A Short History of Sailing

Our friend and Alinghi "external affairs"colleague, Hamish Ross, has a favorite (American) author named Bill Bryson. This we know because he has commended Bryson's books to your Ed., who has now read a number of them, including the renowned "A Short History of Nearly Everything" -- a good read for anyone of any age.

While I do not recall Bryson mentioning sailing at any length, let alone the America's Cup, recently we did come across this snippet on the Australian Olympic Committee site which lends the Cup, and our passionate pursuit of it, a Brysonian perspective:

Sailing has been used as a means of transport since ancient times. As a pastime, sailing gained considerable popularity in Holland about 400 years ago. Shortly after the restoration of the monarchy in the United Kingdom in 1660, King Charles II introduced sailing as a sport. He had seen the Dutch love of sailing during his travels in exile in Europe. The first yacht club in the world was formed in Cork, Ireland in 1720. International yachting began in 1851 when the schooner America, from the New York Yacht Club, defeated fifteen British yachts in a race around the Isle of Wight in what became the first race of the America’s Cup series.

It is yet another reminder that the Cup is about challenging, that it was first won by the Challenger, that it was won by the Challenger the last time the Cup was raced for in Europe, and of the privilege of having even a small part in the current edition of the world's oldest international sporting trophy.

¡Viva los desafiantes!