Don White wrote:
The Americas Cup grew to be considered a 'sissy race' by 1919. As a matter
of fact, when the race was called because of a 'twenty-three mile an hour
gale', real fishermen/racers started competing for the Fisherman's trophy.
see http://www.histori.ca/minutes/minute.do?ID=10213



That's funny, considered a sissy race by those who couldn't win it? The
fact is that advances in technology made sloops faster than schooners by
the middle 1890s.

But the schooner rig remained the dominant rig for working vessels. We
forget that sailboats were the 18-wheel trucks of the pre WW1 economy.
Literally hundreds of them crowded every waterfront of every sizeable
town in the U.S. and Canada. No wonder that the schooner races were a
matter of big interest... and no wonder that schooners came to be looked
down on as "blue collar" type boats by the super wealthy who could
afford to play in the America's Cup.

There were a number of fast American schooners, mostly from New
England.... mostly from Gloucester Mass in fact... a few of which may
have been as fast... but none of them managed to put together a racing
crew capable of beating the Bluenose. Her captain (Angus Mc-something
IIRC) was a master racing skipper, an unusual skill among blue-collar
cargo & fishing sailormen.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King