On August 22, 1851, the 101-foot schooner America, built by New York Yacht Club commodore and founder John Cox Stevens, raced against 15 English yachts from the Royal Yacht Squadron in the “100 Guinea Cup,” an annual lap of the Isle of Wight. The visiting America won, finishing 8 minutes ahead of its closest rival. The trophy was renamed after the winners and donated to the New York Yacht Club, along with the “Deed of Gift,” specifying that it be held in trust as a perpetual challenge trophy. So America’s prize became “The America’s Cup,” and took up residency across the Atlantic.

No challenge to race for the America’s Cup was issued until British tycoon James Lloyd Ashbury's Cambria, which showed early promise during sea trials in the Solent. Representing the Royal Thames Yacht Club, the crew of Cambria believed that the trophy could be brought home and officially submitted the first America’s Cup challenge in 1870. Cambria, up against a 17-strong fleet of New York Yacht Club schooners in New York Harbor, placed eighth. Franklin Osgood's Magic, the overall winner, successfully retained the America’s Cup and became the trophy’s very first defender.