1 kts2019Fryderyk Chopin Poland1218 nm9.8 kts2020ARC Juan Sebastián de Elcano Spain1013 nm8.2 kts2021Fryderyk Chopin Poland1288 nm10.4 kts2022Statsraad Lehmkuhl Norway1125 nm9.1 kts2023BAP Unión Peru1261 nm10.7 kts2024ARM Cuauhtémoc Mexico1171 nm9.4 kts2025ARA Libertad Argentina985 nm7.95 kts
References