The compliment was all the more relevant coming from a fine connoisseur and an attentive witness of the first America’s Cup challenges, Captain Roland F. Coffin. But Cambria, the first challenger to the Cup, failed in its attempt. The challenge itself was no small task, as on August 8th, 1870 the NYYC fleet joined forces, racing as a fleet of boats against the lone challenger. Of course, those were the same conditions America faced nearly 20 years earlier when it beat the British fleet. And given the absence of British yachtsmen providing support towards James Ashbury, this failure was even less surprising. A little bit before the race, the American magazine Spirit of the Times had even been moved to remark: “We are sorry to hear some ill-feeling prevails in England in regard to Mr. Ashbury. We are told many English Yachtsmen say that he made the match to render himself prominent and popular, and they hope the Cambria will be defeated…” As explained by the Cup historian Ian Dear, the rules of class were stronger than national pride!

 

The son of a Manchester wheelwright who had invented a railway carriage, James Ashbury was not content to have fortune. He was eager for social recognition and in particular those from the high society, which explains his membership in numerous British yacht clubs, such as the Royal Harwich and Royal Thames Yacht Clubs.

 

In 1868, Ashbury appointed Michael Ratsey to build a 188-ton schooner christened Cambria – which was the name of the Cambrian Railway, a company in which James had some interest. The same year, the American schooner Sappho, owned by Richard Poillon, arrived in Cowes. A race was sailed around the Isle of Wight in which the cutters Condor and Oimara raced with the schooners Sappho, Aline and Cambria. It was Cambria who won the regatta; Sappho finished last, one hour and half behind the winner.

 

For Ashbury, this success was encouraging: based on the result, he decided to challenge the NYYC for the Cup won by America in 1851. His obsession for recognition prevented him from pushing for an 1869 match because he wanted Cambria to be the first British yacht to cross the Suez Canal, on November 17th, 1869. In the spring of 1870, Sappho, no profoundly improved, was again in English waters. On May 10th, 14th and 17th, she raced three matches against Cambria and won consistently. But this result did nothing to disturb James Ashbury who was at that time negotiating a transatlantic race to New York against the New York Herald Tribune owner, James Gordon Bennett with his schooner yacht Dauntless. This race would also serve as the delivery trip to America ahead of the first ever America's Cup race. After 23 days 5 hours and 17 minutes, Cambria, with Ashbury aboard, beat Dauntless by one hour and 43 minutes.

 

Cambria became the first in a long line of challengers to be beaten in the America’s Cup. It was the only time when the challenge was contested in a fleet racing format in spite of Ashbury’s wish to race a single defender. No content with his defeat, in August 1870, the Englishman commissioned Michael Ratsey to build a new schooner for a new challenge.

 

In the meantime, Ashbury took his defeat sportily. A passionate yachtsman, he participated actively in the annual NYYC Cruise, sailed between New York and Newport and back. Cambria raced in numerous regattas. It often finished in second place and won just a single victory in a match race against Idler. Endowed with a pointed sense of public relations, James Ashbury welcomed the President of the United States, General Ulysses S. Grant, for lunch aboard his yacht. On the East coast the regatta season came to an end. After a last match raced and lost against Dauntless, Cambria sailed back to England. The schooner was quickly sold, and disappeared from the racing scene. Its new owners were going to use it for trade, sailing for coastal navigation along the African coast. Cambria was lost at sea one day in a big, sudden storm.

 

J.T./pr