Cup History: 'Wizard' spiked guns of British hopefuls

Back in 1893

"He was too busy to be human, but a mechanical genius is not meant to be human." - A description of America's Cup design legend Nathanael Herreshoff, by his son.

Nathanael Greene Herreshoff was an innovator, a naval architect, engineer, inventor and an exceptional sailor. For 41 years he ruled the America's Cup.

The "Wizard of Bristol" designed six successful cup defenders, and with his blind brother, John, built eight.

His reign began in the 1890s. Edward Burgess, who had designed the last three defenders, died of typhoid at the age of 42.

Herreshoff was then approached to come up with a new breed of cup yacht.

Things had changed in the laws of the America's Cup. A new Deed of Gift was drawn up, this time a wordy legal document that troubled potential challengers across the Atlantic.

They contended that the rule which stated that the challengers must give full details of the design of their yacht well in advance meant the defenders would know what their opponent looked like and could build their boat accordingly.

The new cup boats would no longer be cruisers.

They would be faster, and wetter, racing machines with more sail area and deeper keels.

Herreshoff, working from his boatyards in Bristol, built Vigilant and Colonia. New York decided to join forces with Boston, and their co-operators came up with Pilgrim and Jubilee.

Vigilant won the trial, and was set to come up against the British cutter Valkyrie II, sailing for a syndicate from the Royal Yacht Squadron led by Lord Dunraven.

In the best-of-five series, Valkyrie led the first race by almost half-an-hour before it was abandoned through lack of wind. Vigilant, driven by Herreshoff, came back and won the next two races.

The third race was declared to be the greatest race yet.

In rough seas, the British boat led by almost two minutes rounding the last mark, before disaster struck.

While Valkyrie's 70 crew worked to hoist the spinnaker, it split down the middle. The reserve kite then exploded into hundreds of pieces. Vigilant sailed past to win, on handicap, by 40s.

Lord Dunraven was not a happy man.

He protested that the spectator fleet had got in his way. It was to be just the start of the griping from the Englishman.