- Related Topics:
- yachting
- Notable Honorees:
- Ted Turner
- Russell Coutts
- Charles Francis Adams III
- Ben Lexcen
America’s Cup
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What is the America’s Cup?
The America's Cup stands as one of the oldest and most esteemed trophies in the realm of international sailing yacht competition. Its origins trace back to August 20, 1851, when it was first presented as the Hundred Guinea Cup by the Royal Yacht Squadron of Great Britain for a race around the Isle of Wight. The schooner America from New York City won the race, after which the trophy was named the America's Cup. In 1857, the American winners gifted the cup to the New York Yacht Club, establishing it as a perpetual trophy for international challenge competition. Since the 1920s, the America's Cup race has been between one defending vessel and one challenging vessel.
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Why is the America’s Cup considered special in yacht racing?
The America's Cup stands as one of the oldest and most esteemed trophies in international sailing yacht competition.
The Cup was first offered by the Royal Yacht Squadron of Great Britain in 1851 and was won by the schooner America. The American winners donated the cup to the New York Yacht Club in 1857 for a perpetual international challenge competition. The design of large yachts was greatly affected by the success of America, after its victory, giving the America's Cup its name.
The competition is unique because each competing vessel must be designed, built, and outfitted solely in the country it represents.
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When and how did the America’s Cup race begin?
The America's Cup, a prestigious international sailing yacht competition, originated as the Hundred Guinea Cup, offered by the Royal Yacht Squadron of Great Britain on August 20, 1851, for a race around the Isle of Wight anchor text. The America, a 100-foot schooner from New York City, won the race, leading to the cup being renamed America's Cup. In 1857, the American winners donated the cup to the New York Yacht Club for a perpetual international challenge competition anchor text.
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How do teams qualify to compete in the America’s Cup?
Since the 1920s, the America's Cup race has been between one defending vessel and one challenging vessel. These are determined in separate series of elimination trials. Each competing vessel must be designed, built, and outfitted solely in the country it represents.
The original terms of the America's Cup donation imposed many disadvantages on challenging yachts. For example, a clause that required a challenger to sail on its own bottom to the scene of the contest, forcing a heavier style of construction than that of the defender, was not eliminated until 1956.
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What kinds of yachts are used in the America’s Cup?
The America's Cup has seen various yacht designs throughout its history. Early races featured yachts resembling naval vessels like schooners and cutters.
From 1958 to 1987, the 12-metre class was used, although the "12" in the name came from a complex mathematical formula and not an actual measurement. In 1992, the International America's Cup Class (IACC), measuring 75 feet in length, was introduced. The 2013 event saw the use of newly designed 72-foot catamarans.
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How does winning the America’s Cup impact a country or team?
Winning the America's Cup yacht race brings prestige to the winning team's country, boosts its yachting industry, and stimulates technological innovation in sailing. The competition demands that each competing vessel be designed, built, and outfitted solely in the country it represents, fostering national pride and technical advancement. The race has also spurred advancements in yacht design and naval architecture.
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America’s Cup, one of the oldest and best-known trophies in international sailing yacht competition. It was first offered as the Hundred Guinea Cup on August 20, 1851, by the Royal Yacht Squadron of Great Britain for a race around the Isle of Wight. The cup was won by the America, a 100-foot (30-metre) schooner from New York City, and subsequently became known as the America’s Cup. The American winners of the cup donated it to the New York Yacht Club in 1857 for a perpetual international challenge competition. In 1987 the San Diego Yacht Club took control of the U.S. competition.
Since the 1920s the America’s Cup race has been between one defending vessel and one challenging vessel, both of which are determined in separate series of elimination trials. Each competing vessel must be designed, built, and, insofar as possible, outfitted solely in the country that it represents. The original terms of the America’s Cup donation imposed many disadvantages on challenging yachts. Not until 1956 was a clause eliminated that required a challenger to sail on its own bottom to the scene of the contest, forcing a heavier style of construction than that of the defender. Until 1995, the America’s Cup competition was a best four of seven races; from that year until 2007 it required five of nine races to win. From 1958 to 1987 each race was run over a six-leg 24-mile (39-kilometre) course by yachts of the so-called 12-metre class. (No measurement on the 12-metre yacht was actually 12 metres. The “12” was a result of a complicated mathematical formula used in the yacht’s construction.)
In 1983, after American yachts (sponsored by the New York Yacht Club) had successfully defended the cup 24 times without a loss since the first defense in 1870, the Australian yacht Australia II won the cup. In the next race, in 1987, the Americans (now from San Diego) regained the cup. The controversial race of 1988, between the winning American 60-foot (18-metre) catamaran and a New Zealander 132-foot (40-metre) monohull, had to be decided in the courts and provoked a redefinition of the rules governing future races. For 1992, a new and faster yacht was designated as the International America’s Cup Class (IACC)—75 feet (23 m) in overall length—to race over an eight-leg 22.6-mile (36.4-kilometre) course. The 1995 event was run over a six-leg, 18.55-nautical-mile (34.4-kilometre) course. It was won by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, only the second victory by a non-American challenger in the history of the competition. The skipper of the New Zealand victory in 1995 was Russell Coutts, who also led New Zealand to a win in 2000; Coutts, skippering for a Swiss team, won a third consecutive victory in 2003. In 2007 the Swiss team, with Brad Butterworth as skipper, defended its title. An American team owned by businessman Larry Ellison, Oracle Team USA, recaptured the Cup in 2010 in a two-race competition that was delayed by numerous court battles. In 2013 the U.S. had one of the most-dramatic comebacks in sporting history: the American team (captained by Jimmy Spithill and racing in a newly designed 72-foot [22-metre] catamaran) was trailing New Zealand 8–1 in a best-of-17 series and then won the remaining eight races for the most-unexpected America’s Cup victory of all time. See also yacht.
