THE EARLY CHALLENGES

The first one hundred years or so of competition saw both highs and lows for the America's Cup, with the competition only seriously interrupted by the two World Wars. The very first challenge would come from Englishman James Ashbury, who raced a fleet from the New York Yacht Club around a race-course just off Staten Island in 1870. After much dispute over the conditions for racing, Ashbury's Cambria finished 10th in the 17-boat fleet prompting a second challenge the following year.

The 1871 America's Cup match was a precursor for many of the legal battles that would engulf the Cup over 100 years later. After reportedly consulting his lawyers, Ashbury insisted on racing against just one boat, not an entire fleet and protested both the scoring of the races and blunders by the Race Committee who set the race course. In the end he limped home complaining bitterly about poor sportsmanship on the part of the Americans and insisting he had actually won the Cup, to no avail.