हिस्ट्री ऑफ़ अमेरिका'स Cup

The Cup itself is an ornate Britannia silver bottomless ewer, designed and crafted in 1848 by Garrard & Co.[2] The trophy is inscribed with names of the yachts that competed in the regatta’s matches. Bases matching the silver cup were added in 1958 and 2003 to accommodate more names. The cup is one of three or six that were made as off-the-shelf trophies. Sir Henry Paget, the Marquess of Anglesey bought one and donated it for the Royal Yacht Squadron’s 1851 Annual Regatta around the Isle of Wight. It was originally known by the Squadron as the “Royal Yacht Squadron Cup” or the “RYS Cup for One Hundred Sovereigns”. The Cup subsequently became known as the “One Hundred Guinea(s) Cup”, by the American syndicate that won it. As time went by, the Cup was also referred to as the “Queen’s Cup”, the “America Cup”, and the “America’s Cup”. Today, the trophy is officially known as the America’s Cup and affectionately called the “Auld Mug” by the sailing community.

The regatta’s origins date back to August 22, 1851 when the 101 ft (31 m) schooner-yacht America, owned by a syndicate that represented the New York Yacht Club, raced 15 yachts representing the Royal Yacht Squadron around the Isle of Wight. America won by 8 minutes. Apocryphally, Queen Victoria asked who was second; the answer famously was:“Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second” [3]

The surviving members of the syndicate which owned the America donated the Cup through a Deed of Gift to the New York Yacht Club on July 8, 1857. The trophy would be held in trust as a “challenge” trophy to promote friendly competition among nations.

Start of the challenges
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more detail about the 16 pre-12 meter challenges.
Volunteer turning Sandy Hook Lightship on Sept. 27, 1887 during the seventh America’s Cup.

Stung by this blow to the contemporary perceptions of invincible British sea power, a succession of British syndicates attempted to win back the cup, but the New York Yacht Club remained unbeaten for 25 challenges over 113 years, the longest winning streak in the history of sport. Matches were held in the vicinity of New York City from 1870 to 1920, which includes the “Herreshoff Period” between 1893 and 1920, when cup defenders were designed by Nathanael Herreshoff. From 1930 to 1983, the races were sailed off Newport, Rhode Island for the rest of the NYYC’s reign.
Shamrock III would lose to Reliance in 1903

One of the most famous and determined challengers was Scottish tea baron Sir Thomas Lipton. Between 1899 and 1930 he mounted five challenges, all in yachts named Shamrock, two of which were designed by William Fife. One of Lipton’s motivations for making so many challenges was the publicity that racing generated for his Lipton Tea company, though his original entry was at the personal request of the Prince of Wales in hopes of repairing trans-Atlantic ill-will generated by the contentious earlier challenger, Lord Dunraven, who had accused the NYYC of cheating. Lipton was preparing for his sixth challenge when he died in 1931. The yachts used during the Lipton era were very large sailing sloops; for example, Shamrock V, which is still sailing today, measures 120 feet (36 m) long.

After World War II

The J-class yachts remained the default for the Cup, but post-war economic realities meant that no one could afford to challenge in this hugely expensive class. As twenty years rolled by since the last challenge, the NYYC looked for a cheaper alternative in order to restart interest in the Cup. They settled on the much smaller 12-metre class yachts, which measure from approximately 65 feet to 75 feet (20 to 23 m) overall. The New York Yacht Club’s unbeaten streak continued in eight more defenses, running from 1958 to 1980. The inventor of the cunningham sail control device to increase performance, Briggs Cunningham, skippered the Columbia during its 1958 victory against Sceptre. The Sceptre was designed by David Boyd at Alexander Robertson and Sons Ltd (Yachtbuilders), for a Royal Yacht Squadron Syndicate, chaired by Hugh Goodson.[4] A second challenger, Sovereign, was designed by David Boyd and built at Robertson's yard in 1964. Alan Bond, a flamboyant and controversial Australian businessman made three challenges for the cup between 1974 and 1980, failing all three times, including a loss to Ted Turner in 1977, who skippered Courageous. He returned in 1983 with a golden spanner which he claimed would be used to unbolt the cup from its plinth, so he could take it home.

In 1983 there were seven foreign challengers for the cup. Bond’s campaign, representing the Royal Perth Yacht Club, won the elimination series for the “right to challenge” the NYYC, the prize for which was the Louis Vuitton Cup. In the challenger series, Bond’s Australia II, skippered by John Bertrand and designed by Ben Lexcen won easily. The Australians recovered from a bad start to win the America’s Cup 4-3 in a best-of-seven format and break the 132-year winning streak.

Beaten skipper Dennis Conner won the Cup back four years later, with the yacht Stars & Stripes representing the San Diego Yacht Club, but had to fend off an unprecedented 13 challenger syndicates to do it. Bond’s syndicate lost the Defender series and did not race in the final.

Changing face of the competition
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Technology was now playing an increasing role in the yacht design. The 1983 winner, Australia II, had sported its innovative winged keel, and the New Zealand boat that Conner had beaten in the Louis Vuitton Cup final in Fremantle was the first 12-metre class to have a fibreglass hull construction rather than aluminium or wood. All three building materials had long been permitted under the 12-metre class rules, however given the nature of building one-off boats fibreglass construction was not considered viable.

The New Zealand syndicate had to fight off demands from other challenging teams concerning the consistency of the thickness of the fibreglass hull. The 12-metre class rules stipulated that the hull had to be the same thickness throughout and could not be made lighter in the bow and stern. The demand was for “core samples” be taken from the plastic hull to show its thickness. At one press conference Dennis Conner, stated “Why would you build a plastic yacht unless you wanted to cheat?”. Despite attempts to defuse the situation the "cheating comment" added to the controversy surrounding the Louis Vitton challenges races. Chris Dickson, skipper of the "Plastic Fantastic" took the controversy in stride and with humour, Dennis Conner has subsequently stated he regretted the comment.

The controversy over New Zealand's hull could be considered all part of the politics of the cup. The New Zealand refusal was based on the damage core samples might cause to the integrity of the hull. In turn they offered to carry out non-destructive testing. New Zealand syndicate head Sir Michael Fay's comment was that core samples would be taken "over my dead body". Eventually core samples were taken and the hull was found to be consistent and within class rules. Fay ceremonially lay down in front of the measurer before the samples were taken.

End of the 12-metre era
See also: 1988 America's Cup

In 1988, soon after Stars and Stripes’ victory had redeemed Dennis Conner’s reputation but before the San Diego Yacht Club had publicly issued terms for the next regatta, a New Zealand syndicate, again led by merchant banker Sir Michael Fay, lodged a surprise “big boat” challenge under the original rules of the cup trust deed. The challenge used a gigantic yacht named New Zealand (KZ1) or the Big Boat. Fay had challenged using the maximum size one-masted yacht possible – even larger than a J-class yacht – which was swiftly built and presented for the contest. Conner’s syndicate, however, recognised that a catamaran was not expressly prohibited under the rules. Catamarans, due to lower mass to sail area ratios and other factors, are in general vastly quicker than monohulls. Conner did not leave anything to chance, however, and commissioned a cutting-edge design with a wing sail, also named Stars and Stripes. A legal battle ensued over whether Conner or Fay had broken the rules or if both had merely skirted the edges of them. Justice Carmen Ciparik of the New York State Supreme (trial) Court, which administers the Deed of Gift, ruled that Fay's challenge on behalf of Mercury Bay Boating Club (MBBC) was valid and ordered SDYC to accept it, and to negotiate mutually-agreeable terms for a match, or race under the default provisions of the Deed, or forfeit the Cup to MBBC. By then, neither side was keen to negotiate, and the two yachts raced under the simple terms of the Deed in September, 1988. New Zealand predictably lost by a huge margin. Fay then took SDYC back to court. Ciparik ruled that Conner's catamaran was not in accordance with the Deed, and awarded New Zealand the Cup. However, Ciparik's decision was overturned on appeal and SDYC's win was reinstated. Fay then appealed to New York's top court and lost, meaning SDYC had successfully defended the Cup—on the water and off—in what most observers described then and since as the most controversial Cup match ever.[5]

IACC era

In the wake of the 1988 challenge, the International America’s Cup Class (IACC) of yachts was introduced, replacing the 12-metre class that had been used since 1958. First raced in 1992, the IACC yachts were used until the 2007 America's Cup.

In 1992, USA-23 of the America3 team, skippered by billionaire Bill Koch and sailing legend Harry “Buddy” Melges, defeated the Italian challenger Il Moro ITA-25, owned by billionaire Raul Gardini’s Il Moro di Venezia 5-1. (Team New Zealand led 4-1 in the Louis Vuitton final before a protest by the Italians about the use of Team New Zealand’s bowsprit for certain spinnaker manoeuvres, allowed the Italians to come back and narrowly advance to the cup final).

In 1995, The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron syndicate Team New Zealand, skippered by Russell Coutts, first won the challenger series in NZL 32, dubbed Black Magic because of its black hull and uncanny speed. Black Magic then easily defeated Dennis Connor’s Stars & Stripes team 5–0 to win the cup for New Zealand. Although “Stars & Stripes” won the defender selection trials sailing “USA-34” they decided to sail USA-36 to defend the America’s Cup. USA-36 was the yacht campaigned by the Young America team in the defender trials and beaten by USA-34. The 1995 Cup was notable for the televised sinking of oneAustralia during the fourth round robin of the Louis Vuitton challenger selection series. Luckily no-one was injured during the incident. The Australians advanced to the Louis Vuitton final using their second boat. Team New Zealand won the Louis Vuitton final 5-1 over oneAustralia.

In March 1997, a person entered the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s clubroom and damaged the America’s Cup with a sledgehammer. The attacker, a recidivist petty criminal, claimed the attack was politically motivated; he was convicted and sent to prison. The damage was so severe that it was feared that the cup was irreparable. London’s Garrards silversmiths, who had manufactured the cup in 1848, painstakingly restored the trophy to its original condition over three months, free of charge.

At Auckland in 1999–2000, Team New Zealand, led by Peter Blake, and again skippered by Russell Coutts, defeated Challenger Italy’s Prada Challenge from the Yacht Club Punta Ala. The Italians had previously beaten the AmericaOne syndicate from the St Francis Yacht Club in the Louis Vuitton Cup Finals. This was the first America’s Cup to be contested without an American challenger or defender.

In 2003, several strong challengers vied for the cup in Auckland during the challenger selection series. Notably a number of original members of Team New Zealand including previous helmsman Russell Coutts were key members of the Swiss challenge “Alinghi” sponsored by pharmaceutical billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli. Alinghi advanced surprisingly comfortably through the Louis Vuitton series into the America’s Cup final. The Alinghi team won the America’s Cup with surprising ease (5-0), multiple gear failures not helping Team New Zealand’s defence.

In 2003, an extra 20 cm was added to the base of the Americas cup to fit the names of future winners. New Zealand's 2000 success was the first to be added.

Alinghi staged its 2007 defense of the cup in Valencia, Spain, the first time since the original 1851 Isle of Wight race that the America’s Cup has been held in Europe, or in a country different from that of the defender. Eleven challengers from 9 countries submitted formal entries. The challenger selection series, the Louis Vuitton Cup 2007, ran from April 16, 2007 until June 6, 2007. Emirates Team New Zealand won the challenger series finale 5-0 against Italians Luna Rossa and met Alinghi between June 23 and July 3, 2007. Alinghi successfully defended the America's Cup by beating Emirates Team New Zealand 5-2. The racing was much closer than the scoreline suggests including a 1 second winning margin by Alinghi in the seventh and final race.

The future

The 33rd America's Cup will probably take place in February 2010 and possibly in Valencia. The exact timing and format are not yet known, given the ongoing dispute between Defender Société Nautique de Genève and Challenger of Record Golden Gate Yacht Club. The contest will almost certainly be sailed in 90-ft+ multi-hulls. Selengkapnya...