3 Review(s)

Thomas J. Lipton's America's Cup Campaigns is the saga on one man's three decade obsession with winning the America's Cup. This is author Richard V. Simpson's fifth title concerning the quest for the America's Cup-the Blue Riband prize for the sport of large ocean racing yachts. In this book, Simpson relates brief stories of some of the most interesting of the early races for the Cup which lead up to the Lipton challenges. The narrative covers the development of the early sloops and schooners from wood, to metal and the challenges faced by designers. For this narrative Simpson has searched century-old tabloids for early sport writers' predictions and observation of the contestants; he has resurrected many long-forgotten contemporary accounts relative to late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century yachts built especially as America's Cup racers. This historical account of the Lipton and Herreshoff face-offs is a sterling read for professional, amateur, and armchair sailor.