PP4: A Short History of the America’s Cup

 by Honor Gillies

As many of you may know from Portsmouth’s hosting duties in both 2015 and 2016, the America’s Cup is an incredibly historic event in the sailing world, most especially for Great Britain, as since the birth of the competition in 1851, the team has never achieved victory. The competition is open to sailing clubs of all nations, meaning that its outcome is always unpredictable! Before the 37th round this summer, here is a short history of the iconic tournament. 

The inaugural race (originally named the Hundred Guinea Cup in 1851) was hosted by the Royal Yacht Squadron in Cowes, and won by the American team with a 100-ft schooner called ‘America’ from New York, and so the race was subsequently named after its victor. The Royal Yacht Squadron now had official competition from the New York Yacht Club, and so an epic rivalry was born on the water. Henceforth, since the 1920s, the American team has been both a defender and an opposition boat - managing to win the event 28 times. 

In case you don’t know, the previous winner of the competition is automatically through to the final race, and their opposition is decided in trial races beforehand. Any boat must be built as much as possible in the country that it represents, and the Americans originally created a rule that the opposition boat had to sail itself to the final, often meaning that the boat (which should’ve been built for races) had to be adjusted in order to survive an ocean crossing. However, due to the obvious benefits for the defending team, this rule was scrapped in 1996. 

The first non-US winner of the Cup was in 1987 (136 years after the first race) from an Australian team sailing a boat called ‘Australia II’, closely followed by the second non-US team being New Zealand in 1995. The skipper of this team, Russel Coutts, went on to win 3 titles - twice with New Zealand and once with a Swiss team, who defended their title in 2007. Arguably the most dramatic final to date was America against New Zealand in 2013, when the US team came back from an 8-1 trail to win the next 8 races in a best of 17 series. 

To conclude, if you’re wondering what to watch this summer, the Louis Vuitton 37th America’s Cup in Barcelona is sure to be an unforgettable race, with lots of teams - both old and new - vying for a place in the history of the oldest international trophy in world sport. 

bibliography:

https://www.britannica.com/sports/Americas-Cup

https://www.ineosbritannia.com/en/americas-cup.html#:~:text=The%20America's%20Cup%20is%20the,New%20York%20Times%20were%20founded.

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