''Heart of America'' is a 12-metre class yacht that competed in the

1987 Louis Vuitton Cup The 2nd Louis Vuitton Cup was held in Fremantle, Western Australia in 1987. The winner, Stars & Stripes, went on to challenge for and win the 1987 America's Cup. Teams Twelve syndicates from six countries (Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand ...

. The boat was helmed by

Buddy Melges Harry C. "Buddy" Melges Jr. (born January 26, 1930) is a competitive sailor. He has earned national and international championships in several classes in conventional sailing and ice-boating. Early life Born in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, Melges ...

and represented the

Chicago Yacht Club The Chicago Yacht Club is located in Chicago, Illinois. "CYC" is well known as being the Organizing Authority for the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac held each July. CYC also organizes dozens of other sailboat races and regattas throughout t ...

. The boat finished 8 of 13 in Louis Vuitton Cup, which decides the challenger to the Cup holder. The Chicago-based yacht design firm of

Graham & Schlageter Graham & Schlageter (also known as G&S) was an American naval architecture design firm based in Chicago, Illinois. The company specialized in the design of fiberglass sailboats. The company was founded by Scott Graham and Eric Schlageter in 19 ...

contributed to the boat's design.

Crew

The crew included these members, as well as others. *

- Skipper * David Dellenbaugh - Tactician * Larry Mialik - Grinder * Richie Stearns - main trimmer and sail co-coordinator *

Andreas Josenhans Andreas Josenhans (born 12 September 1950) is a German-born Canadian sailor who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics. Career He was a member of the youngest of the Olympic sailing crews at the Montreal 1976 Olympics, with fellow sailors Glen Dex ...

- Trimmer * Dave Navin * Jim Gretzky * Wally Henry * Fred Stritt * John Stanley John Spence

Support

The CEOs of the Heart of America Cup effort included Alan Johnston and William Bentsen. Corporate sponsorship of the drive started with MCI providing $1M US dollars to the campaign.

Controversies

The challenge by a

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lakes ...

yacht club resulted in the Australian Royal Perth Yacht club challenging whether

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

was an "arm of the sea" as required by the

Deed of Gift of the America's Cup The Deed of Gift of the America's Cup is the primary instrument that governs the rules to make a valid challenge for the America's Cup and the rules of conduct of the races. The current version of the deed of gift is the third revision of the orig ...

. The court decided that Lake Michigan did constitute an "arm of the sea" and that the Club could challenge for the America's Cup.

References

{{American 12-metre class yachts 12-metre class yachts Sailing yachts of the United States Louis Vuitton Cup yachts