A Very Short History of the

America's Cup, Part III, 12 Meter Design

and a word about the

Louis Vuitton Cup

1956 rolled around. The world, including the United States, was still shaking the cinders from World War II out of it's hair. There hadn't been an America's Cup race since the J-Class yachts last competed in 1937, and no one was interested in spending the money it would take to campaign a J-Class boat. Also, there were no American J’s in existence at that time because they had all been dismantled for the war effort. It takes lots of lead to ballast a 132 foot sailboat.

Henry Sears, Commodore of the New York Yacht Club, convinced the world to fire up the 12-meter rule to be used in an America's Cup event. Approximately 135 12-meters are currently afloat. They are big, 75 to 80 feet in length, but not J-Class mammoth. They sail well, are sexy, and, in 1956, comparatively inexpensive, thus, the yacht Columbia was launched by the NYYC. The Royal Yacht Squadron picked up the challenge for England and built the yacht Scepter.

In April of 1958 the Columbia and Scepter, squared off to sail in the renovated America's Cup Race. The Columbia easily protected the United State's hold on the Cup.

The 12-meters continued to slug it out every 4 years. However, in 1983 the 135 year American control of the America's Cup trophy ended abruptly. Australia had attempted to capture the Cup three times previously but she succeeded on the fourth attempt. The yacht Australia II, out of the Royal Perth Yacht Club, out raced The New York Yacht Club's entry, the Liberty. The Cup left for Perth, Australia, along with the Australia II and the ceremonial golden wrench used to unbolt it. It was also the end of the era of using 12-meters for the America's Cup event.

By 1971, the America’s Cup race started attracting international interest. The racing model for the America’s Cup is match racing, and because of that, too many teams and clubs were lining up to compete. Therefore, the Louis Vuitton Cup was introduced into the mix. The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup gets to race as the challenger for the America’s Cup.

By Hal Nauman