The Auld Mug celebrates 160’s

It was 160 years ago today, on August 22nd, 1851, when the yacht America triumphed over the pride of the British fleet in a race around the Isle of Wight, off England’s south coast, winning the trophy that came to bear the yacht’s name. At 160 years old, the America’s Cup is often called the oldest trophy in international sport. To give some context, consider that when the first Games of the modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece in 1896, the first chapter in the America’s Cup story had been written a full 45 years earlier. It began in the early summer of 1851, America sailed across the Atlantic from the east coast of the United States for a season of racing against the best that Britain could offer.

But her owners had tipped their hand. On arriving in British waters, America had left its welcoming committee in its wake, making races (and the profitable wagers that accompanied them) difficult to find. Eventually, America was able to enter the Royal Yacht Squadron’s £100 Cup (also referred to as the 100 Guinea Cup); a race around the Isle of Wight against a fleet of British boats, with the winner on the water taking the trophy – no time allowances would be made.

The boats started, arranged under anchor, in two rows off Cowes. As the start gun fired at 10:00am, the yachts slipped anchor in the light breeze and made their way to the East. America actually started poorly, and was in fifth place when the yachts passed No Mans Buoy. But after slipping inside the Nab Lightship, she passed Culver Cliff in a dominant position and would never be overtaken.

America finished the race at 8:37 pm, 12 minutes clear of Aurora. The last boat to finish, Brilliant, cleared the line at 1:30 am the next day. The owners of America briefly considered melting down the trophy they had just won to create medals. Fortunately, they had a change of heart and donated it to the New York Yacht Club under a Deed of Gift that still governs the America’s Cup competition to this day.

That day in August was notable too for giving us perhaps the most famous quote to be associated with the America’s Cup – ‘There is no second’.
This is how it came about. Of that first race in 1851, The Times newspaper reported: “Off Cowes…was heard the hail, Is the America first? The answer, yes. What is second? The reply – nothing.”

In his history of the America’s Cup, An Absorbing Interest, Bob Fisher recounts this and continues: “This almost certainly gave credence to the apocryphal story that the Queen (Victoria) had asked a signalman, on being told that the America was first, ‘Who is second?’ And the signalman was said to have replied, ‘Ma’am, there is no second’.”

To this day, 160 years later, it still represents a fine description of the sporting contest of the America’s Cup.