America’s Cup: how the world’s oldest international sporting competition began

The AMERICA’S CUP is celebrating its 175 YEARS. It all began in 1851, when John Cox Stevens boarded the steamship that would take him back across the Atlantic to the New World, carrying with him a trophy crafted by R&S Garrard, the Crown jeweler on Panton Street in London. He could not yet have known that this trophy would go on to shape competitive sailing for generations to come.

Legend has it that it all began on August 22, 1851, around the Isle of Wight, Great Britain, when the schooner America, representing the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) and skippered by Commodore John Cox Stevens, took on and defeated 15 British vessels in the race for the “100 Guineas Cup.” Queen Victoria was watching the finish and, seeing America crossing the line alone, is said to have asked who had come in second. The famous reply was: “Your Majesty, there is no second.”

In 1857, the owners of America donated the silver trophy to the New York Yacht Club. The donation was accompanied by the “Deed of Gift“, the founding document that established the rules governing challenges and defined the Cup as a “friendly competition between nations“. From that point on, the New York Yacht Club successfully defended the Cup in an unbroken winning streak that lasted until 1983. In the 1930s, the enormous J Class yachts took center stage, becoming symbols of elegance and power in what many consider the Golden Age of the America’s Cup. Some of the era’s most prominent industrialists, bankers, and tycoons took part in the competition. Among the American defenders, Harold Vanderbilt stands out; on the British side, notable challengers included tea baronet Sir Thomas Lipton and aviation magnate Sir Thomas Sopwith.

The historic turning point came with the Australian yacht Australia II, featuring a revolutionary winged keel and skippered by John Bertrand, with Alan Bond as its owner. In 1983, the team defeated American defender Dennis Conner, known as “Mr. America’s Cup”, bringing the longest winning streak in sports history to an end. The Cup sailed to Australia, but it would soon return to the United States. After his defeat, Conner fought his way back and reclaimed the trophy, this time for his home club in San Diego. His victory was celebrated with a ticker-tape parade along Fifth Avenue in New York, helping turn the America’s Cup into a mass phenomenon that captured the public imagination.

In 2003, New Zealand handed the Cup over to Switzerland, which became the first—and, to this day, only—European team to win the trophy. Only four nations have won the America’s Cup in its 175-year history, a testament to just how difficult the trophy is to conquer. In more than a century and a half of competition, only four countries have managed to lift the “Auld Mug”: Switzerland, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand.

After successfully defending the trophy in Valencia, Switzerland lost a fiercely contested second “Deed of Gift Match,” a challenge sailed under the strictest interpretations of the Deed, and the Cup returned to the United States, this time to San Francisco. Emirates Team New Zealand achieved what had previously been considered impossible: sailing on foils upwind. The Kiwis surged to what appeared to be an unassailable 8–2 lead, needing just one more race to win. But Oracle Team USA produced one of the greatest comebacks in sports history, fighting back from match point to win the America’s Cup 9–8. In Bermuda, the Kiwis introduced another groundbreaking innovation, replacing arm power with leg power and bringing “cyclors” into the America’s Cup—a concept that had already been tested below deck during the 12 Metre era. It marked the beginning of an unprecedented period of dominance in the Cup’s long history, as Team New Zealand became the first team to win three consecutive editions: Bermuda, Auckland, and Barcelona.

The America’s Cup Technical Evolution

From the original 8–9-knot speeds recorded in 1851, today’s AC75 and AC40 foiling yachts have surpassed 55 knots. With the return of the Youth America’s Cup and the introduction of the Women’s America’s Cup, the future of the competition is moving toward greater integration, with mixed-gender crews expected aboard the AC75s for the 2027 America’s Cup in Naples.

Speaking about what it takes to win the America’s Cup, Dennis Conner once said: “Total dedication to the commitment you’ve made. The three key ingredients for winning remain the same: attitude, attitude, attitude”.