America’s Cup: a brief history

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.

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 trophy is known to be one of the hardest trophies to win and since it began, only four nations have won what is called, “the oldest trophy in international sport.”

Currently, to determine the cream of the crop and the best of the best there are three stages that a team must go through before getting to the grand finale.

The first is the America’s cup (AC) World Series which has two sessions and at the end of each of the AC World series circuit a series champion is crowned based on their cumulative scores from each event.

This is followed by the America’s Cup Challenger series, the Luis Vuitton Cup. This is the regatta that determines which challenger races the defender in the America’s Cup Finals.

This year, scheduled July 7-August 30, three teams entered in the 2013 Louis Vuitton Cup- Artemis Racing of Sweden, Emirates Team New Zealand, and Luna Rossa Challenge of Italy and it was won by Emirates Team New Zealand.

This is followed by the grand finale taking place in San Francisco Bay from September 7 to 21. San Francisco plays host to the 34th America’s Cup where teams – Oracle Team USA versus Emirates Team New Zealand– have their bows aimed at the ultimate prize: the America’s Cup, the trophy first awarded in 1851.

The 34th edition of the America’s Cup marks a transformation for the oldest trophy in international sport as new boats, cutting-edge technology, and a close-to-shore venue mean that this summer’s America’s Cup will be unlike anything that’s preceded it. The 2013 America’s Cup is features notable firsts: the first time racing is inshore not offshore; the first time all teams are racing wing sail catamarans; the first time the AC72 “50 mph flying boats” foil above the water; the first time there is a new pathway series for youth sailors–the Red Bull Youth America’s Cup; and the first time the America’s Cup has been held in the United States since 1995.

All in all, the 2013 America’s Cup offers exhilarating racing and shore side activities to excite visitors of all ages.