The Boston Teapot Trophy is an annual international

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

given to the

sail training From its modern interpretations to its antecedents when maritime nations would send young naval officer candidates to sea (e.g., see Outward Bound), sail training provides an unconventional and effective way of building many useful skills on a ...

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 A vessel's length at the waterline (abbreviated to L.W.L) is the length of a ship or boat at the level where it sits in the water (the ''waterline''). The LWL will be shorter than the length of the boat overall (''length overall'' or LOA) as mos ...

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 Tall Ships Youth Trust (TSYT) is a sail training organisation in the United Kingdom that currently owns and operates four 72ft Challenger yachts and a 55ft ketch. Tall Ships Youth Trust, formerly the Sail Training Association, based in Ports ...

(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 1952 Olympics refers to both: *The 1952 Winter Olympics, which were held in Oslo, Norway *The 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics (, ), officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad (, ) and commonly known as Helsinki 1952, were a ...

sailing gold medalist

Agostino Straulino Agostino Straulino (10 October 1914 – 14 December 2004) was an Italian sailor and sailboat racer, who won one Olympic gold medal and one silver medal in the Star class, and eight consecutive European championships and two world championships ...

. 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 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 19219 April 2021), was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from h ...

was an early patron of STA and its then biennial

Tall Ships Races The Tall Ships Races are races for sail training "tall ships" (sailing ships). The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and co ...

. 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 ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

aboard ''

Statsraad Lehmkuhl ''Statsraad Lehmkuhl'' is a three-masted barque rigged sail training vessel owned and operated by the Statsraad Lehmkuhl Foundation. It is based in Bergen (city), Bergen, Norway and contracted out for various purposes, including serving as a scho ...

'', 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 ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. The name is of Hebrew origin and has the meaning "God has been gracious." It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking countries around the world and in the Philippi ...

'' 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 The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the list of largest art museums, 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 painting ...

. Made in 1782 by noted silversmith

Paul Revere Paul Revere (; December 21, 1734 O.S. (January 1, 1735 N.S.)May 10, 1818) was an American silversmith, military officer and industrialist who played a major role during the opening months of the American Revolutionary War in Massachusetts, ...

, best known for his midnight ride immortalized by

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include the poems "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to complet ...

, it is one of six known surving samples of this style made by him. Original teapots by Paul Revere of this style are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Boston Teapot BAP Union

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 Sail Training International (STI) is a non-profit international sail training organisation, with members in 29 countries. Its main aim is the "development and education of young people of all nations, cultures, and social backgrounds through the ex ...

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

References

{{notelist Sail training International sports trophies and awards