1851. Cowes, England.
A legend is born.

It all began back in 1851. It is August 22, and we are in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in merry old England.

Imagine the scene, at sunset, aboard the royal yacht Victoria & Albert, as a fleet of 14 boats are approaching the finish line of a race around the island organized by the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Her Majesty Queen Victoria asks the captain: "Say, signal master, are there yachts in sight?" - "Yes, may it please Your Majesty" - "Which is first?" - "America" - "Which is second?" - "Ah, Your Majesty, there is no second".

This was the phrase that marked the start of a fascinating, intriguing adventure that continues to this day.

It was the schooner America of John Cox Stevens, commodore and founder of the New York Yacht Club, who was first to cross the finish line of that race. America bore the signature of George Steers, who based its design on the super-fast clipper ships that dominated the commercial tea shipping routes with China in those days.

At that time a revolution on the seas was just beginning, the moment when sails were giving way to steam propulsion. British naval supremacy - Britannia Rules the Waves - was being celebrated in London within the context of the Great Exhibition and the race at Cowes was just a side event. Such a public defeat was a terrible blow to the self-confidence of Mighty Albion: defeated in its home waters by the young offspring of their former colonies in a yacht race, a sport invented by the British!

1851 - 1980. New York and Newport.
America's Cup fever from the 1st to the XXIVth edition.

The trophy in contention at the 1851 race around the Isle of Wight was the Hundred Guinea Cup, a large silver pitcher (132 ounces) designed by royal jeweler Robert Garrard of London in 1848.

With the so-called Deed of Gift (the document on which the legendary race was to be based for over a century), the America's Cup was donated to the New York Yacht Club by John Cox Stevens and the owners of the schooner America on July 8, 1857. The trophy was immediately offered by the club as prize for friendly challenges from abroad.

But not until 13 years later, on August 8, 1870, did the first America's Cup challenge take place. The site was off the shores of Long Island, the racing format a single race of 38 miles. The fleet was composed of 18 American yachts and a single foreigner, the schooner Cambria of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, owned by London millionaire James Ashbury. The winner was Magic, a small sloop of the New York Yacht Club owned by Franklin Osgood, who thus became the first official Defender in America's Cup history.

The trophy, which occupied the place of honor in the splendid lounge of the prestigious New York Yacht Club in central Manhattan, was to remain solidly anchored to its pedestal for no less than 132 years! A symbol of the power and supremacy of American technology on the seas. It took 25 challenges, all successfully defended, before anyone was able to snatch the trophy from American hands.

America's Cup fever is difficult to cure. Its victims may be famous or not, eccentric or not... Perhaps the most hardheaded of all was Irishman Sir Thomas Lipton, the tea baron who, between 1899 and 1930, made five challenges, one after the other, with his legendary Shamrocks, all emblazoned with the Irish four-leaf clover, as the name implies. In America Lipton became famous as the first person to understand how beneficial, in business terms, an investment in the America's Cup could be: free advertising, and everyone wanted his tea!

1983. Newport, Rhode Island, USA. XXV edition.
The defeat of the Americans after 132 years of consecutive victories.

Not until 1983 was the America's Cup finally torn from the hands of the Americans. The Australian Alan Bond was at his fourth challenge, and this time he arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, brandishing a gold wrench that he promised he was going to use to unbolt the America's Cup from its pedestal at the New York Yacht Club.

His yacht Australia II had a mysterious winged keel, designed by Ben Lexcen and absolutely revolutionary for its day. This generated ashore a fierce legal battle with the Americans. Bond stood up for his rights and won the lawsuit. In the water the battle was even more difficult. Seven yacht clubs representing five nations submitted their America's Cup challenge at the same time, so a racing format was devised that included a series of elimination races to determine which of the seven would confront the Defender.

Louis Vuitton, the French fashion giant, offered to be the official sponsor of this event. The best of the challengers, the one surviving the grueling elimination process, would win the Louis Vuitton Cup, a silver trophy. The glory and the honors went to Bond and his skipper John Bertrand, who defeated the six opponents and prepared to confront the U.S. Defender, the legendary Dennis Conner. Without much difficulty Conner reached a 3-1 advantage and had to win only one race to successfully defend the Cup. Unexpectedly, in a historical comeback, Bertrand defeated his opponent 4 to 3, becoming the first skipper to take the trophy away from the Americans after 132 victorious years. History was made: the NYYC was no longer the Defender and, in accordance with the rules of the game, the trophy went over to the Royal Perth Yacht Club.

For the first time since 1870 the America's Cup would be raced outside the USA.

1987 Fremantle, Australia. XXVI edition.
Uncle Dennis wins back the Cup!

Winning the America's Cup was no longer a dream but a reality. Alan Bond had done it, demonstrating that the objective, however difficult, could be achieved.

Four years later the new challenge was launched.

From Newport to Fremantle. From cold waters and grey skies to the brilliant colors, dazzling sunshine and strong wind - the doctor - of the Australian coast.

There were thirteen challengers representing six nations at the start of this second edition of the Louis Vuitton Cup. The races aboard the 12- Meters were exciting, the public fantastic, the event broadcast by all the TVs in the world. It was a huge success, a wonderful sporting challenge.

Nor was the usual legal snag missing. One of the boats presented was made of fiberglass rather than aluminum. It was the New Zealand yacht KZ7, nicknamed Plastic Fantastic. Designed by the brilliant trio of Bruce Farr, Laurie Davidson and Ron Holland and skippered by one of the best in the 470 class, Chris Dickson. KZ7 reached the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup with the fantastic record of 37 victories and only one defeat. Then it had to compete against Dennis Conner, the man branded for having lost the America's Cup in 1893. In an exciting series of races, Stars & Stripes dominated the field with a fine 4-1 showing, winning the Louis Vuitton Cup. It was a matter of pride: after the defeat of ’83 he had to repatriate the Cup. In fact, the Australian Defender Kookaburra III had no escape and was brutally defeated with a devastating 4-0.

The Auld Mug returned home but this time on the opposite ocean, the Pacific, to the halls of the San Diego Yacht Club for which Uncle Dennis had been racing.

1988 San Diego, USA. XXVII edition.
The incredible confrontation between a catamaran and a giant monohull.

Surprise move. It was July 17, 1987, and the San Diego Yacht Club received an unexpected challenge from the small Mercury Bay Boating Club of New Zealand. It was a one-on-one race to be contested by vessels that could reach the maximum dimensions permitted by the old Deed of Gift - up to 90 feet at the waterline!

The challenge came from millionaire Michael Fay, who wanted to exploit to his advantage a series of loopholes in the original document governing the America's Cup. In the subsequent months the two parties clashed in a violent battle of law firms until, on January 19, 1988, Conner announced that he would defend the Cup with a catamaran, economical and surely much faster than a 90-foot monohull. The international sailing elite was left speechless: a competition between two such different boats made no sense... in fact the catamaran Stars & Stripes crushed the New Zealand giant 2-0 with enormous leads, 18 and 21 minutes. And that was not the end of it, because Fay presented a petition against the legality of the match. Unbelievably, the judges responded that San Diego had to be eliminated, and Fay thus became the only challenger in history to have captured the America's Cup without winning a single race. San Diego presented an appeal of course, and the court surprisingly reinstated Conner as winner. The saga continued when a new appeal was presented. The final decision came on April 26 1990: the Cup was staying in San Diego.

1992 San Diego, USA. XXVIII edition.
The money game of the America's Cup.

After two years of chaos among catamarans and sailing giants, a fresh start was sorely needed. The event had literally been destroyed. The rules, formulas and content had to be rewritten. The America's Cup had to regain credibility in the eyes of both public and sponsors. On January 7, 1989 a project was presented for the new Cup to be held in 1992.

It was the third edition of the Louis Vuitton Cup: eight challengers in the calm and sunny waters of San Diego, California. The era of the 12-meters came to an end and a new class was born, the International America’s Cup Class, IACC for short. The yachts were 75-feet long, sleek, elegant, hyper-technological and super-fast in light winds. They were 20% longer than the 12-meters with 66% more sail area and 34% lighter. The figures invested in this naval battle continued to climb, and this Cup would be remembered as the money cup: success depended heavily on the quality of the vessels, the money spent in R&D, and the number of people involved in the challenge. The hunt began for the best skippers and crews, and this, too boiled down again to...money.

In the end, Italians and New Zealanders were left to contend the Louis Vuitton Cup this time: two bright red yachts, Il Moro di Venezia, standard- bearer of the Compagnia della Vela of Venice, versus New Zealand.

In the best-of-nine contest, the Kiwis, with Rod Davis at the helm, quickly leaped to a 3-1 lead. Paul Cayard, who was steering Raul Gardini’s yacht, lost no time moping and launched a legal attack against his opponent's bowsprit, demonstrating that it was illegal. The New Zealanders were at their third America's Cup participation, and all three times they had been accused of improprieties: in 1987 for the fiberglass hull of Plastic Fantastic, in 1988 for having challenged San Diego with a 90-foot giant, and now the bowsprit! For the Kiwis it was a psychological collapse.

They were unable to win any more races, and Il Moro di Venezia sailed into the America's Cup. Gardini had to contend with Kansas City billionaire Bill Koch and his fleet of America cubed. At the helm of Defender America3 was 62-year-old Buddy Melges, one of the best yachtsmen in the world. For Il Moro it was a bitter defeat, 4 to 1. The America's Cup remained in San Diego. It was the first time that the winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup had failed to take home also the America's Cup.

1995 San Diego, USA. XXIX edition.
The revenge of the Kiwis.

Almost all the protagonists of three years earlier returned to the race course of the fourth Louis Vuitton Cup, but the superiority of one of the challengers was evident from the outset. This was the year of the New Zealand comeback: taking advantage of Michael Fay's experience in the three previous campaigns, they mounted a perfect challenge.

Two black super-fast yachts, christened Black Magic NZL 32 and 38 and designed by Laurie Davidson and Doug Peterson, a strong team led by three key figures: Peter Blake, Russell Coutts and Tom Schnackenberg. The first was the world's most famous offshore yachtsman, the second the best skipper on the international match racing circuit, the third an expert sailor and designer. The crew, basically the same as in 1987, was highly experienced. A hard combination to beat.

During the elimination rounds and semifinals of the Louis Vuitton Cup the Kiwis, who raced with NZL 38, lost only one race in the entire series, and that one because of a protest. Thus they wiped out Japanese, Spanish, French, Australians and compatriot Chris Dickson aboard Tag Heuer. For the Louis Vuitton finals they put Black Magic NZL 32 in the water: it was lightning fast and defeated oneAustralia 5 to 1. Now it was the Defender's turn, once again Dennis Conner. It was no contest: Uncle Dennis with his Young America suffered a devastating 5-0 defeat. Black Magic was first around every mark and never gave its opponent a chance. That boat was a real bullet: in the entire campaign, the Kiwis competed in 43 races and won 42 of them. A record. The Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron thus became the fourth keeper of the America's Cup after New York, Perth and San Diego.

2000. Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. XXX edition.
Luna Rossa wins the Louis Vuitton Cup.

The third time it participated in the America’s Cup, Italy made history.

For the first time ever, the challenge was launched this time - first among all - by the Yacht Club Punta Ala.

Patrizio Bertelli, with his Luna Rossa and a team headed by Francesco de Angelis, managed to knock off ten competitors - the Americans (five teams), Australians, French, Japanese, Spanish and Swiss - in a long duel that unfolded over five grueling months of regattas. On February 6, 2000, the Prada house in Auckland hosted a big party: Luna Rossa had won the Louis Vuitton Cup and was going to challenge the defender.

It was the first time in history that an Italian skipper participated in the America’s Cup; and never before had the final match been played out without an American boat as either challenger or defender. The final encounter with the hosts of the challenge, the New Zealanders, was wrapped up in a hurry. The issue was decided swiftly because the black New Zealand defeated Luna Rossa in all five of the regattas that carried Russell Coutts, Dean Barker and their team to a five to zero win.