America’s Cup Celebrates 162 Years
Five members of the New York Yacht Club built the state-of-the-art schooner America and sailed it across the Atlantic Ocean to compete against British ships in conjunction with England’s Great Exposition of 1851. America won the 53-mile regatta around the Isle of Wight by eighteen minutes on August 22. The prize was the Hundred Guinea Cup, a two-foot-high silver jug presented by the Royal Yacht Squadron. The trophy was later renamed The America’s Cup.
The legendary story of Queen Victoria can be overheard by racing enthusiasts around the Bay. Versions vary, but the essence is while watching America come over the horizon from her royal yacht, the Queen asked her attendant, “Who is second?” to which he reportedly replied, “Your Majesty, there is no second.”
Kathy Bohanan Enzerink has written for ALL AT SEA since 2012.
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