''Courageous'' is a

12-metre class The 12 Metre class is a rating class for racing sailboats that are designed to the International rule. It enables fair competition between boats that rate in the class whilst retaining the freedom to experiment with the details of their designs. ...

racing yacht. It was the third boat to win 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 ...

twice, in 1974 and 1977, after '' Columbia'' in 1899 and 1901, and '' Intrepid'' in 1967 and 1970. All three yachts were fielded by the

New York Yacht Club The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...

. The Olin J. Stephens-designed sloop was the first all aluminum-hulled 12-metre class yacht.

History

''Courageous'' successfully defended the America's Cup in 1974 for the US with

Ted Hood Frederick Emmart Hood (May 5, 1927 — June 28, 2013) was an American yachtsman and naval architect. He founded the sailmaker Hood Sails in Marblehead, Massachusetts in 1952. Hood Sails operated until purchased by Quantum Sails in 2017. Hood ...

at the helm. After the 1974 cup, Hood built a new boat, ''Independence'', which he thought was faster than ''Courageous'', and sold ''Courageous'' to

Ted Turner Robert Edward Turner III (born November 19, 1938) is an American entrepreneur, television producer, media proprietor, and Philanthropy, philanthropist. He founded the CNN, Cable News Network (CNN), the first 24-hour United States cable news, ...

. Turner won the 1977 America's Cup defender trials in ''Courageous'', beating Hood in the process, and then went on to successfully defend the America's Cup against Australia later that year. When preparing ''Courageous'' for the 1977 America's Cup, it was re-measured for compliance with the

rule. It was discovered that ''Courageous'' was lighter than the weight declared in its original racing certificate for the 1974 America's Cup. Less weight typically means a faster performance in lighter winds and a slower performance in stronger winds. If ''Courageous'' had been found to be under weight before the competition in 1974, then the designers would have had to make adjustments to sail area, the waterline length, or other attributes to make the design comply with the 12-metre rule. If ''Courageous'' was found to be underweight during the event, it would have been disqualified. It is unknown what effect this oversight had on the result of the 1974 event.

Today

Both ''Courageous'' and ''Intrepid'' are still sailing and racing today in

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...

. ''Intrepid'' is available for charter and ''Courageous'' is privately owned.

References

{{American 12-metre class yachts Individual sailing vessels 12-metre class yachts America's Cup defenders Yachts of New York Yacht Club members Symbols of Rhode Island Sailboat type designs by Olin Stephens Sailboat type designs by Sparkman and Stephens 1970s sailing yachts Sailing yachts built in the United States 1974 America's Cup 1977 America's Cup

History

Today

See also

References