The photo on the right shows Olav V, King of Norway dedicating a silver plate racing cup to the Puget Sound Six Metre Association on October 19, 1975. The 15 liter cup is inscribed with the King's personal crest and the 6 metre insignia. The King, in his speech, 'hoped for many new constructions in this fine Class which we have all sailed...and loved". The huge cup required an enormous amount of champagne to fill but the 200 crew and families present dispatched it with ease. The first series for this cup was sailed the following weekend and US 111 Razzle Dazzle put in a commanding performance to become the first title holder. That this new construction should win seemed appropriate in view of the King's hopes for the class. Otto Giese (in yachting cap on the King's left) escorted the King on a review of the Fleet including his own Oslo II, which used to be the King's yacht.

1999 King Olav Cup, June 5-6,1999

This year's event was held in conjunction with the Classic Mariners Regatta in beautiful Port Townsend, Washington, a classic boat Mecca for the Northwest. Four boats were in attendence: US 73 Saga, US 81 Goose, US 87 Maybe VII, and US 96 Hanko III (built for King Olav!). As the boats left the Point Hudson marina for the race course, winds were steady at 22 knots with gusts over 30, temperatures hovered just above 40 Fahrenheit. Not exactly ideal Summer conditions for sailing classic sixes! I, for one, was wearing all the clothing I had. The race committee was kind enough to give us our own start and the benefits of modern style "blade" jibs became immediately apparent. Both Saga and Hanko had their Heavy #1's up, and struggled to the weather mark, rail down in the gusts. Goose and Maybe VII led the way to the first mark with their small jibs, Goose rounded just ahead, and with a moment's hesitation to see if the other boats would hazard a spinnaker set, up went the chutes! Thankfully there was almost no sea to speak of, and the downwind leg did not require much reaching. All 4 boats held their positions, though things tightened up considerably. In the beat to the finish Goose held on to win, just ahead of Maybe and Saga. The second race saw reversal of the order in the top three. Lightening breeze also meant sail changes on the downhill legs (lots of work for the guys in the middle) and Saga claimed the second race with Maybe, then Goose and Hanko. In the third race, the left side of the course paid off going to the first mark, with Maybe VII and her new sails taking a commanding lead. Goose and Saga stayed within a boat length through the entire race, and as Maybe took an unfortunate gamble to the left, Goose held on to claim a second win for the day. Sunday saw different conditions and a different course. It turned out to be a lot of reaching, with Goose and Saga trailing Maybe all the way around. At times, a mile separated the boats in light and fluky air, but Maybe crossed the line first, trailed by Saga, Goose, then Hanko. This tight racing and changes in the order resulted in a 3 way tie, with Goose taking the cup on strength of her 2 wins.