HISTORY OF THE AMERICA'S CUP - 35th America's Cup HISTORY OF THE AMERICA'S CUP A Brief History of The America's Cup First contested in 1851, the America’s Cup is the oldest trophy in international sport, predating the modern Olympic Games by 45 years, and is yachting’s biggest prize. The trophy’s roots date back to when a syndicate of businessmen from New York sailed the schooner America across the Atlantic Ocean to represent the United States at the World’s Fair in England. The schooner won a race around the Isle of Wight and, with it, a trophy called the £100 Cup. (It was subsequently inscribed, incorrectly, as the 100 Guineas Cup.) Poster advertising the £100 Cup - an invitational race around the Isle of Wight off the South Coast of England.

The yacht America beat the best of the British fleet to win the sterling silver trophy that would become the America’s Cup (named after the yacht, not the country) After winning the trophy, the United States embarked on what would become the longest winning streak in the history of sport, a 132-year stretch of domination that saw boats representing the country successfully defend the trophy 24 times from 1870 through 1980—until 1983, when Australia II became the first successful challenger to lift the trophy. Throughout its history, the America’s Cup has bedazzled a worldwide roster of business and industry tycoons such as Oracle’s Larry Ellison, brewing and real estate mogul Alan Bond, tea merchant Sir Thomas Lipton, aviation pioneer Sir T.O.M. Sopwith, the Aga Khan, media mogul Ted Turner, and Harold S. Vanderbilt, an American railroad executive who won the America’s Cup three times and also helped author the original racing rules of sailing. The yacht America beat the best of the British fleet to win the sterling silver trophy that would become the America’s Cup (named after the yacht, not the country).

It’s also attracted larger-than-life sailing figures such as Tom Blackaller, Peter Blake, Paul Cayard, Dennis Conner, and Russell Coutts. Now, a new generation of sailing superstars have taken up the challenge, like Britain’s Ben Ainslie and Iain Percy, and Australians Jimmy Spithill, Tom Slingsby and Nathan Outteridge, along with Kiwis Dean Barker, Peter Burling and Blair Tuke, and French superstar Franck Cammas The Whole Story 1. IN THE BEGINNING In 1851 a radical looking schooner ghosted out of the afternoon mist and swiftly sailed past the Royal Yacht stationed in the Solent, between the Isle of Wight and the south coast of England, on an afternoon when Queen Victoria was watching a sailing race. As the schooner, named America, passed the Royal Yacht in first position, and saluted by dipping its ensign three times, Queen Victoria asked one of her attendants to tell her who was in second place.”Your Majesty, there is no second,” came the reply. That phrase, just four words, is still the best description of the America’s Cup, and how it represents the singular pursuit of excellence.

Her Majesty Queen Victoria congratulates John Cox Stevens, Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, aboard the yacht America, winner of the £100 Cup. That day in August, 1851, the yacht America, representing the young New York Yacht Club, would go on to beat the best the British could offer and win the Royal Yacht Squadron’s 100 Pound Cup. This was more than a simple boat race however, as it symbolised a great victory for the new world over the old, a triumph that unseated Great Britain as the world’s undisputed maritime power. The trophy would go to the young democracy of the United States and it would be well over 100 years before it was taken away from New York. Shortly after America won the 100 Guinea Cup in 1851, New York Yacht Club Commodore John Cox Stevens and the rest of his ownership syndicate sold the celebrated schooner and returned home to New York as heroes.

They donated the trophy to the New York Yacht Club under a Deed of Gift, which stated that the trophy was to be “a perpetual challenge cup for friendly competition between nations.” Thus was born the America’s Cup, named after the winning schooner America, as opposed to the country. The America’s Cup is without a doubt the most difficult trophy in sport to win. In the more than 150 years since that first race off England, only four nations have won what is often called the “oldest trophy in international sport.” For some perspective, consider that there had been nine contests for the America’s Cup before the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896. 2. EARLY CHALLENGES The very first challenge would come from Englishman James Ashbury, who raced against a fleet from the New York Yacht Club just off Staten Island in 1870. After much dispute over the conditions for racing, Ashbury’s Cambria finished tenth in the 17-boat fleet, prompting a second challenge the following year. The 1871 America’s Cup match was a precursor for many of the legal battles that would engulf the Cup over the next 100 years.

After reportedly consulting his lawyers, Ashbury insisted on racing against just one boat, not an entire fleet and protested both the scoring of the races and the Race Committee who set the race course. In the end he limped home complaining bitterly about poor sportsmanship on the part of the Americans and insisting he had actually won the America’s Cup, to no avail. The next two Challenges came from Canada, but the northerners were no match for the Americans and were soundly beaten. 3. LIPTON ERA There were a further six challenges before the turn of the Century, including the first of what came to be called the Lipton era of the America’s Cup. Sir Thomas Lipton, the Irish/Scottish tea baron challenged five times between 1899 and 1930. He became the loveable loser; a man whose good-natured approach to the obstacles stacked against him turned him into a folk hero and promoted his business interests in America as well. © The Edwin Levick Collection, Mariners' Museum Sir Thomas Lipton. The son of a grocer, Lipton went on to be well known for his involvement in the purchase of tea plantations in Ceylon.

Lipton challenged for the America's Cup five times in succession between 1899 and 1930 with his boats "Shamrock'. While Lipton didn’t win the America’s Cup, he became one of the first to introduce the idea of sports sponsorship, and he realised a financial windfall from it. Lipton’s final challenge in 1930 was the first in the new J-Class boats. This was a period of magnificent beauty afloat, as the towering masts carrying an improbable amount of sail powered through the chop off Newport, Rhode Island. Harold Vanderbilt was selected to defend for the New York Yacht Club that year and did so with ease. 4. POST WAR The Second World War marked the end of the J-Class, and when America’s Cup racing began again in 1958, it signaled the beginning of the 12-Metre era. The Americans would successfully defend eight more times over the next 25-year period. Sadly, in 1939, all but three of the original ten J’s were used as scrap metal for the war effort. The three surviving J-Class yachts have been restored and still sail in regattas around the world. 5.

CHALLENGER SERIES In 1970, more than one yacht club interested in challenging for the America’s Cup, so for the first time, a competition was staged to determine the single Challenger that would face the Defender, the New York Yacht Club. The French malletier Louis Vuitton became involved with the America’s Cup in 1983, supporting the Challenger Selection Series that came to be known as the Louis Vuitton Cup. The idea was twofold; to develop and identify the strongest possible challenger for the America’s Cup and ensure that they were sufficiently battle-tested through tough competition to beat the Defender. The defenders had been involved in this type of selection series for most of the century, but until recently, there had been but one Challenger. 6. THE CUP LEAVES AMERICA Australia was one of the challenging countries in 1983, and the ‘Men from Down Under’ brought a secret weapon. Australia II sported a boxing Kangaroo flag in the rigging as she was towed out to sea, and under the water, a radically-designed winged keel that gave the 12-Metre Class boat superior speed under most conditions.

The Australians kept the secret to themselves, draping large ‘modesty skirts’ from the deck to the ground when the boat was hauled from the water – keeping prying eyes away and all the time building speculation as to what could be under there. Dennis Conner, ‘Mr. America’s Cup’, was charged with defending against the upstart Australians, who handily whipped through the challenger fleet and carried off the first Louis Vuitton Cup. That summer, in 1983, the America’s Cup had pride of place on every newscast, and front-page status in every paper. There was a sense of history about that season; that somehow, finally, the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year winning streak was going to come to an end. Equipment problems on the Australian boat allowed Conner to jump ahead early in the best of seven series, but Australian skipper John Bertrand battled back, eventually bringing the series to a score line of 3-3. The seventh and final race was symbolic of the entire series, with Conner’s Liberty leading for most of the course in a light and shifty breeze.

It was not until the final spinnaker run that Australia II was able to jump into the lead, and then hold on to it despite a ferocious, last-gasp assault over the last few minutes. For the first time in 132 years, the America’s Cup was leaving the New York Yacht Club. Dennis Conner, also known as Mr. America’s Cup. Conner won the America’s Cup in 1980, 1987, and 1988, but is perhaps best known as the first American skipper to lose the Cup, in 1983, to Australia. Conner, then representing the San Diego Yacht Club, won the right to fight another day in 1987. Held in Fremantle, he won the Louis Vuitton Cup to become the Challenger and then delivered a shut-out victory of 4-0. This America’s Cup featured quite an on-the-water show, with the famous “Fremantle Doctor,” strong afternoon sea-breezes, blowing up incredible sailing conditions with giant white-capped seas, to challenge both the sailors and equipment. 7.

BACK TO AMERICA Dennis Conner, basking in presidential welcomes and ticker-tape parades through New York, was in no rush to settle the details of the next event, and New Zealand, exploiting a loophole in the century old Deed of Gift, demanded an immediate challenge in 1988. What resulted was the first America’s Cup Finals where two different styles of boat raced each other, with the Kiwis in a giant 90-foot waterline boat against Conner in a much smaller but faster hard-winged catamaran. The best of three series went to the Americans and after numerous court challenges – the teams spent far more time battling in a courtroom than they did on the water – the result stood. 8. AMERICA’S CUP CLASS A good thing to come of the entire 1988 fiasco was a new class of boat that featured a more modern design that could perform well in the lighter winds of San Diego; the America’s Cup Class, a type of boat built to a design rule. Under the rule, all boats must look similar, although the designers had enough leeway to make an impact on boat speed. Progress is always made from one generation to the next.

In 1992, two American teams sought the right to defend the United States through a Defender series, where Dennis Conner was beaten and lost the right to defend to American billionaire Bill Koch with his massive, four-boat America programme. On the challenger side, New Zealand met the Italian Il Moro de Venezia Challenge, eventually yielding to relentless pressure from the Italians and their skipper Paul Cayard. In the concluding battle for the 29th America’s Cup, Koch, occasionally steering the boat himself, and his skipper Buddy Melges, successfully defended the America’s Cup. 9. THE KIWIS 1995 would be the year of the Kiwi. Led by the fierce determination of Sir Peter Blake and with the steady hand of Russell Coutts on the wheel, New Zealand’s Black Magic dominated the challengers in San Diego, and went on to make short work of the Dennis Conner / Paul Cayard defense partnership, taking the America’s Cup back to the Southern Hemisphere. Sir Peter Blake’s crew declared there would be no defender selection series, and Team New Zealand focused on in-house training, taking advantage of a deep pool of young talent to push Coutts to the limit in training.

At the same time, the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 featured what has been described as perhaps the best two weeks of racing in the history of the America’s Cup. Italy’s Prada Challenge outlasted Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne, winning the best of nine series 5-4. Not only was the series close, but many of the races were sailed with the boats just metres apart, the lead changing hands over and over again. But Prada’s Luna Rossa, although battle-hardened, was no match for Team New Zealand. Skipper Russell Coutts staked the Kiwis to a quick 4-0 lead – equaling the record for most consecutive America’s Cup wins set by Charlie Barr 100 years earlier – before handing the wheel to understudy Dean Barker who promptly became the youngest skipper at 26-years old to win the America’s Cup. Team New Zealand looked to be so far ahead of the challengers that the America’s Cup appeared to be secure in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron for a long time to come.

But shortly after the win, Russell Coutts and many of his Team New Zealand stalwarts announced they were leaving to join a new team that had to be built from the ground up for Swiss Bio-Tech entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli. Within months, in a scene reminiscent of an earlier era, many of the world’s most successful men announced they were coming to stake their claim on the Cup. Backed by Patrizio Bertelli of the Prada fashion house, the Italians would be back, as would three strong American challenges, including teams backed by Oracle software guru Larry Ellison, and a Pacific Northwest team led by Craig McCaw and Paul Allen. Joining them were teams from France, Italy, Sweden, and for the first time in 16 years, Great Britain, making another run at regaining that which they lost 151 years earlier. © Moet & Chandon/Franck Socha Russell Coutts and Dean Barker celebrate winning the America’s Cup in February 2000 with Team New Zealand. Coutts, the skipper, steered the team to a 4-0 lead before handing the helm to his understudy, Barker, for the final, deciding race.

After four months of Round Robin and elimination rounds, the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series came down to a nine-race Final between Ernesto Bertarelli’s Team Alinghi and Larry Ellison’s BMW ORACLE Racing team. Both teams arrived at the Finals with impressive records in the previous rounds, and the racing showed these two teams were evenly matched. Although the record was a 5-1 series win for Alinghi, the numbers belied how close the racing actually was. The battle to the win the Louis Vuitton Cup created a very strong Challenger, and set up a much-anticipated America’s Cup Match between Coutts and his old Team New Zealand understudy Dean Barker. Unfortunately for the Kiwis, Team New Zealand appeared ill prepared, and was no match for Alinghi. Serious equipment problems and some poor race tactics allowed Alinghi to sweep the Match 5-0, and take the America’s Cup to Europe for the first time. 10. TO EUROPE Shortly after winning the America’s Cup, the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) accepted a challenge from the Golden Gate Yacht Club, putting the wheels in motion for the 32nd America’s Cup.

A new Protocol was issued, detailing the plans for the next event and outlining some of the changes. It was immediately clear that the move to Europe would mean a sea change for the America’s Cup. Taking advantage of what some perceived to be a problem for the new Defender, the SNG announced that it would take its time to decide upon a venue, drafting up a selection criteria that would ensure reliable sailing conditions. The nationality rules were abolished, freeing up teams to sign the best people regardless of their passport, and rules on the transfer of technology from prior syndicates were eased to enable new teams access to old information. Most importantly, a new organising authority, AC Management, was created and charged with the task of overseeing all aspects of the 32nd America’s Cup including the Challenger Selection Series. In short, a new era of the America’s Cup had dawned. The 32nd America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain was a success on many levels. By bidding out the city, the organising authority was able to raise revenue on a scale previously unimagined. A four-year programme of racing took America’s Cup racing to other European venues, drumming up interest in the event.

And teams from new territories, like South Africa and China, added to the international flavour of the racing. Emirates Team New Zealand, rejuvenated behind the leadership of Grant Dalton, won the Louis Vuitton Cup to set up a rematch against Alinghi. But although the Kiwis won a couple of races and lost another by just one second, the Swiss Defender proved to be too strong and retained the title. 11. MULTIHULL BATTLE Shortly after successfully defending the Cup, SNG announced it had accepted a challenge from a newly formed yacht club, the Spanish CNEV, and released a Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup. Many in the America’s Cup community balked at the terms in the Protocol and BMW ORACLE Racing, with Larry Ellison leading the charge, challenged the validity of the new Spanish club. The courts agreed and GGYC became the challenger of record. When GGYC and SNG were unable to mutually consent on a new Protocol, the 33rd America’s Cup became a ‘Deed of Gift’ Match, as in 1988. There were numerous court challenges, initiated by both sides.

In the end, both teams having learned the lesson of 1988, built enormous multihulls. Then, just months before the race, BMW ORACLE Racing replaced its soft sail rig with a towering wing sail – the largest wing ever built. When the boats finally lined up to race off Valencia in February 2010, the BMW ORACLE Racing trimaran with its powerful wing sail proved to be superior. Skipper James Spithill, just 30 years old, won with a record of 2-0. Once again, the America’s Cup would be defended by an American Team in the 34th edition. 12. THE COMEBACK The speed, the thrill and the challenge of building multihulls proved irresistible and ORACLE TEAM USA elected to make the AC72, a catamaran powered by a towering wingsail, the class for the 34th America’s Cup. The venue would be the iconic San Francisco Bay, where late summer winds were predictable and strong. Emirates Team New Zealand was among three challengers (along with Artemis Racing and Luna Rossa Challenge) lined up to battle ORACLE TEAM USA.

The Kiwis found enough wiggle room in the design rule to get the AC72 up and out of the water, foiling, and soon all the teams were flying above the water at speeds over 40 knots. The boats were without risk however, and ORACLE TEAM USA capsized during training on San Francisco Bay, all but destroying one of their boats and setting their program back by months. More tragically, Artemis Racing also had a training accident and crew member Andrew ‘Bart’ Simpson perished when he became trapped under the capsized boat. His memory lives on through the Andrew Simpson Sailing Foundation, a charity devoted to youth sailing projects. With new safety regulations developed following the accident, racing started in the challenger series, where Team New Zealand made short work of Artemis Racing and Luna Rossa Challenge. The Kiwis then jumped out to an impressive lead in the America’s Cup Match over ORACLE TEAM USA, who couldn’t match the New Zealander’s upwind speed. After making a critical crew change, bringing on Ben Ainslie for John Kostecki, and making continual modifications to their boat and sailing techniques, the Americans were getting faster, but were running out of time.

Team New Zealand reached match point, building an 8-1 lead. But improbably, ORACLE TEAM USA turned the tide and began to win races. The gap narrowed and then disappeared. Now it was ORACLE TEAM USA who were faster and the score was tied, 8-8. There would be one last race; the winner would claim the Cup. The final race was a microcosm of the match itself. Emirates Team New Zealand had an early lead, but couldn’t fend off the superior speed of the American boat. ORACLE TEAM USA sailed into history, completing the greatest comeback in sport, taking the closest match in America’s Cup history, 9-8. © Abner Kingman America's Cup | yacht race and trophy | Britannica.com yacht race and trophy Alternative Title: Hundred Guinea Cup Related Topics Ted Turner 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.) The yacht Alinghi (Switzerland) leading New … Jose Jordan—AFP/Getty Images 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 . Oracle Team USA (left) and Team New Zealand (right) sailing past Alcatraz Island in San Francisco … John G. Mabanglo—EPA/Alamy America’s Cup - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) The most prestigious international yachting competition is the America’s Cup race. The cup is a trophy that was first offered as the Hundred Guinea Cup in 1851 by the Royal Yacht Squadron of Great Britain for a race around the Isle of Wight. That year the cup was won by the America, a 100-foot (30-meter) schooner from New York City, and the trophy and race subsequently became known as the America’s Cup.

In 1857 the winners of that first race donated the trophy to the New York Yacht Club to establish an ongoing sailing competition between countries. The United States long dominated the America’s Cup race, but today the competition is more evenly matched. Article History A Brief History - America's Cup America's Cup By America's Cup on November 9, 2011 at 8:24 PM IN THE BEGINNING In 1851 a radical looking schooner ghosted out of the afternoon mist and swiftly sailed past the Royal Yacht stationed in the Solent, between the Isle of Wight and the south coast of England, on an afternoon when Queen Victoria was watching a sailing race. As the schooner, named America, passed the Royal Yacht in first position, and saluted by dipping its ensign three times, Queen Victoria asked one of her attendants to tell her who was in second place. ”Your Majesty, there is no second,” came the reply. That phrase, just four words, is still the best description of the America’s Cup, and how it represents the singular pursuit of excellence.

That day in August, 1851, the yacht America, representing the young New York Yacht Club, would go on to beat the best the British could offer and win the Royal Yacht Squadron’s 100 Guinea Cup. This was more than a simple boat race however, as it symbolised a great victory for the new world over the old, a triumph that unseated Great Britain as the world’s undisputed maritime power. The trophy would go to the young democracy of the United States and it would be well over 100 years before it was taken away from New York. Shortly after America won the 100 Guinea Cup in 1851, New York Yacht Club Commodore John Cox Stevens and the rest of his ownership syndicate sold the celebrated schooner and returned home to New York as heroes. They donated the trophy to the New York Yacht Club under a Deed of Gift, which stated that the trophy was to be “a perpetual challenge cup for friendly competition between nations.” Thus was born the America’s Cup, named after the winning schooner America, as opposed to the country. The America’s Cup is without a doubt the most difficult trophy in sport to win.

In the more than 150 years since that first race off England, only four nations have won what is often called the “oldest trophy in international sport.” For some perspective, consider that there had been nine contests for the America’s Cup before the first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896. THE EARLY CHALLENGES The very first challenge would come from Englishman James Ashbury, who raced against a fleet from the New York Yacht Club just off Staten Island in 1870. After much dispute over the conditions for racing, Ashbury’s Cambria finished tenth in the 17-boat fleet, prompting a second challenge the following year. The 1871 America’s Cup match was a precursor for many of the legal battles that would engulf the Cup over the next 100 years. After reportedly consulting his lawyers, Ashbury insisted on racing against just one boat, not an entire fleet and protested both the scoring of the races and the Race Committee who set the race course. In the end he limped home complaining bitterly about poor sportsmanship on the part of the Americans and insisting he had actually won the America’s Cup, to no avail.

The next two Challenges came from Canada, but the northerners were no match for the Americans and were soundly beaten. THE LIPTON ERA There were a further six challenges before the turn of the Century, including the first of what came to be called the Lipton era of the America’s Cup. Sir Thomas Lipton, the Irish/Scottish tea baron challenged five times between 1899 and 1930. He became the loveable loser; a man whose good-natured approach to the obstacles stacked against him turned him into a folk hero and promoted his business interests in America as well. While Lipton didn’t win the America’s Cup, he became one of the first to introduce the idea of sports sponsorship, and he realised a financial windfall from it. Lipton’s final challenge in 1930 was the first in the new J-Class boats. This was a period of magnificent beauty afloat, as the towering masts carrying an improbable amount of sail powered through the chop off Newport, Rhode Island. Harold Vanderbilt was selected to defend for the New York Yacht Club that year and did so with ease.

POST WAR 12-METRES The Second World War marked the end of the J-Class, and when America’s Cup racing began again in 1958, it signaled the beginning of the 12-Metre era. The Americans would successfully defend eight more times over the next 25-year period. Sadly, in 1939, all but three of the original ten J’s were used as scrap metal for the war effort. The three surviving J-Class yachts, all of which competed in the America’s Cup in the ’30’s, have been restored and still sail, with the Class always being present at the America’s Cup Finals today. THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHALLENGER SERIES In 1970, more than one yacht club interested in challenging for the America’s Cup, so for the first time, a competition was staged to determine the single Challenger that would face the Defender, the New York Yacht Club. The French malletier Louis Vuitton became involved with the America’s Cup in 1983, supporting the Challenger Selection Series that came to be known as the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The idea was twofold; to develop and identify the strongest possible challenger for the America’s Cup and ensure that they were sufficiently battle-tested through tough competition to beat the Defender. The defenders had been involved in this type of selection series for most of the century, but until recently, there had been but one Challenger. THE AMERICA’S CUP LEAVES AMERICA Australia was one of the challenging countries in 1983, and the ‘Men from Down Under’ brought a secret weapon. Australia II sported a boxing Kangaroo flag in the rigging as she was towed out to sea, and under the water, a radically-designed winged keel that gave the 12-Metre Class boat superior speed under most conditions. The Australians kept the secret to themselves, draping large ‘modesty skirts’ from the deck to the ground when the boat was hauled from the water – keeping prying eyes away and all the time building speculation as to what could be under there. Dennis Conner, ‘Mr. America’s Cup’, was charged with defending against the upstart Australians, who handily whipped through the challenger fleet and carried off the first Louis Vuitton Cup.

That summer, in 1983, the America’s Cup had pride of place on every newscast, and front-page status in every paper. There was a sense of history about that season; that somehow, finally, the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year winning streak was going to come to an end. Equipment problems on the Australian boat allowed Conner to jump ahead early in the best of seven series, but Australian skipper John Bertrand battled back, eventually bringing the series to a score line of 3-3. The seventh and final race was symbolic of the entire series, with Conner’s Liberty leading for most of the course in a light and shifty breeze. It was not until the final spinnaker run that Australia II was able to jump into the lead, and then hold on to it despite a ferocious, last-gasp assault over the last few minutes. For the first time in 132 years, the America’s Cup was leaving the New York Yacht Club. Conner, then representing the San Diego Yacht Club, won the right to fight another day in 1987.

Held in Fremantle, he won the Louis Vuitton Cup to become the Challenger and then delivered a shut-out victory of 4-0. This America’s Cup featured quite an on-the-water show, with the famous “Fremantle Doctor,” strong afternoon sea-breezes, blowing up incredible sailing conditions with giant white-capped seas, to challenge both the sailors and equipment. BACK TO THE STATES Dennis Conner, basking in presidential welcomes and ticker-tape parades through New York, was in no rush to settle the details of the next event, and New Zealand, exploiting a loophole in the century old Deed of Gift, demanded an immediate challenge in 1988. What resulted was the first America’s Cup Finals where two different styles of boat raced each other, with the Kiwis in a giant 134-foot waterline boat against Conner in a much smaller but faster hard-winged catamaran. The best of three series went to the Americans and after numerous court challenges – the teams spent far more time battling in a courtroom than they did on the water – the result stood.

A NEW GENERATION – THE AMERICA’S CUP CLASS A good thing to come of the entire 1988 fiasco was a new class of boat that featured a more modern design that could perform well in the lighter winds of San Diego; the America’s Cup Class, a type of boat built to a design rule. Under the rule, all boats must look similar, although the designers had enough leeway to make an impact on boat speed . Progress is always made from one generation to the next. In 1992, two American teams sought the right to defend the United States through a Defender series, where Dennis Conner was beaten and lost the right to defend to American billionaire Bill Koch with his massive, four-boat America programme. On the challenger side, New Zealand met the Italian Il Moro de Venezia Challenge, eventually yielding to relentless pressure from the Italians and their skipper Paul Cayard. In the concluding battle for the 29th America’s Cup, Koch, occasionally steering the boat himself, and his skipper Buddy Melges, successfully defended the America’s Cup. THE KIWIS 1995 would be the year of the Kiwi.

Led by the fierce determination of Sir Peter Blake and with the steady hand of Russell Coutts on the wheel, New Zealand’s Black Magic dominated the challengers in San Diego, and went on to make short work of the Dennis Conner / Paul Cayard defense partnership, taking the America’s Cup back to the Southern Hemisphere. Sir Peter Blake’s crew declared there would be no defender selection series, and Team New Zealand focused on in-house training, taking advantage of a deep pool of young talent to push Coutts to the limit in training. At the same time, the Louis Vuitton Cup in 2000 featured what has been described as perhaps the best two weeks of racing in the history of the America’s Cup. Italy’s Prada Challenge outlasted Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne, winning the best of nine series 5-4. Not only was the series close, but many of the races were sailed with the boats just metres apart, the lead changing hands over and over again. But Prada’s Luna Rossa, although battle-hardened, was no match for Team New Zealand.

Skipper Russell Coutts staked the Kiwis to a quick 4-0 lead – equaling the record for most consecutive America’s Cup wins set by Charlie Barr 100 years earlier – before handing the wheel to understudy Dean Barker who promptly became the youngest skipper at 26-years old to win the America’s Cup. Team New Zealand looked to be so far ahead of the challengers that the America’s Cup appeared to be secure in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron for a long time to come. But shortly after the win, Russell Coutts and many of his Team New Zealand stalwarts announced they were leaving to join a new team that had to be built from the ground up for Swiss Bio-Tech entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli. Within months, in a scene reminiscent of an earlier era, many of the world’s most successful men announced they were coming to stake their claim on the Cup. Backed by Patrizio Bertelli of the Prada fashion house, the Italians would be back, as would three strong American challenges, including teams backed by Oracle software guru Larry Ellison, and a Pacific Northwest team led by Craig McCaw and Paul Allen.

Joining them were teams from France, Italy, Sweden, and for the first time in 16 years, Great Britain, making another run at regaining that which they lost 151 years earlier. After four months of Round Robin and elimination rounds, the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger Series came down to a nine-race Final between Ernesto Bertarelli’s Team Alinghi and Larry Ellison’s BMW ORACLE Racing team. Both teams arrived at the Finals with impressive records in the previous rounds, and the racing showed these two teams were evenly matched. Although the record was a 5-1 series win for Alinghi, the numbers belied how close the racing actually was. The battle to the win the Louis Vuitton Cup created a very strong Challenger, and set up a much-anticipated America’s Cup Match between Coutts and his old Team New Zealand understudy Dean Barker. Unfortunately for the Kiwis, Team New Zealand appeared ill prepared, and was no match for Alinghi. Serious equipment problems and some poor race tactics allowed Alinghi to sweep the Match 5-0, and take the America’s Cup to Europe for the first time.

TO EUROPE Shortly after winning the America’s Cup, the Société Nautique de Genève (SNG) accepted a challenge from the Golden Gate Yacht Club, putting the wheels in motion for the 32nd America’s Cup. A new Protocol was issued, detailing the plans for the next event and outlining some of the changes. It was immediately clear that the move to Europe would mean a sea change for the America’s Cup. Taking advantage of what some perceived to be a problem for the new Defender, the SNG announced that it would take its time to decide upon a venue, drafting up a selection criteria that would ensure reliable sailing conditions. The nationality rules were abolished, freeing up teams to sign the best people regardless of their passport, and rules on the transfer of technology from prior syndicates were eased to enable new teams access to old information. Most importantly, a new organising authority, AC Management, was created and charged with the task of overseeing all aspects of the 32nd America’s Cup including the Challenger Selection Series. In short, a new era of the America’s Cup had dawned. The 32nd America’s Cup in Valencia, Spain was a success on many levels.

By bidding out the city, the organising authority was able to raise revenue on a scale previously unimagined. A four-year programme of racing took America’s Cup racing to other European venues, drumming up interest in the event. And teams from new territories, like South Africa and China, added to the international flavour of the racing. Emirates Team New Zealand, rejuvenated behind the leadership of Grant Dalton, won the Louis Vuitton Cup to set up a rematch against Alinghi. But although the Kiwis won a couple of races and lost another by just one second, the Swiss Defender proved to be too strong and retained the title. THE MULTIHULL BATTLE Shortly after successfully defending the Cup, SNG announced it had accepted a challenge from a newly formed yacht club, the Spanish CNEV, and released a Protocol for the 33rd America’s Cup. Many in the America’s Cup community balked at the terms in the Protocol and BMW ORACLE Racing, with Larry Ellison leading the charge, challenged the validity of the new Spanish club. The courts agreed and GGYC became the challenger of record.

When GGYC and SNG were unable to mutually consent on a new Protocol, the 33rd America’s Cup became a ‘Deed of Gift’ Match, as in 1988. There were numerous court challenges, initiated by both sides. In the end, both teams having learned the lesson of 1988, built enormous multihulls. Then, just months before the race, BMW ORACLE Racing replaced its soft sail rig with a towering wing sail – the largest wing ever built. When the boats finally lined up to race off Valencia in February 2010, the BMW ORACLE Racing trimaran with its powerful wing sail proved to be superior. Skipper James Spithill, just 30 years old, won with a record of 2-0. Once again, the America’s Cup would be defended by an American Team in the 34th edition. Blog Search Keyword search across all the entries in this blog. Recent Posts Sailing Newport RI | America's Cup History | 12 Meter Charters History of the America’s Cup Races The America’s Cup – the most famous sailboat race!

America’s Race: Competition for the America’s Cup, the oldest and one of the most prestigious sporting trophies in the world, began in England in 1851. The newly founded New York Yacht Club was challenged by the Royal Yacht Squadron, then the most prestigious yacht club in the world, to take part in The Solent Races, sailing races that took place on the body of water between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. Answering this challenge, the New York Yacht Club assembled a team to cross the Atlantic and race with their contender, the yacht America. The schooner America was designed and built by George Steers in 1850 at the urging of the New York Yacht Club to build a fast sailboat. Of all the races held on The Solent, the Royal Yacht Squadron decided that America was only eligible for the “All Nations Race”, a 74 mile race around the Isle of Wight starting and ending in Cowes. The prize for the winner of this race was the 100 Guineas Cup, an award commemorating Queen Victoria’s Jubilee year.

When the starting gun was fired at ten in the morning on August 22, 1851, the America was the last over the starting line. However, in the end the speedy America stunned the British fleet and crossed the finish line 19 minutes ahead of all 15 of her British competitors thus winning the 100 Guineas Cup. The schooner America brought its prize across the Atlantic, and the New York Yacht Club renamed it “The America’s Cup” after the winning boat. The America’s Cup in Newport, Rhode Island: In 1930, J boats raced in the first America’s Cup races that were held in Newport, RI. During this era the races were held at the mouth of Narragansett Bay off Breton Reef in the Atlantic Ocean. From 1930 to 1937, the America’s Cup the course was 30 miles long. In 1958, when the era of the 12 Meters began the course was shortened to just over 24 miles. For over 50 years Newport proved to be a perfect venue for the America’s Cup because of its light and predictable winds and small volume of commercial traffic.

The America’s Cup Deed of Gift: On July 8, 1857, the members of the original America race syndicate, the first team to win the America’s Cup, wrote a letter, known as The Deed of Gift, to the secretary of the New York Yacht Club. This letter was written to formalize the rules of future America’s Cup racing. Originally it stated that the America’s Cup would be held as a permanent challenge trophy that would be open to competition from any foreign yacht club. It also stated that the races would be held on the waters of the yacht club in possession of the America’s Cup and all competitors had to sail to the race destination on their own bottoms. In other words, the boats could not be disassembled and shipped to the spot where the America’s Cup races were to occur. Subsequent changes were made to the Deed of Gift changing the racing rules of the America’s Cup. Because of the original rule that stated that all competitors had to sail to the race destination on their own bottoms, America’s Cup racing boats had to be large vessels that were capable of crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

It took massive amounts of money to maintain and crew the large cutters of the 1880’s-1920’s and the J Class boats of the 1930’s. After World War II, the vast fortunes needed to finance these huge boats had largely vanished on both sides of the Atlantic. Both the British and the Americans were looking to choose an alternative to the large expensive pre-war yachts of previous America’s Cup races. In 1956 the New York Yacht Club, trustee of the America’s Cup, petitioned the Court of New York State to modify the Deed of Gift. In doing so, they cancelled the clause that obligated America’s Cup challengers to cross the ocean in the boat they intended to race. Enter the era of the 12 Metre Class, smaller, more manageable racers, in America’s Cup racing. The 12 Meters: In 1958, after a twenty-one year halt of America’s Cup competition, racing continued with a new class of racers, 12 Meters.

During this era of the America’s Cup, American syndicates continued to win the America’s Cup with the wooden 12 Meters, Columbia, Weatherly, Constellation and Intrepid twice. In 1974, aluminum 12 Meters began racing in the America’s Cup and the American team subsequently won the America’s Cup with Courageous twice and Freedom. The End of the American Streak: During the 19th and 20th centuries American yachts and sailors dominated and successfully defended the America’s Cup 24 times and created what is still today the longest winning streak in the history of organized sports. However, on the waters off Newport, Rhode Island in 1983, the Royal Perth Yacht Club’s challenger, Australia II (12 Meter KA-6), devastated the New York Yacht Club’s defender Liberty (12 Meter US-40), skippered by Dennis Conner, by winning the America’s Cup and ending the New York Yacht Club’s 132 year winning streak. Although this defeat was devastating to the United States and the New York Yacht Club it would not be the last time that Dennis Conner would race in the America’s Cup.

Four years later in 1987, the world saw the largest group of 12 Meters in the history of the America’s Cup. Over twenty-five of the multimillion dollar 12 Meter racing machines were designed and built to compete in the America’s Cup trials. Conner, then already a two time winner of the America’s Cup but more famous for being the only American sailor to ever lose the America’s Cup, staged a remarkable comeback winning the America’s Cup under the San Diego Yacht Club with his Stars & Stripes ‘87 (12 Meter US 55). Conner demolished the Australian defender Kookaburra III (12 Meter KA-15), winning the America’s Cup finals seven race series 4-0 and, therefore, reproving his racing capabilities to the world. This marked the last America’s Cup in which the graceful twelve meter yachts would sail. The Infamous Catamaran Defense: The San Diego Yacht Club defended the America’s Cup three times after Conner’s 1987 win before losing it the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in 1995.

In 1988, one of the most famous America’s Cup competitions took place off the waters of San Diego, California. An America’s Cup that would, unfortunately, begin and end in the court room instead of on the race course. Striking back to the New Zealand challenger, the 133 foot New Zealand (KZ-1), Conner and the American team designed a catamaran, Stars & Stripes ’88 (USA-1), to defend the 1988 America’s Cup. Stars & Stripes ’88 swept the three race series but the race committee decided that a catamaran was not eligible to race in the America’s Cup. Conner and the Americans protested and the first America’s Cup defense by the San Diego Yacht Club, was finally settled in the courtroom long after racing had ended, declaring the catamaran, Stars & Stripes ’88, the winner of the 1988 America’s Cup but subsequently tarnishing the image of the America’s Cup.

America’s Cup Racing Today: In 1992, after the end of the 12 Meter era and the debacle of the 1988 America’s Cup, the Deed of Gift was again modified and the International America’s Cup Class of yachts, IACC boats, was introduced as the new America’s Cup racers. The IACC boats are longer, lighter and have about twice as much sail area than the previous America’s Cup 12 Meter racers. This is the class of boats that currently races in the America’s Cup. Today the America’s Cup remains the premier challenge of yachtsmen. The best of the best in sailing from around the world have battled to gain what has become the greatest prize in yachting. While the America’s Cup prize, a solid silver trophy standing twenty-seven inches tall, is magnificent in its own right, there is no cash prize awarded to the winner of the America’s Cup. However, racing teams spend tens of millions of dollars to either defend or challenge for the America’s Cup and prove their technological supremacy in yacht racing.

The only prize for the multi-million dollar syndicate that wins the America’s Cup is fame and, of course, the glory of bringing the America’s Cup and the next races to their country and their names engraved on the perpetual Auld Mug! In the winter of 2002-2003, in New Zealand, the 31st America’s Cup was held. After their second America’s Cup victory in 2000, New Zealand become the second country after the United States to successfully defend the America’s Cup. In unpredictable, America’s Cup sailing fashion the Swiss powerhouse, Team Alinghi, lead by New Zealander Russell Coutts upset the New Zealand favorites by sweeping the nine race series, 5-0, and winning the 2003 America’s Cup. The 32nd America’s Cup was hosted by Switzerland’s team Alinghi in Valencia, Spain. On July 3, 2007 team Alinghi defeated Emirates Team New Zealand by one second in the thrilling seventh race of the America’s Cup series. This race sealed Team Alinghi’s, 5-2 victory over New Zealand, making them successful defenders of the 32nd America’s Cup.

Just two days after their America’s Cup victory Team Alinghi, began planning the next edition of the Auld Mug. They immediately accepted a challenge from Club Náutico Español de Vela (CNEV) a Spanish challenger formed expressly for the purpose of keeping the regatta in Valencia. Larry Ellison and Team BMW/Oracle of The Golden Gate Yacht Club (GGYC) filed its own challenge for the Cup and then filed a court case asking that CNEV be removed as Challenger of Record as being unqualified under the Deed of Gift. GGYC also asked that it be named as the rightful Challenger of Record, being the first club to file a conforming challenge. The litigation leading up to the match included which club would be the challenger, the dates and venue for the regattas, certain rules governing the regattas (in particular the measurement rules), and the construction of the boats. There followed a long legal battle with the New York Court of Appeals finally deciding on April 2, 2009, that CNEV did not qualify as a valid challenger, and that the GGYC was thus the rightful Challenger of Record.

The 33rd America’s Cup between Société Nautique de Genève defending with Team Alinghi against Golden Gate Yacht Club, began on February 6, 2010. Since the two parties were unable to agree otherwise, the match took place as a one-on-one Deed of Gift match in gigantic, specialized multi-hull racing yachts with no other clubs or teams participating. The Golden Gate Yacht Club won the match 2-0 as their yacht USA 17 powered by a rigid wing-sail proved to be significantly faster than Société Nautique de Genève’s yacht Alinghi 5. The American team, founded ten years ago by software mogul, Larry Ellison, achieved its ultimate goal when they powered across the finish line of Race 2 with a margin of 5 minutes and 26 seconds to defeat the Swiss Defender’s Alinghi 2-0. BMW ORACLE Racing become the first American team to win the America’s Cup since 1992 when America3 defeated Il Moro de Venezia off San Diego. San Francisco’s Golden Gate Yacht Club become the 28th American defender of the America’s Cup.

Russell Coutts, CEO of BMW ORACLE Racing, has now won the America’s Cup four times, twice with his native New Zealand, once at the helm of the Swiss Alinghi team and now masterminding the success of Ellison’s American team. The 34th America’s Cup between the defending ORACLE TEAM USA, representing the Golden Gate Yacht Club, and Emirates Team New Zealand, representing the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, began on September 7, 2013 in San Francisco, California. This America’s Cup was raced aboard AC72’s, 86 foot catamarans, with a wing sail. The finals were in a format where the first team to nine points would win. Oracle Team USA began the series by being penalized its first two victories by the International Jury. The jury found the team guilty of cheating in the 2012 America’s Cup World Series when they placed bags of lead pellets in their 45-foot catamarans to add additional weight outside of allowed areas. The 34th America’s Cup was the longest ever Cup series by both number of days and races.

It was also the first since the 25th America’s Cup in 1983 (the last America’s Cup to be held in Newport, Rhode Island) to feature a winner-take-all final race. In the 19th and final race, Oracle Team USA defended the 34rd America’s Cup by a score of 9 to 8. Oracle had to win the last eight races and come from behind to, once again, win the oldest trophy in international sport, making it the most dramatic comeback in America’s Cup history! For all the latest information on the 33rd America’s Cup visit the official America’s Cup website – Pages: Next page Guest Comments “Everyone was very friendly, informative and let the participants decide just how much they wanted to get involved.” AmericaOne - The History of the Americas Cup T he America's Cup, first awarded to its namesake, the schooner America, in the mid-19th century, is the most sought-after trophy in sailboat racing. T he Americas Cup, dating from 1851, is the oldest trophy in international sport and is considered yacht racings Holy Grail.

Although there is no prize money awarded to the winner, racing syndicates spend tens of millions of dollars mounting campaigns to either defend or challenge for the Americas Cup and prove their technological supremacy at sea. Because of the enormous cost and preparation required, the event is held approximately every three years. That rule of thumb is being broken this go-round, however. Americas Cup XXX is scheduled for early in the year 2000 in Auckland, New Zealand, with the challenger selection trials to begin in late 1999. The regatta is governed by three sets of rules, the Americas Cup Deed of Gift, the Protocol for Americas Cup XXX and the Conditions of Match. The Deed of Gift, written more than 100 years ago, established the event and governs it to this day. The protocolsigned April 23, 1996, by representatives of the defender Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and challenger of record New York Yacht Clubsets down the rules for conducting the 30th defense of the Cup.

The Conditions of Match, to be issued at least a year prior to the final match, will establish the specific dates of the races, and address a number techical issues relative to conducting the races. 100 Guinea Cup Originally known as the 100 Guinea Cup, the trophy became the namesake of New York Yacht Clubs rakish schooner America, which won the trophy after defeating 14 British yachts in the All Nations Race at Cowes, Isle of Wight, on August 22, 1851. The race was held in conjunction with Prince Alberts Great London Exhibition of 1851, which paid tribute to the technological achievements of the time. That first race was to showcase a countrys ability to build technologically superiori.e., fastsailing vessels, which were critical to each nations economy and the ability to transport cargo across the seas. That tradition of technological superiority remains as the basis for the Americas Cup. Ultimately, it is a race between sailboats. But because of the highly competitive nature of the event, it also requires superior seamanship to win the Americas Cup.

132-year Winning Streak To encourage friendly competition among foreign countries, George L. Schyler, the the sole surviving owner of the America syndicate, assigned the Americas Cup to New York Yacht Club through a Deed of Gift . New York YC subsequently announced it would accept challenges for the Americas Cup from any organized yacht club of a foreign nation. The club successfully defended the Americas Cup 24 times over a span of 132 years, ultimately losing the ornate Victorian ewer to Western Australias Royal Perth Yacht Club in 1983. During that period, such internationally renowned people as Sir Thomas Lipton, Cornelius and Harold Vanderbilt, William Rockfeller, Sir T.O.M. Sopwith and Ted Turner vied for the Auld Mug, as it is affectionately known. Comeback Dennis Conner, who has won the Americas Cup outright a record three times and participated in a fourth winning campaign, was at the helm of the 12-meter Liberty in the 1983 loss to Alan Bonds Australia |.

Conner staged a remarkable comeback to claim the Cup in 1987 and return it to the United States, this time under the San Diego Yacht Club burgee. San Diego YC defended the Cup three times before losing it to New Zealands Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in 1995. SDYCs first defense, the so-called catamaran defense, came at the expense of a tarnished image for the Cup. After quickly dispatching New Zealander Michael Fays 133-foot big boat on the water, it took a lengthy year-and-a-half year battle in the New York Supreme Court against New Zealands Mercury Bay Boating Club before the Cup was officially retained by the San Diego YC. Gone Again In 1992, newcomer Bill Kochs America³ defeated Italian Raul Gardinis Il Moro di Venezia, 4-1, marking the debut of the International Americas Cup Class yacht. But San Diegos third defense was not successful. Not even the venerable Dennis Conner, with veteran Paul Cayard at the helm, could stem the New Zealand tide.

The Kiwis won by a stunning 5-0 margin to take the Cup Down Under for only the second time in its 144-year history. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron is now the keeper of the Cup, and will defend it in early 2000. A formidible fleet of challengers is lining up to take it away, including the AmericaOne challenge representing San Franciscos St. Francis Yacht Club. The challenging clubs will conduct a months-long series of races amongst themselves to determine which one will face New Zealand in the showdown for the Americas Cup. Challenger of Record New York Yacht Club formed the Americas Cup Challenger Association Inc. to conduct the challenger trials, which are scheduled to begin in late 1999 in Auckland, New Zealand. Please see the America's Cup Fact Sheet for dates and details of America's Cup XXX.

Original name: Australia wins the America's Cup - Australian Geographic Tweet "I'LL TELL YOU what: any boss who sacks a worker for not turning up today is a bum." Australians tend to remember these words fondly coming from the mouth of then prime minister Bob Hawke after Australia II won the America's Cup yacht race, breaking a 132-year winning streak for the USA. "In many ways, really, he gave people permission to celebrate," explains John Bertrand, who skippered the Royal Perth Yacht Club vessel to its win on 26 September 1983 UTC (27 September AEST). The America's Cup is the oldest continuously awarded trophy in the world. It predates the American Civil War. Between 1851 and 1983, the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) had won every race and cockily bolted the Cup to a stand in their trophy room. But in the 1970s, Aussie entrepreneur Alan Bond came up with a plan to unseat it from NYYC's altar, and enlisted the help of self-taught boat designer and Novacastrian Ben Lexcen.

It took four attempts at the Cup, but Lexcen's winged keel model eventually steered the team into history. Yacht racings psychological battles In May 1983, when the Australian crew arrived at the start of the cup in Newport, Rhode Island, the eyes of the media locked on the skirt drawn tightly around the keel. The boat's design was a closely guarded secret, but its reputation preceded it. As the American and Australian teams faced off across the race marinas, rock songs blared from speakers on opposing yacht decks and the green and gold boxing kangaroo flag, commissioned by Bond for the race, flapped from the Aussie mast. In the end, the Cup – won by the best of seven races over several weeks – was tied at three-all at the final start line. Australia II's crew battled nerves after a false start, but after swapping the lead with the New York Yatch Club's Liberty three times, the wonders from Down Under won by 41 seconds. Rather than joy, John says his first feeling was "absolute relief that we got the job done".

Wild celebrations as Australia finally wins the America's Cup "I remember seeing a cannon go off on one of the New York Yacht Club boats, but heard no sound," John says. "The harbour was so packed with boats you could walk across it. Then Alan Bond ordered the boat to be lifted out of the water to show people the keel. People were jumping into the water to touch [it], I remember one guy in there in his dinner suit." The Cup hasn't returned to New York. The next race, in 1987, was won by the San Diego Yacht Club; since then it has been won by international and US teams. The September 2013 Cup featured an almost unrecognisable pair of carbon-fibre catamarans, with sails bigger than a Boeing 747's wing. An Australian James Spithill skippered the American boat that won this year, proving the Aussies can still hold their own in this now, very-expensive race. Syndicates today pour hundreds of millions of dollars into boats and teams, a far cry from the $12 daily stipend the 1983 Australian crew received.

Source: Australian Geographic, Issue 116 (Sep/Oct, 2013) REALATED ARTICLES 1983 America's Cup: a moment in history - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) 1983 America's Cup: a moment in history Map: Australia This year marks the 30th anniversary of Australia winning the America's Cup, breaking the United States' 132-year stranglehold on the title, and ending the longest winning streak in the history of sport. The victory transcended sailing, becoming the symbol of a time when Australia came of age, and made our mark on the international stage. Australia's campaign for the Cup began in 1962, with Sir Frank Packer's Gretel becoming the first challenger not from Great Britain or Canada. Sir Frank and sailing icon Sir James Hardy made a series of unsuccessful attempts, but it took the tenacity of controversial Perth businessman Alan Bond, and the genius of marine architect Ben Lexcen to wrest control of the Cup on their fourth attempt in 1983.

On Monday night the ABC's Australian Story program brings together the key players in this watershed moment in Australian history: It's been said that trying to win the America's Cup was like trying to climb Mt Everest in a pair of thongs backwards. Rob Mundle, sailing writer It's almost like a fossil event - it was created before there was such a thing as international sport, it predates cricket, it certainly predates the modern Olympics, and yet one nation had always won it. John Longley, Australia II crewmember Photo: Australia II was Alan Bond's four attempt at winning. (Grant Simmer) When Alan Bond came into the America's Cup arena and met Ben Lexcen, the two just gelled. And the two men went all the way, because Ben Lexcen designed every one of Bondie's four challengers for the America's Cup. Ben Lexcen was a genius in his own right - he was born in the back blocks of Newcastle on a little hut hovel, dirt floor, self-educated, but a man who always wanted to get somewhere in life. And he loved his boating - he loved his sailing and that became his passion.

Rob Mundle, sailing writer External Link: For Australia II Ben Lexcen devised a revolutionary winged keel. There was international sort of publicity about this funny-looking keel. All the sailors around the world, but particularly our opposition, desperately wanted to see what it was like, and there was talk amongst our group about how they were going to unveil it, have a bit of fun to make a big deal of the publicity of it, and I said to them 'no, let's not do it at all, let's just hide it and keep it hidden'. Hugh Treharne, Australia II crewmember Photo: Australia II (left) with its keel hidden behind coverings at the dock in Newport. (Larry Moran, Chicago) All over Newport I remember seeing people in restaurants or down at the docks pulling out napkins and saying to someone: 'Come on, give me a diagram. What do you think that keel looks like? It's suppose to really make the boat fast. What does it look like?' Barbara Lloyd, sailing journalist Photo: Australian prime minister Bob Hawke was a strong supporter of Bond's attempt to win the Cup. (Grant Simmer) They would have looked very foolish if they'd attempted to ban the yacht.

There would have been a hue and cry across America because the average American, which is unusual, but they were really wanting Australia to win because they didn't fit into the mould of the membership of the New York Yacht Club. Alan Bond, Australia II owner 35th America's Cup Team Principal and Skipper Sir Ben Ainslie is the most successful Olympic sailor of all time. At his first ever Olympic Games, aged 19, he won an Olympic silver medal and went on to establish himself as the world’s best by winning consecutive gold medals at the next four Olympic Games. Fresh from his London 2012 success, Ben turned his focus to the next challenge, competing with Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) on the 2012/13 America’s Cup World Series. In the summer of 2013, he went on to join ORACLE TEAM USA on-board for their defence of the 34th Cup, helping the American team win the event, 9-8, against Emirates Team New Zealand.

Now stepping into a new role, Ben will develop and lead a British entry into the 35th America’s Cup, with the aim of bringing the Cup back to Britain where it all began in 1851. Skipper and Helmsman A two-time winner of the America’s Cup, in 2013 Jimmy Spithill led his team to what has been called the greatest comeback in international sport. ORACLE TEAM USA was down 8-1, before rallying for eight consecutive wins to defeat Emirates Team New Zealand 9-8 to win the America’s Cup. Spithill was further honored for the epic victory with the 2014 ISAF Rolex World Sailor of the Year award. A multiple world champion in both fleet and match racing, Spithill is both the youngest helmsman to compete for the America’s Cup (with Young Australia in 1999 at age 19) as well as the youngest skipper (with ORACLE in 2010 at age 30) to claim sailing’s ultimate prize. His goal now is to lead the team to a ‘three-peat’ – three consecutive America’s Cup wins.

Ben Ainslie Racing launches America's Cup team alongside Duchess of Cambridge in Greenwich - Telegraph Ben Ainslie Racing launches America's Cup team alongside Duchess of Cambridge in Greenwich Kate Middleton joins four-time Olympic champion in Greenwich for launch of Ben Ainslie Racing's America's Cup team All systems go: Kate Middleton was in Greenwich this morning for the launch of Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team launch Photo: GETTY IMAGES Follow The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, joined Sir Ben Ainslie at the launch this morning of the four-time Olympic champion's America's Cup team. Having become the first Briton since Charlie Barr in 1903 to sail on a winning America's Cup boat when he helped Oracle Team USA to their dramatic 9-8 win over Team New Zealand in San Francisco last autumn, Sir Ben Ainslie launched the British team which he hopes will see Britannia rule the waves once again in the oldest international sporting trophy. The Duchess of Cambridge, a keen sailor who beat her husband 2-0 in a head-to-head aboard America’s Cup yachts during their recent tour of Australia and New Zealand, attended a private breakfast at The Royal Museums in Greenwich before the launch, meeting key investors and team members.

The America's Cup was born in the foaming Solent off the Isle of the Wight back in 1851. The inaugural trophy was lost to the Americans and has never been seen again in this country. Ainslie, the most successful Olympic sailor of all time with four golds and a silver to his name, hopes to change that with a British team based in Portsmouth sailing under the flag of Yacht Squadron Racing, a club affiliated to the Royal Yacht Squadron. Related Articles Nikki's diary: Jan 3-10 12 Feb 2014 "This is the last great historic sporting prize never won by Great Britain," Ainslie said at the launch. "It has always been my ambition to mount a home challenge. The time is right and I am hugely encouraged by the support we are getting, not least from the Duchess of Cambridge. "I learned a great deal aboard Oracle in San Francisco and I would not be challenging if I did not believe we have a real chance of winning this time." Since returning from San Francisco last autumn Ainslie has been working furiously behind the scenes to attract investment and talent to his team.

The 37 year-old has been helped by two of Britain’s most passionate amateur sailors in Sir Charles Dunstone, co-founder of Carphone Warehouse, and the entrepreneur Sir Keith Mills, the deputy chairman of the London Organising Committee of the 2012 Games. Both men were involved in the British America’s Cup bid Team Origin that also involved Ainslie and have taken on the directorial roles as well as providing funding. Sir Charles Dunstone, Chairman of BAR’s Board said: "This campaign is about righting a wrong. We have never won it. We have an amazing maritime history. The Cup has to come home, we have to do that." All systems go: The Duchess of Cambridge was in Greenwich this morning for Sir Ben Ainslie's America's Cup team launch Ainslie has signed a number of experienced designers to help build the AC62 wingsail catamaran with which he hopes to wrest back the trophy from Oracle Team USA. One name that has not yet joined is Red Bull design genius Adrian Newey. Newey is "keen" to help, but has not yet committed to his Amercia's Cup project, according to Ainslie.

Newey recently signed a new deal at Red Bull that will see him step back from the Formula One project and allow him time to indulge other interests. "Adrian has taken a great deal of interest in the development of the team and would be a tremendous asset if he chooses to get involved," Ainslie said.

Question: What was the name of the first yacht to win the Americas Cup
Answer: America