The oldest and most prestigious type of yachting competition is the America's Cup race.
The culture of the legendary sailing regattas, as well as the traditions of yachting in general, were formed with the direct participation of royalty and the richest people of their time. After the English King George IV became a member of the Royal Yacht Squadron (Royal Yacht Squadron), and his brother and heir William IV established a prize cup for the winners of regattas in 1834, yachting became a royal sport, sanctioned by the supreme rulers of the state.
Regatta
But it was the era of the reign of the brilliant Queen Victoria, when “the sun never set on the British Empire,” that gave the world the oldest and most prestigious type of yachting competition - the America's Cup race. In 1848, Victoria's husband, King Albert, proposed organizing a world industrial exhibition in London, which would once again confirm England's status as a leading modern power. And since yachting became an extremely popular sport among aristocrats and not only, even in the period after the end of the Napoleonic wars, it was decided that the decoration and culmination of the exhibition would be the regatta in Cowes. The regatta was supposed to glorify British yachting, but, naturally, sailing athletes from all over the world were invited to participate in it. Commercial and business circles of the United States, for obvious reasons, were extremely interested in participating in the exhibition. However, the American yachtsmen were inspired to participate in the Kau Regatta by chance. In the fall of 1850, a certain English journalist invited the commander of the New York Yacht Club, John Cox Stevens, to take part in the regatta. The Americans spent a long time deciding which of the ships belonging to the yacht club would be sent to these competitions, until shipbuilder George Steers announced that he was able to build a new yacht that would be able to outperform the fastest British ship and, in general, any yacht in the world. The story of the search for investors and patrons who would agree to finance such a risky enterprise as the construction of a schooner and its transportation across the Atlantic deserves a separate story. Let's just say that in the end, faith in Steers' strength and talent on the part of American entrepreneurs overcame all doubts. And on June 17, 1850, the sailing legend, the schooner “America,” was launched and finally accepted by the commission.
Schooner
Its length along the deck, from bow to stern, was 28.5 m, and with the bowsprit - 38.25 m; width -6.86 m; draft -3.35 m; load capacity - 170.5 tons. The height of the front mast is 24.23 m, the main one is 24.69 m. The hull was built on a frame made of five types of wood and covered with steel fasteners. The hull planking is made of light oak, 76 mm thick, and the decks are made of yellow pine, 64 mm thick. The entire bottom, up to a height of 15 cm above the waterline, is covered with copper sheets. The body was painted pewter on the outside and white on the inside.
The luxuriously appointed main cabin had 15 berths. The total area of the set of main sails of the schooner "America", made by the best New York master of that time, R. G. Wilson, was 489 sq.m.
In one line, omitting the tense intrigue of the America's struggle with the British yachts, let's say that the schooner won a brilliant victory. Among the British spectators, there was a uniform hysteria when they saw that the British schooner "Aurora" finished 18 minutes after the "America".
The day after the defeat of fourteen of the best English yachts, Lord Paget, Marshal of the Queen's Household, notified Stevens that Victoria, along with her husband the duke, would personally visit the victorious American schooner. It was a huge honor. The victory of "America" significantly raised the prestige of the United States in the eyes of the British Crown and for many years made the Americans leaders in sailing.
Cup
The prize of the Royal Yacht Squadron, won in 1851 by the schooner America, weighed about 3 kilograms. This is a silver vessel 68 cm high, 19.3 cm in diameter at the base and 91 cm in circumference at its widest point, with a gracefully curved neck and a carved handle. Its value in 1851 was only $500. The prize became the property of seven members of the syndicate and remains to this day. After the death of John Cox Stevens and several other partners, it was decided on July 8, 1857, to transfer the prize to the New York Yacht Club for safekeeping under certain conditions. The deed of gift stated: “Any yacht club of any country has the right at any time to demand, through one or more of its members, to conduct a race for this prize on any yacht or other sailing vessel. This vessel must have a displacement of not less than 30 and not more than 300 tons, which is determined in accordance with the mandatory customs regulations in force in the country to which the vessel belongs. The party claiming the Cup race has the right to play the regatta with the club holding the prize on mutually agreed terms. If agreement on these conditions is not reached, the competition must be held on the normal course used for the annual regattas of the winning club and in accordance with its rules and regulations for the conduct of regattas. The party making the challenge must indicate in writing six months in advance what day it wishes to start. The notification must indicate the length of the vessel, its tonnage, type of sailing rig and name.
It should be emphasized that the prize must remain in the possession of the club and not of its members or the owners of the winning yacht. The conditions of its award as a challenge prize cannot be changed, for which, in accordance with the above conditions, yacht clubs of all countries are eligible to compete. Through this, the prize will mark a permanent call for friendly international competition.”
The establishment of a challenge international prize called the America's Cup was a significant event in the history of sailing. And although valuable prizes had already been raffled off in regattas before, for the first time such a prize gained international weight, becoming not so much a valuable as an honorary trophy.
Fight for the Cup in the 20th century
The honor of winning the prize has attracted yachtsmen from all over the world for more than a hundred years, although only a few countries are able to participate in the fight for it. The costs associated with these regattas are very high: it has been estimated, for example, that the New York Yacht Club alone spent over $80 million over the next 125 years for this purpose. The same club reigned supreme in the Cup right up to 1983. Although approximately from the 70s of the XX century, there was a serious pressure from the contenders for winning the cup. Applications were received from several countries at once and qualifying competitions were introduced. Only the one who defeated everyone could now face the Defender. Since 1983, the French company Louis Vuitton has become the general sponsor of the qualifying round, establishing the Louis Vuitton Cup for applicants.
For the first time, qualifying competitions between different countries were held in 1970 - France lost its debut to the Australians, who had already acquired a taste for chasing the Cup. But they, in turn, lost to the Defenders, although they claimed that the decision to disqualify their yacht in one of the races was unlawful. The fight for the Cup turned into national politics. A powerful anti-American company in the Australian press recalled all of America's sins, which were no longer related to sailing competitions. To avoid political scandals, since 1974 the races began to be held under the leadership of the international jury IYPU (International Sailing Association). The distinct national character of the America's Cup races was also evident in the names of the yachts being built. The French, under the patronage of de Gaulle, performed on the yacht France. The Swedes, under the patronage of their king, built the yacht "Sweden". Australians - the yacht "Australia" and "Australia II". The British had by this time left the arena of the fight for the main prize. It is also characteristic that in the entire history of racing, not a single American club has acted as a Challenger. The whole world is accustomed to consider the Cup won by the yacht “America” to be the “America's Cup” of the country. The defeat of the New York Yacht Club followed a fascinating battle with Alan Bond's Australia II, representing the Royal Perth Yacht Club, with its innovative winged keel. Bond arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, holding the golden wrench he vowed to use to unscrew the America's Cup from its sacred pedestal at the New York Yacht Club. And he succeeded. Here's what Melissa H. Harrington wrote about the gravity of the loss in the official 150-year history of the New York Yacht Club: “The endless stream of spectator fleets heading to Newport from the 88th America's Cup race was essentially a funeral procession, filled with sad faces and painful feelings of the participants, sincerely and deeply shocked by what happened. No one has ever seen the New York Yacht Club without the America's Cup; what else could we do and experience when he left, except sadness and defeat.”
Defenders and Challengers 2008-2009
The current champion of the America's Cup is the Swiss syndicate Alinghi. In September this year, the German yacht United Internet Team Germany officially became the fifth contender for the Cup. The 33rd edition of the most prestigious trophy in sailing will take place in 2009 off the coast of Valencia, Spain. A German yacht will take part in it for the first time. This summer, the yacht Alinghi defended the trophy, which was challenged by 11 contenders, including a team from Russia. But in the new draw, before the German entry appeared, there were only four contenders - Spanish yacht Desafio Espagnol, New Zealand's Team New Zealand, South African Shosholoza and British debutant Team Origin.
Ekaterina Sokolova
Based on the materials of the official website of "America`s Cup": www.americascup.com
And chapters from Volodzimierz Glovatsky's book "The fascinating world of sails".
