| The America`s Cup |
ORIGINS
Following an invitation from the Earl of Wilton, the then Commodore of Britain’s Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS) to the Commodore of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) to send an example of American Pilot Boat technology to the Great Universal Exhibition of 1851, a yacht, the America, was built and sailed across the Atlantic to Cowes on the Isle of Wight. The owners of the America had every intention of making money by placing wagers on the results of on-the-water duels testing the speed of their yacht against any British yacht ready for the challenge.
Word got out that the America was fast and consequently there were no takers for any wagers. The press of the day got a hold of the story and after much editorialising and public debate a sporting compromise was reached where the entire British fleet of racing yachts would race the America around the Isle of Wight on Friday 22nd August 1851.
A prize had to be found and Wilton visited Garrard of London, the Royal Jewellers, and purchased an off-the-shelf Roccoco-styled silver wine ewer. It cost the RYS 100 Pounds. The race around the Isle of Wight was for the 100 Pound Cup.
On the day of the race the yacht America quickly proved the waterside pundits correct and moved out to an impressive lead. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert witnessed the spectacle from on board the Royal Yacht Victoria & Albert.
The America crossed the finish first a little over ten and a half hours after starting. The saying goes that on being informed of this significant British maritime defeat, the Queen asked as to who was second. The reply came: “Ma’am. There is no second.”
Such was the significance to a former colony of this defeat by the greatest empire ever known that the popular name for the silver wine ewer became the America’s Cup, named after the yacht that carried the pride of this young nation.
That might have been the end of the story except that 19 years later in 1870, after the American Civil War and the discovery of oil, a publicity seeking aristocrat, Lord Ashbury, thought he would challenge the New York Yacht Club to a return match in an effort to restore order. And so competition for the America’s Cup began.
During the 130 years since, the America’s Cup has seen 32 challenges mounted to win what naturally became the pinnacle of the sport of yacht racing. Of those 32 challenges only four have successfully beaten the defending club and taken on the responsibilities of looking after the incredible heritage of this unique sporting competition.
Being successful at the America’s Cup has always been about having the fastest boat with the best people on board to make the right decisions. Developing and using the leading technologies of the day has always been an essential part of America’s Cup success. Having the best people in the world with the right preparation and the right decisions being made at the right time is what it is all about. In effect a management exercise.
Consequently the America’s Cup has always attracted the most powerful people of their era, the captains of industry and commerce, who have the means and the intelligence and particularly the motivation to achieve the almost impossible.
In 1983 the first of those winning four challenges came from the Royal Perth Yacht Club of Australia whose team, Australia II, was led by entrepreneur Alan Bond. Australia II sported a wing-keeled design and on becoming the first challenger to win the America’s Cup the Australian government declared a National Day of Celebration.
In 1987 the second was the San Diego Yacht Club of California with its yacht Stars & Stripes led by Dennis Conner, the skipper who had lost the Cup four years earlier, won it back. President Ronald Reagan invited the crew to the White House shortly after the heroes had been feted down New York’s Broadway with a ticker-tape parade.
In 1995 the third challenger to win the America’s Cup was the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron, with Team New Zealand. Led by yachting legend Sir Peter Blake and skippered by Russell Coutts, with an innovative approach and limited means this team demonstrated what motivation and intelligence can achieve. New Zealanders mobbed the sailors during a post victory tour of the country and Sir Peter Blake was knighted.
In 2003 the fourth challenger to win the America’s Cup came from landlocked Switzerland. Led by Biotech entrepreneur Ernesto Bertarelli, the Société Nautique de Genève with their Alinghi sailing team, put together a dream-team of people led on the water by Russell Coutts.
Alinghi’s victory in 2003 led to the first ever European America’s Cup competition, the 32nd America’s Cup. Eleven challengers from nine nations raced to see if they could beat the Defender on the waters of Valencia in Spain.
The Cup in Europe at the beginning of the 21st Century saw many changes made to the format and management style of the event. To bring the competition up to date and into the space of the hundreds of millions of people that live in Europe many exciting initiatives were put in place. The first was a bid process to find the Host City, somewhere that would provide reliable winds and an excellent waterfront from which the public could be part of the show. The second was to introduce a number of build-up regattas over the years leading up to the America’s Cup Match in July 2007. And the third was to introduce a fleet racing format to these events, increasing the spectacle still further.
The eleven challengers that sailed for the 32nd America’s Cup were not ultimately successful in producing one team strong enough to beat the Swiss defenders, but it was a closely fought event. The final score was 5-2. Emirates Team New Zealand, the Challenger, kept it really close for the whole match. The margin of victory for the last race was just one second. It had been the most unpredictable match since 1983 and left the world hungry for more and the next edition of the Cup.
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