Lot Essay
"Moonbeam" was one of that legendary group of thoroughbred boats - including "Westward" and "White Heather" - ordered after the end of the Great War had signalled the resurgence of competitive yacht racing. Designed as a composite cutter by the famous William Fife and built in his Fairlie yard early in 1920, she was registered at 93 tons gross (55½ net) and measured 79½ feet in length with a 16½ foot beam. With sails by Ratsey & Lapthorn, she was a splendid cruiser-racer and won the coveted King's Cup at Cowes in her maiden season in the high summer of 1920; this was the first of many prizes to fall to her during the inter-War years, not least the prestigious Royal Victoria Club's Commodore Cup in 1927 which she then retained after a second win in 1931
Henry Cecil Sutton (1868-1936), a keen yachtsman of the so-called "Golden Age" of British yachting (1919-1939), was the fourth son of Sir Richard Sutton Bt., himself a notable yachtsman of the Victorian era who unsuccessfully challenged for the elusive America's Cup in 1885 and was widely regarded as one of the greatest sportsmen of the age
Henry Cecil Sutton (1868-1936), a keen yachtsman of the so-called "Golden Age" of British yachting (1919-1939), was the fourth son of Sir Richard Sutton Bt., himself a notable yachtsman of the Victorian era who unsuccessfully challenged for the elusive America's Cup in 1885 and was widely regarded as one of the greatest sportsmen of the age