This week we received a very exciting donation from Oracle TeamUSA! It includes a J-foil daggerboard, T-foil rudder, replacement bow sections, and crew gear from winning AC27. Getting the crate open to unveil the pieces was quite a task and took over two hours, but was well worth it.

For those who aren’t familiar with America’s Cup, it dates back to 1851 and the schooner America, who beat the British in a race around Isle of Wight and gave its name to the race. More history on the America’s Cup can be found on the official website. Last year’s race was quite a nail biter and a huge victory for the Americans. The final races were between Oracle Team USA, the defenders of the cup, and challenger Emirates Team New Zealand.

The two battled it out in 19 races with things looking up for New Zealand who, at the end of race 11, was well in the lead with 8 points to USA’s 3. This meant that all New Zealand needed was one more point to win the cup. In a very surprising and heart-racing turn, USA won the next race, and the next, and the next, and the next. USA managed to take it all the way home and won the final 8 races, allowing them to hold onto the cup! This race was a truly amazing thing to watch and it definitely stirred up patriotism at the museum. We are all greatly looking forward to the next one!

USA! USA! USA!