"A Gusty Nor' Wester" - Valkyrie III Racing Britannia and Ailsa for the Muir Memorial Challenge Cup on the Clyde - July 3rd 1895"
signed 'J. Steven Dews' (lower left) and inscribed with title (to stretcher verso)
oil on canvas
100 x 167cm (39 3/8 x 65 3/4in).

The New York Times describes the vessel in an article, 1895, entitled 'A Marvel In Light Airs'. The article covered Valkyrie's victory against the cutters Britannia and Ailsa on the fifty-mile course of the Royal Yacht Club at Hunter's Quay, Scotland, July 6th. It reads: "The Valkyrie carried her mighty spread of canvas well, and pointed somewhat higher than her competitors. She turned on her heel like a ballet dancer, quicker in stays than either the Britannia or Ailsa, which are swift in going about."

The frame of the present lot has a one dollar Australian coin mounted on the rear, echoing the ancient Roman tradition of placing a coin under the mast of a ship towards the end of construction; for good luck.