Port Douglas Yacht Club

1978 - 2012

The name Clipper Cup came to be when Pan Am Airlines first sponsored the Waikiki Yacht Club "Around The State Race" in 1978. This biennial  event was contested four times and attracted a record 78 entries representing Australia, Bermuda, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the U.S.  The race was billed as a perpetual international team racing event .

Pan Am ceased sponsorship in 1985 and the Japanese Kenwood Corporation became the major sponsor. The event became the Kenwood Cup Hawaii International Ocean Racing Series.

For 10 years after the final race in Hawaii the original Clipper Cup trophy remained uncontested. During this time having arrived in Australia the cup found a home collecting dust in the archives of the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia before arriving at the Port Douglas Yacht Club.

The inaugural  Mirage Resorts Clipper Cup Regatta in 1995 jointly hosted by Cairns Yacht Club and Port Douglas Yacht Club paved the way for the trophy to re-emerge as a  major event for the host club only this time on the opposite side of the Pacific Ocean on the waters of the Coral Sea.