Folly Prize

In 1891, Mrs. F. Sidney Papin (Kate Allerton Papin) presented the Folly Prize to the Yacht Club as a trophy for Second Class Sloops, which were sandbaggers that measured from 18 to 21 feet overall. Mrs. Papin, the daughter of Samuel Waters Allerton, named the trophy after her family’s summer home on the north shore of Lake Geneva. Her brother Robert, later a major benefactor and trustee of the Art Institute of Chicago, was the trophy’s first winner in Whitewing  [also see Class C, Whitewing Trophy].

The trophy is an ornate silver loving cup with three handles, and the names of the winners are engraved on the trophy itself and on two bases. The original deed of gift stated that the race was to be sailed on the same day as the Sheridan Prize event on the course then existing for this class, from Geneva Bay to a mark off Collie Point (later called Conference Point), and return. In 1899, Yacht Club officers modified the conditions regulating participants and opened the competition to boats complying with Class B (32-foot scows) of the Inland Lake Yachting Association. By 1921, with Class B all but extinct, the Yacht Club awarded the trophy to the Class X 24-foot centerboard sloop fleet, then, in 1927, to Class E, where it remains today.

  • 1891 Robert H. Allerton
  • 1892 C. K. G. Billings/William S. McCrae
  • 1893 Benjamin Carpenter/C. R. Corwith
  • 1894 Kellogg Fairbank
  • 1895 Benjamin Carpenter
  • 1896 Kellogg Fairbank
  • 1897 Benjamin Carpenter
  • 1898 Byron Boyden
  • 1899 Byron Boydon
  • 1900 Annie Jerrems
  • 1901 Alfred Carton
  • 1902 George Braun
  • 1903 George Braun
  • 1904 Harold Hough
  • 1905 Fred Clifford
  • 1906 Fred Clifford
  • 1907 Harold Hough
  • 1908 Harold Hough
  • 1909 Harold Hough
  • 1910 James N. Rawleigh
  • 1911 James N. Rawleigh
  • 1912 James N. Rawleigh
  • No races between 1913 and 1920
  • 1921 H. H. Porter
  • 1922 Dr. Otto L. Schmidt
  • 1923 I. L. Ellwood
  • 1924 Ralph N. Isham
  • 1925 George Herbert Taylor
  • 1926 Kellogg Fairbank Jr.
  • 1927 O. P. Curran Jr.
  • 1928 Winfield Craven
  • 1929 George Herbert Taylor
  • 1930 Ralph N. Isham
  • 1931 Ralph N. Isham
  • 1932 Clifford Brothers/John Clifford
  • 1933 Charles F. Edwards
  • 1934 Ralph N. Isham/Henry H. Porter
  • 1935 F. Arthur Anderson/Donald O. Waterbury
  • 1936 F. Arthur Anderson/Donald O. Waterbury
  • 1937 Walter Colman
  • 1938 F. Richard Meyer III
  • 1939 Bruce P. Adams
  • 1940 C. W. Sills Jr.
  • 1941 J. R. Reilly Jr.
  • 1942 George H. Kiefer Jr.
  • 1943 Sidney H. Bliss
  • 1944 Harold Hough
  • 1945 H. R. Hough
  • 1946 George H. Kiefer Jr.
  • 1947 Bruce Johnson
  • 1948 George H. Kiefer Jr.
  • 1949 E. S. Lyon
  • 1950 William C. Grunow Jr.
  • 1951 C. W. Sills Jr.
  • 1952 William C. Grunow Jr.
  • 1953 Tom Ferris
  • 1954 Tom Ferris
  • 1955 Tom Ferris
  • 1956 E. J. Schulenberg
  • 1957 Tom Ferris
  • 1958 A. W. Craven Jr.
  • 1959 William Freytag/John Perrigo
  • 1960 Don Harring
  • 1961 John Perrigo
  • 1962 H. C. Melges Jr.
  • 1963 C. P. Goes
  • 1964 George Happ
  • 1965 William Bentsen
  • 1966 John Perrigo
  • 1967 Clayton Gaylord
  • 1968 Bob and Jane Pegel
  • 1969 George Beukema
  • 1970 Bob and Jane Pegel
  • 1971 Robert E. Pegel
  • 1972 Louis Loenneke Jr.
  • 1973 Robert E. Pegel
  • 1974 Robert and Jane Pegel
  • 1975 Bill Allen
  • 1976 Robert E. Pegel
  • 1977 John Porter
  • 1978 John Gluek
  • 1979 John Gluek
  • 1980 Jim Smith
  • 1981 John Gluek
  • 1982 Brian Porter
  • 1983 Brian Porter
  • 1984 Brian Porter
  • 1985 Jim McGinley
  • 1986 Mike Kurzawa
  • 1987 Jim McGinley
  • 1988 Jim McGinley
  • 1989 Harry Melges III
  • 1990 No race
  • 1991 Brian Porter
  • 1992 Jim McGinley
  • 1993 Brian Porter
  • 1994 Gene Wittenstrom
  • 1995 Dave Wall
  • 1996 Brian Porter
  • 1997 Brian Porter
  • 1998 Brian Porter
  • 1999 Harry C. Melges Jr.
  • 2000 Brian Porter
  • 2001 No information available
  • 2002 Bob Harring/Jim Smith
  • 2003 Brian Porter
  • 2004 Vincent Porter
  • 2005 Brian Porter
  • 2006 Ken Wruk
  • 2007 Sam Rogers
  • 2008 Michael Gannon
  • 2009 Ken Wruk
  • 2010 Peter Strothman
  • 2011 Frank Davenport
  • 2012 Vincent Porter
  • 2013 Peter Strothman
  • 2014 Frank A. Davenport
  • 2015 Thomas Freytag
  • 2016 Brian Porter
  • 2017 Harry Melges III
  • 2018 Eddie Cox
  • 2019 No Race
  • 2020 Brian Porter
  • 2021 Brian Porter
  • 2022 No Race
  • 2023 No Race