Written by: TFVstaff • January 24, 2020• Sports

America’s Cup – “the oldest trophy in international sport”

Some history

According to Britannica, the esteemed trophy was first offered as the Hundred Guinea Cup on August 20, 1851 by the Royal Yacht Squadron of Great Britain for a spirited race around the Isle of Wight. Won by the AMERICA, a 100-foot schooner from New York City, the race subsequently became known as the America’s Cup. The winners donated it to the New York Yacht Club in 1857 for a perpetual international challenge. In 1987, the San Diego Yacht Club took control of the U.S. competition. See www.britannica.com/sports/Americas-cup and also a winners, losers and skippers table from 1851 to 2017.

Various rules past and present make for interesting reading and rather more technical for our purposes here, though clearly well thought out by the parties even if a controversial race in 1988 (an American 60-ft catamaran and a New Zealand 132-ft monohull) had to be sorted out in the courts plus “provoked a redefinition of the rules governing future races.”

U.S. efforts and Jimmy Spithill

After an Oracle Team USA recapture of the Cup in 2010, it was reported that “the U.S. had one of the most nail-biting finishes in sporting history later in 2013 when the American 72-ft. catamaran captained by Australian racer Jimmy Spithill and trailing New Zealand 8-1 in a best of 17 series came from behind and beat them that some have dubbed ‘the most unexpected America’s Cup victory of all time’.” In 2021 now over 40 years old he is ‘chasing the Cup’ as skipper for the Italian entry.)

After a long absence the British INEOS Team UK is determined to get the Cup back with its entry christened the Britannia with its hi-tech hydrofoil technology ‘flying’ abover the surface of the water.

Known as a “competition that changes shape as easily as the wind in which sailed, there is one steadfast rule: the team with the fastest boat always wins!”

Follow at https://americanmagic.americascup.com

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