 Reliance (left) andShamrock III (right) before the race | |
Defender United States | |
|---|---|
| Defender club: | New York Yacht Club |
| Yacht: | Reliance |
Challenger United Kingdom | |
| Challenger club: | Royal Ulster Yacht Club |
| Yacht: | Shamrock III |
| Competition | |
| Location: | New York City |
| 40°40′N74°02′W / 40.667°N 74.033°W /40.667; -74.033 | |
| Dates: | 1903 |
| Rule: | Seawanhaka |
| Winner: | New York Yacht Club |
| Score: | 3–0 |
← 1901 1920 → | |
The 1903America's Cup was the 12th challenge for the Cup. It took place in the New York City harbor and consisted of a best of five series of races betweenReliance, the fourth ofNathaniel Herreshoff's defenders for the cup, entered by theNew York Yacht Club; andShamrock III, representing theRoyal Ulster Yacht Club and also the third ofSir Thomas Lipton's Cup challengers.Reliance won the first three races, defending the cup.[1] It was the last race for the America's Cup that would take place under theSeawanhaka rule.
Reliance was designed by Nathaniel Herreshoff, designer of all of the early 20th century America's Cup defenders. She was designed to take full advantage of the fact that the Seawanhaka rule did not take weight into account, leading to a very light and therefore, somewhat unstable yacht. At 144 feet (44 m) long and 199 feet (61 m) tall with 16,160 square feet (1,501 m2) of sail the yacht was the largestgaff-riggedcutter ever built.
Reliance won all three races, finishing far enough ahead thatShamrock III was forced to retire before finishing the third race.
The course for the race was laid out byLewis Blix.[2]