Edward Isaac Sycamore (1855–1930) was a British sailing skipper widely regarded as the leading British yacht skipper of his generation during 1890 to 1929. He was often referred to as Syc and later Old Syc.
Early life Sycamore was born in on 24 August 1855 at Duke Street, Chelmsford, the first son of John Sycamore and Eliza Moss. John was a maltster and came from East Doneyland (Rowhedge) on the river Colne. Eliza's family were farmers from St Lawrence on the south bank of the Blackwater.
When Sycamore was twelve he joined the crew of a fishing boat. After several seasons fishing, he moved to yachting in 1875, working initially for the Marquis of Ailsa aboard the Lady Evelyn. Her voyages included trips to the West Indies and Mediterranean. In 1879 he went to work for H Atkins of Warrenpoint in the 20 ton cutter Louise. His first command was the Amberwitch in 1884. Following early successes in the Babe, he rose rapidly to the top of his profession, and remained there until his death on 9 April 1930.
He married Elizabeth Rosetta Paine, daughter of a licensed victualler, on 2 November 1881. The family moved to Brightlingsea in 1884 living at 34 Nelson Street and then from 1913 White Lodge.
Yachts commanded Date Yacht Owner Notes References1884AmberwitchCaptain Douglas56 ton yawl1886AmeliaW A Beauclerkformer fishing smack1887-89Heathen ChineeW A Beauclerkjunk rigged1890-91BabeW A Beauclerk2½ Rater1892CorsairAdmiral Montagu40 Rater1893VendettaAdmiral Montagu40 Rater1894CarinaAdmiral Montagu40 Rater1895Valkyrie IIIEarl of DunravenAmerica's Cup1897-98BonaDuke of Abruzzi1899LaureaEdward Horewon Coupe de France1900SybaritaWhitaker Wrightwith Captain Bevis1901Shamrock IISir Thomas LiptonAmerica's Cup1902NamaraWilliam B Paget1903-07NavahoeGeorge Watjen1908-10ShamrockSir Thomas Lipton23 metre1911MariquitaA K Stothert19 metre1912ShamrockSir Thomas Lipton23 metre1914Isabella AlexandraEdmund Luttrop15 metre1920-24WestwardClarence Hatryschooner1923-24Paula IIISir Walter Preston15 metre1925-29ShamrockSir Thomas Lipton23 metre
Racing successes In 1911 The Yachtsman produced a table showing Sycamore's successes. In 548 races he won 372 prizes, a success rate of 67.8% or a prize in every 1.47 starts.
YearBoatRacesPrizes1890The Babe30251891The Babe45391892Corsair42221893Vendetta33181894Carina47231895Valkyrie III--1896Valkyrie III--1897Bona24181898Bona52391899Laurea991900Sybarita--1901Shamrock II--1902Namara30181903Navahoe20131904Navahoe18131905Navahoe18171906Navahoe14121907Navahoe18171908Shamrock35311909Shamrock41201910Shamrock28191911Mariquita4419 Sycamore's wins included six Royal Cups (one in Corsair and one in Carina for Admiral the Hon Victor Montagu; three in Bona in one year for the Duke of Abruzzi; one for Sir Thomas Lipton in Shamrock) and two Albert Cups, both in Bona.
War service At the outbreak of the First World War Isabella Alexandra and the Kaiser's yacht Meteor were being towed to Cowes by a torpedo boat. When war was declared they returned to Cuxhaven where the crew of Isabella Alexandra was interned. They were released after about a week and returned to the UK via Denmark.
Sycamore joined the Royal Navy as a Lieutenant RNVR in May 1917, aged nearly 62, and was appointed in command of ML 350 operating from the RNAS seaplane base at Newlyn. In September 1917 he was appointed in command of ML 5 based at Calshot. He remained in command of her, initially at Calshot and later Dundee, until he was demobbed on 15 September 1919. With the formation of the RAF on 1 April 1918 he became a Captain RAF. He is thought to have been the oldest person to have been commissioned into the Royal Navy and immediately given a command. It is also thought he may have been the oldest officer in the RAF when he left.
Death Sycamore had been suffering from the accidental breaking of multiple ribs as he had been racing Sir Thomas Lipton's Shamrock on the Clyde during 1929. On 9 April 1930, he died at his home in Brightlingsea, at the age of 74.
Bibliography The Field 1875 Lloyds Yacht Register 1878 Yachting Volumes 1 and 2. Badminton Library 1894 Yachting World Selected editions from 1895 Leslie's. United States, F. Leslie, 1895. Report of the Special Committee of the New York Yacht Club New York 1896 The House on Sport Ed W A Morgan. Gale and Polden 1898 Collier's. United States, Collier's, 1901. World Review. United States, World Review Company, 1901. Lawson History of the America's Cup W M Thompson and T W Lawson. Boston 1902 Herd register. N.p., n.p, 1903. Adventure. United States, Ridgway, 1914. The Sphere: An Illustrated Newspaper for the Home. United Kingdom, n.p, 1922. The West Virginia Review. United States, Zurich Publishing Company, 1929. Yachting Monthly from 1906 to 1930 The Reminiscences of Admiral Montagu The Hon V A Montagu. Edward Arnold 1910 The Complete Yachtsman B Heckstall-Smith and Capt E du Boulay. Methuen 1912 All Hands on the Main Sheet Brooke Heckstall-Smith. Grant Richards 1921 Past Times and Pastimes Earl of Dunraven. Hodder and Stoughton 1922 The Rudder. United States, Fawcett Publications, 1926. Famous Yachts John Scott Hughes. Methuen 1929 Log of the Shamrock 1929 W Wadley Leaves from the Lipton Logs Sir Thomas Lipton. Hutchinson 1931 Countryside Character. United Kingdom, Blandford Press, 1946. The King's Sailing Master Douglas Dixon. Harrap 1948 Julyan, Herbert E.. Sixty Years of Yachts. United Kingdom, Hutchinson, 1950. Sacred Cowes Anthony Heckstall-Smith. Allan Wingate 1955 Brooks, Jerome Edmund. The $30,000,000 Cup: The Stormy History of the Defense of the America's Cup. United States, Simon and Schuster, 1958. A Hundred Years of the America's Cup F W Lipscomb. Hugh Evelyn 1971 The Northseamen John Leather. Terence Dalton 1971 The Racing Schooner Westward C P Hamilton-Adams. Stanford Maritime 1976 Salt-Water Palaces Maldwyn Drummond. Debrett 1979 The Racing Yachts A B C Whipple. Time Life Books 1980 The Early Challenges of the America's Cup. A John and I Dear. Columbus 1986 The Story of the America's Cup 1851-1992. Tim Thompson, Ranulf Rayner. David& Charles c1993 Yachting - a Turn of the Century Treasury. Ed Tony Meisel. Castle 1988 The Man Who Invented Himself James Mackay. Mainstream 1998 An America's Cup Treasury Gary Jobson. The Mariners Museum 1999 A Full Cup Michael d'Antonio. Riverhead Books 2010 G L Watson Martin Black. Peggy Bawn Press 2011 Valkyrie Weather Daniel Simons. Printed privately 2012 Temple to the Wind Christopher Pastore. Lyons Press 2013 Deer Isle's Undefeated America's Cup crews. M J Gabrielson. The History Press 2013 Rowe, Mark. 5327: England in Peace and War. United Kingdom, Chaplin Books, 2013. Dublin Bay – The Cradle of Yacht Racing Hal Sisk. 2nd ed. Peggy Bawn Press 2014 Porter, Ken. Clacton-on-Sea and the Surrounding Coastline in the Great War. N.p., Pen & Sword Books, 2017.
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