History

The oldest continuous trophy in sports

The America's Cup

It was once said that the head of the skipper who lost the America's Cup would replace the trophy in its glass case at the New York Yacht Club.

This of course did not happen in 1983 when Australia finally ended America's 132 years of domination in the event, but it illustrated the emotion the event conjures.

It was that loss by "Liberty" which brought the event to the forefront of the sailing and sporting world.

Yacht clubs around the world have benefited from this heightened interest, and to date, there are over 40,000 registered yachters in United States alone.

A Tradition Begins

Reliance was the biggest boat ever built for the America`s Cup (1903) and was a breakthrough design. She sailed with a crew of 64 and had more than 1 500 square metres of sail area. The spinnaker pole alone was 88ft (27m) long.

Britain enjoyed centuries of renown for dominion over the waves. In the Great Exposition of 1851, she sought to test that supremacy by challenging the United States to a race.

The challenge was accepted, and a 90-foot schooner was commissioned by the newly formed New York Yacht Club to be built for the sum of $45,000. In June of 1851, the schooner "America" was launched. "America" immediately broke the record for crossing the Atlantic with a passage in under 21 days.

The English were fascinated by "America's" unusual appearance but were nevertheless confidant that one of the 15 British boats would win the race. The race was barely a contest as the United States enjoyed an easy victory, but the victory would not be without controversy.

The British side accused the Americans of taking a shorter course, and there were even questions alluding to the use of a steam driven propeller.

In the end, nothing was proved, and the United States were declared the victors.

A trophy was commissioned and spent the next six years traveling around the United States. In 1857, it was given to the New York Yacht Club under the condition that it be awarded to a winning boat after a regatta between friendly countries.

In honor of that original schooner "America," the cup was renamed the America's Cup.

1870-1983

Ranger (left) and Endeavour in 1934.

The first official challenge for the newly named America's Cup came in 1870, when England's Royal Thames Yacht Club raced the ill-fated "Cambria" against 18 American competitors. "Cambria" lost her port shroud and fore topmast-backstay when she was struck by another boat. She subsequently lost her fore topmast and finished well behind the winner, a centerboard schooner named "Magic."

England mounted 24 unsuccessful challengers for the America's Cup over the next 113 years. During this extraordinary American winning streak, the competition remained top-notch and exciting.

Many of Britain's finest shipbuilders and skippers were commissioned to compete by such notable yacht owners as the tea and grocery baron Sir Thomas Lipton. Sir Thomas Sopwith, founder of the aircraft company that produced the famous Sopwith Camels during WWI as well as the Hawker Hurricane which may well have saved Britain in the Battle of Britain, also competed, as did the famously wealthy and vociferously combative Peter de Savary, head of multiple British challenges.

America's lineup of owners and skippers during these years included such colorful sportsmen and entrepreneurs as Harold S. Vanderbilt, Bus Mosbacher, and Ted Turner.

By the 1970's, it was becoming increasingly obvious that technology was the most important part of any challenge or defense of the America's Cup. The world's best sailors were now vying for the "Holy Grail" of sailing, so more often than not, it was the team with the fastest boat which was consistently winning.

America's domination of the event was complete and unblemished until the race of 1983.

1983

Australia II.

In 1983, five countries submitted their challenges for the right to race for the America's Cup. "Australia II," one of three Australian boats competing, was rumored to have a dramatically new keel design. Its owner, Alan Bond, kept the keel carefully shrouded under green polyethylene every time the boat was raised or lowered into the water, driving his competitors and the media wild with curiosity.

The Americans' very public disputes over whether or not the new and unknown keel design should disqualify "Australia II" helped to fuel widespread public interest in the race.

"Australia II" performed magnificently during the trials, and the protests regarding the keel were overruled. For the first time in 132 years, the defending American team was severely shaken. Their spirits were lifted, however, when Dennis Conner, aboard "Liberty," won the first two races of the finals.

Although "Australia II" won the third race by the largest margin of any challenger since 1971, Conners' team took the third race and America breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Australia won the fifth race and for the first time in Cup history, the Cup final was going to a sixth race. This too, was won by Australia. "Liberty" led "Australia II" by over a minute during the deciding seventh race when Australian skipper John Bertrand tacked away, caught a shift and beat "Liberty" by 25 seconds. The longest winning streak in modern sports history had been broken.

Although many Americans were only vaguely aware of the America's Cup competition before the race, Ben Lexcens controversial new design and America's stunning defeat drew widespread media coverage, both in America and around the world.

Millions who had never seen a yacht under sail, now took an interest in the sport of yacht racing and the long, illustrious history of the America's Cup.

The new America's Cup boat

1992 saw the introduction of the new International America's Cup Class or IACC.

The goal of this new class was to establish a level playing field for syndicates involved in the America's Cup.

With the explosion of technology in modern-day sailing, the aim was to set stringent guidelines for both dimensions and designs. This left materials as the avenue to improve, and this strategy has been pushed to the limits of technology, as was seen by "Australia I" in 1995.

The new IACC are much larger than their old 12-meter counterparts, but the main difference is the increase in sail area.

As can been seen by the table below, there is a 40 percent increase in sail area due mainly to larger mast height and an increase in spinnaker and jib hoist. These changes have created a boat that is more challenging to sail but, with the increased sail area, faster on each point of sail and therefore more exciting to watch.

The conditions off Auckland, New Zealand, where this year's challenger series will be sailed, will provide many difficult decisions for the design team.

In San Diego, it was generally accepted that the racing would be in mainly light to medium air; however, Auckland will be an entirely different proposition. With the possibility of all types of wind conditions and the sometimes large swells in the Tasmanian Sea, boats must be fast and durable.

	12-meter	IACC
Length	65'	75'+
Waterline	45'	57'
Beam	12'	15'+
Draft	9'	13'
Mast Height	86'	110'
Sail Area-Main/Jib	2,000 sq feet	3,000 sq feet
Sail Area-Spinnaker	2,000 sq feet	4,500 sq feet
Displacement	56,000 lbs	37,000 lbs
Jib Hoist	75%	80%
Spinnaker Hoist	80%	100%
Crew	11	16

The America's Cups
Year	Winner	Skipper	Score	Loser	Skipper
2007	Alinghi (SUI)	Ed Baird	5-2	New Zealand	Dean Barker
2003	Alinghi (SUI)	Russell Coutts	5-0	New Zealand	Dean Barker
2000	New Zealand	Russell Coutts Dean Barker	5-0	Prada (ITA)	Francesco de Angelis
1995	New Zealand	Russell Coutts	5-0	Young America	Dennis Conner Paul Cayard
1992	America³	Bill Koch Buddy Melges	4-1	Il Moro de Venezia (ITA)	Paul Cayard
1988	Stars & Stripes	Dennis Conner	2-0	New Zealand	David Barnes
1987	Stars & Stripes	Dennis Conner	4-0	Kookaburra III (AUS)	Iain Murray
1983	Australia II	John Bertrand	4-3	Liberty	Dennis Conner
1980	Freedom	Dennis Conner	4-1	Australia	Jim Hardy
1977	Courageous	Ted Turner	4-0	Australia	Noel Robins
1974	Courageous	Ted Hood	4-0	Southern Cross (AUS)	John Cuneo
1970	Intrepid	Bill Ficker	4-1	Gretel II (AUS)	Jim Hardy
1967	Intrepid	Bus Mosbacher	4-0	Dame Pattie (AUS)	Jock Sturrock
1964	Constellation	Bob Bavier Eric Ridder	4-0	Sovereign (AUS)	Peter Scott
1962	Weatherly	Bus Mosbacher	4-1	Gretel (AUS)	Jock Sturrock
1958	Columbia	Briggs Cunningham	4-0	Sceptre (GBR)	Graham Mann
1937	Ranger	Harold Vanderbilt	4-0	Endeavour II (GBR)	T.O.M. Sopwith
1934	Rainbow	Harold Vanderbilt	4-2	Endeavour (GBR)	T.O.M. Sopwith
1930	Enterprise	Harold Vanderbilt	4-0	Shamrock V (IRE)	Ned Heard
1920	Resolute	Charles F. Adams	3-2	Shamrock IV (IRE)	William Burton
1903	Reliance	Charles Barr	3-0	Shamrock III (IRE)	Bob Wringe
1901	Columbia	Charles Barr	3-0	Shamrock II (IRE)	E.A. Sycamore
1899	Columbia	Charles Barr	3-0	Shamrock (IRE)	Archie Hogarth
1895	Defender	Henry Haff	3-0	Valkyrie III (GBR)	William Granfield
1893	Vigilant	William Hansen	3-0	Valkyrie II (GBR)	William Granfield
1887	Volunteer	Henry Haff	2-0	Thistle (SCO)	John Barr
1886	Mayflower	Martin Stone	2-0	Galatea (GBR)	Dan Bradford
1885	Puritan	Aubrey Crocker	2-0	Genesta (GBR)	John Carter
1881	Mischief	Nathanael Clock	2-0	Atalanta (CAN)	Alexander Cuthbert
1876	Madeleine	Josephus Williams	2-0	Countess of Dufferin (CAN)	J.E. Ellsworth
1871	Columbia 2-1 Sappho 2-0	Nelson Comstock Sam Greenwood	4-0	Livonia (ENG)	J.R. Woods
1870	Magic	Andrew Comstock	1-0	Cambria (ENG)	J. Tannock
1851	America	Richard Brown	1-0	Aurora (ENG)	n/a