First Defense of the America’s Cup, 1870, Schooners AMERICA, MAGIC, and CAMBRIA

watercolor on board, 14" x 20"

$8,500

The Winner’s Cup came to be known as “The America’s Cup” and at the time was owned and shared among the owners of Yacht AMERICA. It was decided to make it an international trophy. The race was open to yacht clubs from abroad who would try to win the Cup back from the allotted keeper, the New York Yacht Club.

A challenge was received from Mr. James Ashbury with his keel Schooner CAMBRIA, although it turned out he would have to compete over the New York course with a whole fleet of contenders just as AMERICA had in 1851. Then the American Civil War intervened, Some years passed, and on August 5, 1870 the first challenge race was won in a single event by the much smaller MAGIC. CAMBRIA coming in only tenth in the large field that included AMERICA in a commendable fourth place.

Here MAGIC is in the foreground with CAMBRIA to the left of her.

The centre-board schooner MAGIC already outpacing the British CAMBRIA, a larger, heavier keep schooner, over the New York Yacht Club course past Staten Island. In the background is the original AMERICA which came in fourth to MAGIC’s first and CAMBRIA’s tenth in the final corrected result.