The Legend of America's Cup
|
|
The America's Cup was created in 1848 by the London jeweler
Robert Garrard as a stock item. More...
|
|
The yacht America in 1851.
(Photo Beken of Cowes/Louis Vuitton)
|
|
|
The America's Cup race course ran clockwise
around the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England.
|
|
The legend
of the America’s Cup, the oldest continuous sports competition,
even older than the modern Olympic games, began in 1851 with a race around
the Isle of Wight,
off the southern coast of England. Eighteen boats joined that race all
vying to win the Silver Cup. Ten hours later her Majesty Queen Victoria
gave the bulky silver cup to the winner America, from the
New York Yacht Club, which defeated the English Aurora by
8 minutes. The race was contested, since the America had taken
an illegal shortcut, but the result stood, and the regatta has been known
as the America's Cup ever since.
For many years the American boats kept on winning the race
against yachts from around the world. American dominance finally faded in
1983, when Australia II, from the Royal Perth Yacht Club, succeeded
in winning the Cup thanks to an innovative idea: the application of winglets
on the bulb. This change gave birth to a technological challenge, which
is playing a critical role in modern competitions: Use technology to design
faster and more maneuverable sailboats.
|
|
The appendages under the hull are the rudder in the aft, the
center keel, the bulb, and the winglets. more...
|
