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It’s sometimes hard to wrap your head around all that’s evolved since 1851, when a syndicate of owners from the newly minted New York Yacht Club brought their schooner America to the UK for a summer of racing and returned with the trophy that would become the America’s Cup.
It helps to remember that no matter the era, the Cup has always been as much a contest of cutting-edge yacht design as it is of high-level sailing skills. Seen through that lens, the foiling monohulls that are racing in this year’s 37th America’s Cup, reaching—and likely exceeding—50 knots and resembling fighter jets more than sailing yachts, make sense.
It also helps to look back. When the Americans returned with their new prize, a syndicate member authored the Deed of Gift to create an international trophy to be contested between two yacht clubs—defender and challenger. Vast fortunes were often wagered to contest and defend a trophy that the original winners are rumored to have considered melting down into medals, and over time, the Cup’s mythos far exceeded any rational worth.
But this irrationality became an important part of the Cup’s gravity, and the contest’s winner-takes-all ethic galvanized. Sir Thomas Lipton, for example, challenged five times, spending staggering sums, but ultimately sailed home empty-handed…
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