The 1876 America's Cup was the 4th staging of the
America's Cup
The America's Cup is a sailing competition and the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one from the yacht club that currently holds the trophy (known ...
yacht race. It was contested as a three-match-race series in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, between ''Madeleine'' owned by John Stiles Dickerson, representing the defender, the New York Yacht Club; and ''Countess of Dufferin'' owned by Charles Gifford, representing the Royal Canadian Yacht Club. It was the first time a Canadian club had challenged the America’s Cup.
It is thought that the British did not challenge due to lingering acrimonious tensions from James Lloyd Ashbury's challenge of 1871. Records of the time state "the English did not seem inclined to regard the game worth the candle in challenging for it". By 1876, however, the NYYC were willing to make changes to the way the match was run; "the club was quite ready to make concessions and did so in a measure that showed time and reflection to have given it a broader view."
The Canadian challenges of 1876 and 1881, which have been described as "the weakest efforts ever made to win the Cup,"
most notably saw the shift in boat styles from the
schooner
A schooner ( ) is a type of sailing ship, sailing vessel defined by its Rig (sailing), rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more Mast (sailing), masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than t ...
to the
sloop. The 1876 boat ''Countess of Dufferin'' and the later ''Atlanta'' were inland freshwater boats from the Canadian lakes.
Further changes in 1876 were that NYYC agreed to waive the customary six-month notice period as they felt it unnecessary to build a new vessel and were confident of a successful defence and that NYYC would name a single defending yacht in advance.
Results
Over just two races, the ''Madeleine'' defeated the ''Countess of Dufferin,'' skippered by Alexander Cuthbert and owned by Major Charles Gifford, vice-commodore of the Royal Canadian Yacht Club of Toronto.
On August 11th, 1876, William skippered the defender to victory and beat Countess, skippered by Alexander Cuthbert, by 9:58 on elapsed time and 10:59 on corrected time. The next day, Madeleine outsailed the challenger to the finish by 27:14 on corrected time.
References
External links
Americascup.com the official website of the competition
{{America's Cup
America's Cup yachts
America's Cup yacht clubs