Canada's Cup

The Canada’s Cup is a silver trophy, deeded in perpetuity to be awarded to the winner of a series of match races between a yacht representing a Canadian yacht club and one representing an American club, both to be located on the Great Lakes.

Until 2001, the Cup matches were a test of the challenger’s and the defender’s abilities to design and build a yacht to the prevailing measurement rule, and to sail that yacht to victory. Since 2001, Cup challenges have been sailed in Farr 40 one-design yachts, so the competition is centred on sailing skills.

The Cup is a unique trophy, approximately 30 cm (12 inches) high excluding base, specifically crafted for a cross-border sailing competition in 1896, and is an engraved bowl, gilt inside, whose richly embellished supporting pedestal depicts a lion and an eagle.

In 1895, the Lincoln Park Yacht Club of Chicago challenged the Royal Canadian Yacht Club of Toronto (RCYC) to a series of races, to be held on “neutral” waters in the summer of 1896. As yacht racing was then a popular spectator sport, several cities competed to have the competition held in their waters; the winner was Toledo, Ohio, which put up a silver trophy made by Tiffany & Co. along with a cash prize of $1,500 (over $31,000 in today’s purchasing power) – a customary practice in those days.

The American yacht, Vencedor, already in build at the time of the challenge, was a 63-foot cutter drawn by Thorwald S. Poekel, the former chief draughtsman at the renowned Herreshoff Manufacturing Company. The Canadian response was a 57-foot cutter designed by William Fife and named Canada. In the summer of 1896, both yachts sailed in company to Toledo, racing against other yachts along the way and building excitement along their respective voyages.

Canada won the first race in moderate weather. The following day brought high winds and rain; not wanting to expose a prized mainsail to high wind and rain, Vencedor's skipper asked for a lay day. Realizing how disadvantaged his vessel would be in heavy weather, Canada's skipper, Aemilius Jarvis, agreed to the postponement. The following day, the weather moderated and Canada took the series with two straight wins, collecting the cash and the trophy.

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Wikipedia