The America's Cup

The America's Cup

The America’s Cup, affectionately known as the ‘Auld Mug’, is the oldest active trophy in international sport.

The cup is named after the schooner America, which won a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851 against 14 of the best boats in Britain – including the cream of the elite Royal Yacht Squadron.

In 1857 the owners of America donated the cup to the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) through a deed of gift. The cup would be held in trust as a ‘challenge trophy’ for ‘friendly competition between foreign countries’. The deed of gift outlined the rules to be followed in making a challenge and conducting the races. The deed of gift is a registered trust document held by the New York Supreme Court, to which all disputes and issues requiring clarification must be taken.

The NYYC held the cup until 1983, when the Royal Perth Yacht Club, represented by the yacht Australia II, pulled off a shock victory, ending the longest winning streak in the history of sport.

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John R Watt

Posted: 25 Feb 2021

New Zealand has a link to the very beginning of this story about the boat named America and the trophy cup.
It precedes the deed document setting out the rules of the current perpetual computation. The very first race was quite different.there were many boats competing. One boat, called the Alarm, had connections to New Zealand. Although it failed to beat America it was owned by the father of Frederick Weld who became the leader of this countries parliament and had the main role in composing the terms of rN Zealand's constitution.
The boat called America was in fact owned by a consortium of five people of whom only one survived the American civil war.. Whilst he technically now owned all the cup and not his original 20% entitlement. He nevertheless donated his Hard won trophy to the current perpetual cup contest.