Alfred Mylne the sailor
On Saturday 1 August 1931, the prestigious ‘Wylie Cup’ of the Clyde Corinthian Yacht Club was won by Alfred Mylne in his ‘30-footer’ (9.1m), Medea, a repeat of his victory in 1927. At the same time the Teacher Cup, for what the press termed ‘smaller craft’, was won by 6-Metre Vengla, whose designer was… Alfred Mylne. These were important races, between Hunter’s Quay and Tarbert, Loch Fyne. To scoop both prizes as designer of one, and helmsman of the other, was quite a feat.
Few Clyde Corinthians would have been surprised. Mylne was at the height of his fame and arguably in the best racing form of his life. He was one of that select group of pre-Second World War designers who also ran their own boatyards and were dedicated racing sailors – Jac M Iversen was another such, as was Frank Morgan Giles and, of course, Uffa Fox. Somehow they are a breed apart.
Alfred and brother Charles spent their long school summer days at Port Bannatyne on the Island of Bute, no doubt investigating everything that moved, on and o. the water, as small boys tended to do in those times. When Mylne met boatyard owner Archibald Malcolm, the impact of that meeting was to last both their lifetimes. Besides the fascination of being allowed to watch the bones of a structure transforming into a sturdy boat, among the sawdust curls of a dusty shed, with all the sounds and the smells of seasoned timber being honed to its purpose, Alfred had found a role model for his regatta career ahead: Malcolm was a grim competitor, someone
