Did you know?
➤ The America’s Cup is named after the schooner America, which won a race around the Isle of Wight in 1851 where it competed against vessels from the Royal Yacht Squadron.
➤ Queen Victoria was at the Isle of Wight race and was said to have asked who came in second. An attendant reportedly replied, “Your Majesty, there is no second.”
➤ The silver trophy won by America was later donated to the New York Yacht Club on the condition that it become the prize in an international competition. The United States would continue to hold the trophy for 132 years, the longest winning streak in the history of international sport.
➤ Their winning spell was broken in 1983 when Australia became the first successful challenger, on its fourth attempt.
➤ New Zealand launched its first attempt to win the Cup in 1986-87. But it would be almost a decade later, in 1995, before New Zealand could claim, in the oft-quoted words of commentator Peter Montgomery that, “The America’s Cup is now New Zealand’s Cup,” with NZL 32, also known as ‘Black Magic’.
➤ Famed yachtsman Peter Blake inspired the nation to get behind the 1995 crack at the Cup by encouraging people to buy and wear red socks for luck, with the proceeds going to the campaign.
➤ On March 14, 1996, activist Benjamin Peri Nathan walked into the Royal Yacht Squadron’s clubrooms on Auckland’s waterfront, pulled a hammer from his clothing, smashed into a glass display case and severely damaged what is arguably New Zealand’s greatest sporting trophy.
➤ New Zealand successfully defended the Auld Mug, as it is affectionately known, in 2000 but lost to Alinghi in 2003. Further unsuccessful challenges followed in 2007 and 2013 before it regained the America’s Cup in 2017.
➤ The famous trophy was made by London jeweller Garrard and Co. The sterling silver ewer stands 1.1 metres high and weighs 14kg.