America's Cup facts for kids

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America's Cup
The America's Cup ewer
Sport	Sailing match race
Founded	1851
Most recent champion(s)	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron (4th title)
Most titles	New York Yacht Club (25 titles)
Official website	AmericasCup.com

The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known as the defender) and the other from the yacht club that is challenging for the cup (the challenger). The winner is awarded the America's Cup trophy, informally known as the Auld Mug. Matches are held several years apart on dates agreed between the defender and the challenger. There is no fixed schedule, but the races have generally been held every three to four years. The most recent America's Cup match took place in March 2021.

Any yacht club that meets the requirements specified in the deed of gift has the right to challenge the yacht club that currently holds the cup. If the challenging club wins the match, it gains stewardship of the cup. From the first defence of the cup in 1870 until the twentieth defence in 1967, there was always only one challenger. In 1970 multiple challengers applied, so a Challenger Selection Series was held to decide which applicant would become the official challenger and compete in the America's Cup match. This approach has been used for each subsequent competition.

The history and prestige associated with the America's Cup attracts the world's top sailors, yacht designers, wealthy entrepreneurs and sponsors. It is a test of sailing skill, boat and sail design, and fundraising and management skills. Competing for the cup is expensive, with modern teams spending more than $US100 million each; the 2013 winner was estimated to have spent $US300 million on the competition. The America's Cup is currently held by the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, who successfully defended the 36th America's Cup in March 2021 using an AC75 foiling monohull called Te Rehutai, owned and sailed by the Team New Zealand syndicate. The next America's Cup will be held between the defending Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and a challenging yacht club from 12 October 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. Both the 37th and 38th America's Cup matches will be sailed in AC75 class yachts.

History
The America's Cup trophy
Rules for issuing challenge
Challengers and defenders
Records of winning clubs and skippers
See also

History

The America's Cup is the oldest competition in international sport, and the fourth oldest continuous sporting trophy of any kind. The cup itself was manufactured in 1848 and first called the "RYS £100 Cup". It was first raced for on 22 August 1851 around the Isle of Wight off Southampton and Portsmouth in Hampshire, England, in a fleet race between the New York Yacht Club's America and 15 yachts of the Royal Yacht Squadron. The race was witnessed by Queen Victoria and the future Edward VII and won by America. This is considered to be the first America's Cup race.

On 8 July 1857, the surviving members of the America syndicate donated the cup to the New York Yacht Club via the Deed of Gift of the America's Cup filed with the New York Supreme Court. The deed is the primary instrument that governs the rules to make a valid challenge for the America's Cup and the rules of conduct of the races. It states that the cup "is donated upon the condition that it shall be preserved as a perpetual challenge Cup for friendly competition between foreign countries", outlines how a foreign yacht club can make a challenge to the holder of the cup and what happens if they do not agree on how the match should be conducted. The deed makes it "distinctly understood that the cup is to be the property of the club [that has most recently won a match for the cup], subject to the provisions of this deed, and not the property of the owner or owners of any vessel winning a match".

The trophy was held by the NYYC from 1857 until 1983. The NYYC successfully defended the trophy 24 times in a row before being defeated by the Royal Perth Yacht Club, represented by the yacht Australia II. Including the original 1851 victory, the NYYC's 132-year reign was the longest (in terms of time) winning streak in any sport.

Early matches for the cup were raced between yachts 65–90 ft (20–27 m) on the waterline owned by wealthy sportsmen. This culminated with the J-Class regattas of the 1930s. After World War II and almost twenty years without a challenge, the NYYC made changes to the deed of gift to allow smaller, less expensive 12-metre class yachts to compete; this class was used from 1958 until 1987. It was replaced in 1990 by the International America's Cup Class, which was used until 2007.

After a long legal battle, the 2010 America's Cup was raced in 90 ft (27 m) waterline multihull yachts in Valencia, Spain. The victorious Golden Gate Yacht Club then elected to race the 2013 America's Cup in AC72 foiling, wing-sail catamarans and successfully defended the cup. The 2017 America's Cup match was sailed in 50 ft (15 m) foiling catamarans, after legal battles and disputes over the rule changes.

The America's Cup trophy

The Cup, also known as the Auld Mug, is an ornate sterling silver bottomless ewer crafted in 1848 by Garrard & Co. Henry William Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey bought one and donated it for the Royal Yacht Squadron's 1851 Annual Regatta around the Isle of Wight.

The cup was originally known as the 'R.Y.S. £100 Cup', awarded in 1851 by the British Royal Yacht Squadron for a race around the Isle of Wight in the United Kingdom. The winning yacht was a schooner called America, owned by a syndicate of members from the New York Yacht Club (NYYC). In 1857, the syndicate permanently donated the trophy to the NYYC, under a Deed of Gift that renamed the trophy as the 'America's Cup' after the first winner and required it be made available for perpetual international competition.

It was originally known as the "R.Y.S. £100 Cup", standing for a cup of a hundred GB Pounds or "sovereigns" in value. The cup was subsequently mistakenly engraved as the "100 Guinea Cup" by the America syndicate, but was also referred to as the "Queen's Cup" (a guinea is an old monetary unit of one pound and one shilling, now £1.05). Today, the trophy is officially known as the "America's Cup" after the 1851 winning yacht, and is affectionately called the "Auld Mug" by the sailing community. It is inscribed with names of the yachts that competed for it, and has been modified twice by adding matching bases to accommodate more names.

Rules for issuing challenge

All challenges for the America's Cup are made under the Deed of Gift of the America's Cup, which outlines who can challenge for the cup, and what information a challenge must provide to the defender. The deed then allows for most of the arrangements for the match to be made by negotiation and mutual consent, but provides a backstop in the event agreement is not reached. The first valid challenge that is made must be accepted by the defender or it must forfeit the cup to that valid challenger or negotiate other terms.

To be eligible, a challenging club must be "an organized yacht Club" of a country other than the defender, which is "incorporated, patented, or licensed by the legislature, admiralty or other executive department". The club must hold an "annual regatta [on] an ocean water course on the sea, or on an arm of the sea, or one which combines both". The New York Supreme Court and the New York Court of Appeals have held that this means the challenging club must in fact "have held at least one qualifying annual regatta before it submits its Notice of Challenge to a Defender and demonstrate that it will continue to have qualifying annual regattas on an ongoing basis" and not merely intend to hold its first annual regatta before the envisaged America's Cup match. The New York Supreme Court has also found that the Great Lakes between the United States and Canada are arms of the sea, allowing clubs with regattas on those lakes to be challengers.

The challenge document must give dates for the proposed races, which must be no less than 10 months from the date the challenge is made, and within date ranges specified for both the northern and southern hemispheres. The challenge document must also provide information on the yacht, including length on load water line; beam at load water line, and extreme beam; and draught of water. If the yacht has one mast, it must be between 44 and 90 feet (13 and 27 m) on the load water line. If it has more than one mast, it must be between 80 and 115 feet (24 and 35 m) on the load water line. These dimensions may not be exceeded by either challenger or defender. The yachts must be propelled by sails only and be constructed in the country to which the challenging and defending clubs belong. Centreboard or sliding keel vessels are allowed with no restrictions nor limitations, and neither the centre-board nor sliding keel is considered a part of the vessel for any purposes of measurement. As long as these rules are met, the New York Court of Appeals has ruled that defender may use a boat of a different category to the challenger, such as meeting a challenge in a monohull with a catamaran.

Under the deed, the defender and challenger "may by mutual consent make any arrangement satisfactory to both as to the dates, courses, number of trials, rules and sailing regulations, and any and all other conditions of the match, in which case also the ten months' notice may be waived". Since 1958, the practice has usually been for the defender and challenger to agree that the challenger shall be a Challenger of Record, which then arranges a Challenger Series involving a number of other yacht clubs from countries other than that of the defender. The yacht that wins the Challenger Series wins the Herbert Pell Cup and also an associated sponsored cup such as the Prada Cup in 2021 or the Louis Vuitton Cup from 1983 to 2017, and again in 2024.

However, if the challenger and defender cannot agree, the deed provides a backstop, requiring a first-to-two match on ocean courses defined in the deed, at a venue selected by the defender, under its rules and sailing regulations so far as they do not conflict with the provisions of the deed, on the dates submitted by the challenger and in yachts meeting the terms of the deed and the challenge notice.

Challengers and defenders

Challengers and defenders
Rule	Year	Venue	Defending club	Defender	Score	Challenger	Challenging club
Fleet racing	1851	Isle of Wight	Royal Yacht Squadron	8 cutters and 7 schooners, runner-up Aurora	0–1	John Cox Stevens syndicate, America	New York Yacht Club
Fleet racing	1870	New York City	New York Yacht Club	17 schooners, winner Franklin Osgood's Magic	1–0	James Lloyd Ashbury, Cambria	Royal Thames Yacht Club
Schooner match	1871	New York City	New York Yacht Club	Franklin Osgood, Columbia (2–1) and William Proctor Douglas, Sappho (2–0)	4–1	James Lloyd Ashbury, Livonia	Royal Harwich Yacht Club
Schooner match	1876	New York City	New York Yacht Club	John Stiles Dickerson, Madeleine	2–0	Charles Gifford, Countess of Dufferin	Royal Canadian Yacht Club
65 ft sloop	1881	New York City	New York Yacht Club	Joseph Richard Busk, Mischief	2–0	Alexander Cuthbert, Atalanta	Bay of Quinte Yacht Club
NYYC 85ft	1885	New York City	New York Yacht Club	John Malcolm Forbes syndicate, Puritan	2–0	Sir Richard Sutton, Genesta	Royal Yacht Squadron
	1886	New York City	New York Yacht Club	Charles Jackson Paine, Mayflower	2–0	Lt. & Mrs. William Henn, Galatea	Royal Northern Yacht Club
	1887	New York City	New York Yacht Club	Charles Jackson Paine, Volunteer	2–0	James Bell syndicate, Thistle	Royal Clyde Yacht Club
SCYC 85ft	1893	New York City	New York Yacht Club	Charles Oliver Iselin syndicate, Vigilant	3–0	Earl of Dunraven, Valkyrie II	Royal Yacht Squadron
SCYC 90ft	1895	New York City	New York Yacht Club	William K. Vanderbilt syndicate, Defender	3–0	Earl of Dunraven syndicate, Valkyrie III	Royal Yacht Squadron
	1899	New York City	New York Yacht Club	J. Pierpont Morgan syndicate, Columbia	3–0	Sir Thomas Lipton, Shamrock	Royal Ulster Yacht Club
	1901	New York City	New York Yacht Club	J. Pierpont Morgan syndicate, Columbia	3–0	Sir Thomas Lipton, Shamrock II	Royal Ulster Yacht Club
	1903	New York City	New York Yacht Club	Cornelius Vanderbilt III syndicate, Reliance	3–0	Sir Thomas Lipton, Shamrock III	Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Universal 75 ft	1920	New York City	New York Yacht Club	Henry Walters syndicate, Resolute	3–2	Sir Thomas Lipton, Shamrock IV	Royal Ulster Yacht Club
Universal J-Class	1930	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Harold S. Vanderbilt syndicate, Enterprise	4–0	Sir Thomas Lipton, Shamrock V	Royal Ulster Yacht Club
	1934	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Harold S. Vanderbilt syndicate, Rainbow	4–2	Sir Thomas Sopwith, Endeavour	Royal Yacht Squadron
	1937	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Harold S. Vanderbilt, Ranger	4–0	Sir Thomas Sopwith, Endeavour II	Royal Yacht Squadron
IYRU 12mR	1958	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Henry Sears, Columbia	4–0	Hugh Goodson syndicate, Sceptre	Royal Yacht Squadron
	1962	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Mercer, Walsh, Frese syndicate, Weatherly	4–1	Sir Frank Packer, Gretel	Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
	1964	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Eric Ridder syndicate, Constellation	4–0	Anthony Boyden, Sovereign	Royal Thames Yacht Club
	1967	Newport	New York Yacht Club	William Justice Strawbridge syndicate, Intrepid	4–0	Emil Christensen, Dame Pattie	Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
	1970	Newport	New York Yacht Club	William Justice Strawbridge syndicate, Intrepid	4–1	Sir Frank Packer, Gretel II	Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron
	1974	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Robert Willis McCullough syndicate, Courageous	4–0	Alan Bond, Southern Cross	Royal Perth Yacht Club
	1977	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Ted Turner, Courageous	4–0	Alan Bond, Australia	Sun City Yacht Club
	1980	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Freedom syndicate, Freedom	4–1	Alan Bond, Australia	Royal Perth Yacht Club
	1983	Newport	New York Yacht Club	Freedom syndicate, Liberty	3–4	Alan Bond, Australia II	Royal Perth Yacht Club
	1987	Fremantle	Royal Perth Yacht Club	Kevin Parry, Kookaburra III	0–4	Sail America, Stars & Stripes 87	San Diego Yacht Club
DOG match	1988	San Diego	San Diego Yacht Club	Sail America, Stars & Stripes 88	2–0	Fay Richwhite, KZ-1 New Zealand	Mercury Bay Boating Club
IACC	1992	San Diego	San Diego Yacht Club	Bill Koch, America³	4–1	Raul Gardini, Il Moro di Venezia	Compagnia della Vela
	1995	San Diego	San Diego Yacht Club	Sail America, Young America	0–5	Team New Zealand, Black Magic	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
	2000	Auckland	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron	Team New Zealand, NZL-60	5–0	Prada Challenge, Luna Rossa	Yacht Club Punta Ala
	2003	Auckland	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron	Team New Zealand, NZL 82	0–5	Alinghi, SUI-64	Société Nautique de Genève
	2007	Valencia	Société Nautique de Genève	Alinghi, SUI-100	5–2	Team New Zealand, NZL-92	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
DOG match	2010	Valencia	Société Nautique de Genève	Alinghi, Alinghi 5	0–2	BMW Oracle Racing, USA-17	Golden Gate Yacht Club
AC72	2013	San Francisco	Golden Gate Yacht Club	Oracle Team USA, Oracle Team USA 17	9–8	Team New Zealand, Aotearoa	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
AC50	2017	Bermuda	Golden Gate Yacht Club	Oracle Team USA, 17	1–7	Team New Zealand, Aotearoa	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron
AC75	2021	Auckland	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron	Emirates Team New Zealand, Te Rehutai	7–3	Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli, Luna Rossa	Circolo della Vela Sicilia
AC75	2024	Barcelona	Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron	Emirates Team New Zealand, tba	-	Winner of 2024 Challenger Selection Series, tba	Winner of 2024 Challenger Selection Series, tba

Records of winning clubs and skippers

Winning clubs

New York Yacht Club: 25–1
Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron: 4–3
San Diego Yacht Club: 3–1
Société Nautique de Genève: 2–1
Golden Gate Yacht Club: 2–1
Royal Perth Yacht Club: 1–3

Multiple winning skippers

Russell Coutts – Wins 1995, 2000, 2003 – Won 14 / Lost 0
Dennis Conner – Wins 1980, 1987, 1988 – Won 13 / Lost 5
Harold Stirling Vanderbilt – Wins 1930, 1934, 1937 – Won 12 / Lost 2
Charlie Barr – Wins 1899, 1901, 1903 – Won 9 / Lost 0
Jimmy Spithill – Wins 2010, 2013 – Won 17 / Lost 23

Reference