JclassShamrockv

At this moment - 10:00hrs August 22nd 2026 - exactly 175 years have passed since the starting gun fired on the race that would give birth to the America’s Cup.

On 22 August 1851, the Royal Yacht Squadron’s £100 Cup began off Cowes. At precisely 10:00am, a cannon from the Royal Yacht Squadron signalled the start. The competing yachts, lying at anchor rather than manoeuvring across a modern start line, set sail on the gun before heading east down the Solent and racing clockwise around the Isle of Wight.

The schooner America was actually the slowest away, having fouled her anchor, before beginning the remarkable pursuit that would end with her crossing the finish at 8:37pm “railway time” and lending her name to what became the oldest international sporting trophy in the world.

J Class Shamrock V would not enter that story until 1930, when Sir Thomas Lipton launched his fifth and final challenge for the Cup. Today, 96 years later, she survives as the oldest America’s Cup yacht still in existence - an extraordinary living link to the history of the world’s most famous sailing competition.

1851 • 1930 • 2026

The archives remind us of the challenging and, at times perilous, lives endured by the three surviving original J Class yachts - Endeavour, Velsheda & Shamrock V.

This extraordinary photograph shows Velsheda hard and fast on the beach outside the port of Douglas, Isle of Man, in September 1989. She had apparently broken her moorings during a gale and been driven ashore. At low tide, her crew simply slid down the side deck, stepped onto the beach and walked into town to seek help.

It speaks volumes about the extraordinary strength of Velsheda’s original hull that, several high tides later, she was hauled off the beach with remarkably little damage, except for the loss of her rudder.

Coastguard Andrew Cunningham remembers the night:

“I remember being called to that job as part of Douglas Coastguard. The day before we had sailed around her on a lovely, calm, sunny Sunday afternoon, so when we were called in the early hours of Monday it was quite a thing to be down on the beach with her lying on her side in the dark, with a gale of wind blowing.”

Velsheda was eventually pulled from the beach by Captain Stephen Carter of Laxey Towing Company.

From lying abandoned in the Hamble mud, to being cast ashore on the Isle of Man, to becoming one of the most magnificent and competitive classic racing yachts in the world today, Velsheda has survived it all.

📸 Credits unknown - sailing images Philippe Plisson and Kos Evans Artist

Some of the crew of J Class Shamrock V relaxing at anchor, listening to a gramophone, before her passage to the United States and The Match 1930

📸 @ GettyImages

The J Class raced many a Cowes Week during the 1930s with JK3 Shamrock V being the first J Class to compete and winning the King’s Cup on her first attempt in August 1931.

“Lipton had won the King’s Cup once before, in 1908. This year he won it as a member of the most exclusive club in the world, the Royal Yacht Squadron.” TIME Magazine 17th August 1931

Congratulations to Cowes Week 200 on its Bicentenary. The oldest regatta in the world.

📸 Getty Images

Costs of both challenging and defending the America’s Cup have long been a bone of contention - for 170 years. This extract from the authoritative “The Yachting Monthly”, the bible of the 1930 period, gives us great insight into values and perceptions of that time.

What would be the costs of these sails today - and how does that relate to these 1930 costs adjusted for inflation?

After a multi-year restoration, J Class Shamrock V returns to the water in A1 condition - arguably the finest she has been in her 96-year history.

Built in 1930 as Sir Thomas Lipton’s fifth and final challenger for the America’s Cup, she is now the oldest America’s Cup yacht in existence, whether afloat or ashore.

Every plank, frame and fitting has been painstakingly restored, preserving her remarkable heritage while preparing her for a new chapter on the racecourse.

Commissioning is complete. The Queen of the J Class is ready once again.

Next stop: the road to Naples and the 2027 America’s Cup.