--- On August 19, 1853, the American yacht SILVIE won second place in a regatta scheduled by the Royal Yacht Squadron that was raced off Cowes, England. --- First prize, a cup valued at 100 guineas, was won by the English yacht GAILY, followed within 6 minutes and 38 seconds by the American sloop SILVIE. This outstanding performance by SILVIE caused the Squadron to award a special prize to her, a 50- guinea cup, now known as the Queen's Cup. --- Actually, it is not really a Queen's Cup, because only English yachts are allowed to win a cup offered by the Queen. Races in which foreign yachts competed were sailed either before or after those races in which English yachts competed. --- The cup was brought back to the New York Yacht Club, SILVIE's home port, and went into obscurity until 1874, when a Mr. J.H. Godwin, of Kingsbridge, NY gave the cup to his friend Kirkland C. Barker, Commodore of the International Yacht Club of Detroit. The cup was to be offered as an international challenge, to be known as the Godwin Cup. --- In early years, the cup was awarded to the Universal Fleet that dominated racing on Lake Michigan. The first race was sailed to Spring Lake, Michigan, and won by the R- boat CALYPSO, owned by Dr. Hollis Potter of the Chicago Yacht Club. In later years, the universal-type boats became less popular and the number of cruising-type boats increased. The Race Committee decided to award the cup alternately to the different cruising fleets. ---