It is the most prestigious race in history, yet considering its importance, the America’s Cup is transpiring in New Zealand with remarkably little media attention. Known as “The Billionaire Death Race,” the America’s Cup was first contested in 1851 when the yacht America, racing for the New York Yacht Club, sailed to the Royal Yacht Squadron on the Isle of Wight. There, on the 22nd of August in front of Queen Victoria, America defeated her fourteen competitors in a race around the Isle. When the Queen asked who came second, she was answered: “Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second.”
This phrase speaks to how the Cup would be contested for generations to come—though this first race had fifteen competitors, the subsequent iterations of the regatta would be match races, two ships locked in mano a mano combat. Second place would never be awarded.
America won the 100 Guinea Cup following that first victory. The winnings were donated to the New York Yacht Club under the Deed of Gift of the America’s Cup, which governs the rules of the competition. The Deed of Gift has been the subject of numerous legal disputes as its wording leaves much to be interpreted, but fundamentally the format of the regatta is simple: there is a defender, and a challenger. If there are multiple challengers, they must duke it out amongst themselves to determine who will race the defender in the America’s Cup Final.
For 132 long years, America held what has become known as the “Auld Mug.” 132 years, however, does not mean that there were 132 regattas. The current defender, subject to the Deed of Gift, was and is still capable of determining the method in which the Cup would be contested. Restrictions on what kinds of boats and technology could be utilized were left to the discretion of the holder of the Auld Mug, but the defender would still have to wait for challengers for a new iteration of the race to transpire. In 132 years, the Cup was won only 24 times.
Contesting the Cup was a costly endeavour and caught the interest of the wealthy. In 1899, Sir Thomas Lipton (yes, the Lipton that you see on parcels of tea) financially backed the Royal Ulster Yacht Club’s challenge. Lipton would challenge numerous times, but would never win. He does, however, have the prestige of being one of the first major sponsors of the America’s Cup, a tradition that has resulted in the competition garnering the tongue-in-cheek nickname “The Billionaire Death Race.”
For those 132 years the New York Yacht Club held onto the trophy, but this changed in 1983 when Australia ended America’s reign. Since then, the Cup has bounced between Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia, and America, but the biggest change took place in 2010 when America, backed by BMW and Oracle, challenged the Swiss defender, Alinghi.
With the exception of a controversial 1988 regatta, the boats raced in the America’s Cup were monohulls. In 2010, however, after numerous legal actions pursued in the New York Supreme Court regarding the freedoms and restrictions granted by the Deed of Gift, the 33rd America’s Cup was raced in Valencia, Spain in gigantic multihulls that looked like something out of science fiction.
BMW Oracle Racing won in spectacular fashion, sporting a sail that seemed more akin to an airplane wing. In fact, this wing was approximately 80% larger than that of a Boeing 747. At the helm was Australian Jimmy Spithill, winning his first America’s Cup. The America’s Cup had returned home.
Technology became the story of the 2013 America’s Cup hosted in San Francisco where Oracle Team USA successfully defended the Cup, staving off Emirates Team New Zealand. The Cup was raced on foiling 72-foot catamarans with 130-foot wing sails that could sail faster than the speed of the wind. Despite Emirates’ seven race lead, Jimmy Spithill led Oracle to a historic eight consecutive race comeback, defeating Emirates, and its helmsman Dean Barker, 9-8.
The 35th Cup was raced in Bermuda in 2017 on similar yachts to those raced in San Francisco, and just like the previous regatta, the Cup was contested between Oracle and Emirates. This time, Emirates decimated their opponents. Larry Ellison called it a day on his America’s Cup campaign, Spithill jumped ship to race for the Italians, and Barker left Emirates.
Which brings us to today. American Magic, helmed by Barker, just lost the semifinals of the Prada Cup (the race that decides which challenger will compete against Emirates in the Finals) against Italy’s Luna Rossa Challenge, helmed by Spithill. American Magic did not win a single race, and one wonders if the beating Barker sustained at the hands of Spithill in 2013 had something to do with that.
On February 12, England’s Ineos Team UK will face-off against Italy in the final of the Prada Cup, the winner of which will meet New Zealand in the America’s Cup Finals. Ineos is helmed by Sir Ben Ainslie who had previously acted as tactician for Spithill in Oracle’s 2013 victory, and so this regatta will be a clash of sailing titans.
Despite not being shown on the standard sports channels, each race of the Cup is being streamed on Youtube, Facebook, and americascup.com. Tune in to watch what looks like spaceships skimming the water. Maybe the UK will win—although that would be a first.