POINT OF FACT
? Where is the America's Cup now kept?
•The silver jug, valued at 100 guineas ($510) in 1851, when the race began is kept in a special trophy room of the New York Yacht Club's headquarters in Manhattan. (To discourage thieves and pranksters, the trophy is bolted fast to an oak table and rests under a heavy glass case.)
? Is there a limit to the number of crew members that a 12-meter boat is allowed in an America's Cup race?
•Yes—11. The rules permit the use of professional hands.
? Have challenge races always been held off Newport, R.I.?
•No. From 1870 to 1920, 13 races were held either off Sandy Hook, N.J. or took place in New York Bay.
? How does the 1964 course differ from the other courses used since 1893?
•For the first time in cup history the 12-meter boats will not alternate windward-leeward and triangle courses but will undertake the more exacting Olympic course—six legs covering 24.3 miles, which combine the triangular and windward-leeward courses.
? Have women ever crewed in the cup races?
•Yes, three of them. In 1920 the wife of William Burton, skipper of the Shamrock IV, kept time for him when he was at the helm. Mrs. T.O.M. Sopwith sailed in the afterguard of her husband's Endeavour in 1934 and Endeavour II in 1937. And Mrs. Harold S. Vanderbilt accompanied her husband aboard Ranger in 1937. Other women have been aboard competing boats, but primarily as privileged passengers.
? Who is considered the outstanding professional captain in the history of the races?
•Captain Charley Barr, who successfully defended the cup three times against Sir Thomas Lipton's challenges with the Shamrocks.
? In last month's trials between the British 12-meter yachts Kurrewa V and Sovereign, what unusual mishap caused Sovereign to lose her first race in four starts?
•With Sovereign enjoying a 40-second advantage, crew member Paul Anderson slipped overboard, requiring the yacht to put about and rescue him.