Home

The Cup is Smashed!

In March 1997, a Maori activist went into the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron building, to a room where the America's Cup was kept in a special glass case for people to see. He took a sledgehammer out of his bag, and smashed the case, and badly damaged the cup before he could be stopped.

The company that first made the trophy 150 years before, the royal jeweler and silversmith Garrard, offered to repair the cup free of charge.

Their managing director brought the "Auld Mug" back to Auckland in July 1997, and handed it back to the yacht squadron. They then put it in a special glass case that is too strong to break.

Return to History of the Cup

Back to Top