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History
The Royal Eight Metre Sira
Sira was designed by Johan Anker as a challenger to the 1938 Kattegat Cup which Norway had lost to Sweden the year before. Norway’s foremost naval architect was asked to design an all round yacht, fast in a wide range of conditions. No effort was spared to build a winner and a winner she would be. She was built at the yard of Anker & Jensen in Asker, using the finest materials and a lot of attention was given to her rigging. It was state of the art; Her double spreaders rig was supported by heat-treated elliptical-section aircraft rods greatly reducing the stretch inherent in traditional wire cable. Sira was probably the first 8-Metre to use these so-called lenticular rods, which was also chosen aiming at reduction of the windage in the rig. Meanwhile Sweden had also commissioned a new Eight as a defender, this was Albatros designed by Tore Holm. She was an extraordinary boat but no match for Sira. With Johan Anker at the tiller Sira won convincingly and so The Kattegat Cup went back to Norway. Sira secured this coveted title six times, a remarkable achievement further distinguished by three victories under the expert guidance of King Olav himself. At the end of the 1938 season Sira was presented to Crown Prince Olav who kept her in racing trim until he passed away in 1991. His son, H.M. King Harald V, came on board for his first race when he was just 2 years old, and, once he was old enough, joined as crew on Sira for many races. When King Harald took over Sira she first went through a thorough refit by his boatman Kjell Myrann. She then embarked on her second racing life. Manned by a crew of friends, they once again proved that Sira was the boat to beat, winning the coveted Sira Cup in her home waters in 2008. She also competed at fresh water venues such as Lake Geneva and Lake Ontario where she competed in the 2016 World Cup hosted by the Royal Canadian Yacht Club.Over the years Sira was often accompanied by the Royal Yacht Norge. She has her own cradle on the aft deck and, in every sense of the word, Norge serves as a majestic mothership to what is the most famous and loved Eights of all time.
Read about: Sira one boat two kings
