History
For the first 21 defenses, America's Cup racing was rather simple: A challenger against a defender.
But in 1970, things got a bit more complicated. After losing in 1967, Australia entered another challenge. Shortly afterward, Baron Marcel Bich of France announced that he also wanted to challenge for the cup.
The New York Yacht Club (NYYC), which then controlled the cup and the races, told the baron that he would have to wait until 1973. Baron Bich responded, "Nobody is immortal. Who can say what he will do in six years? It's today I want to challenge. You just need to organise a challenger selection series!"
The NYYC eventually decided to take his suggestion, and the first challenger selection series was held prior to the 1970 America's Cup races. Bich's France I lost to Gretel II.
The challenge scheduled for 1973 was postponed to 1974, when Bich once again challenged with France I. Again, she lost the challenger series to an Australian entry, Southern Cross.
In 1977, Bich challenged for the third time, with France I. Australia had two would-be challengers, Australia and Gretel II, while Sweden crowded into the picture with Sveridge.
Bich made his final challenge in 1980. This time, his vessel was France III. (France II had been built in 1977, but had turned out to be slower than France I.) She beat the British entry, Lionheart, in the first round but lost to Australia, 4 races to 1, in the challenger final.
There were seven challengers from five countries in 1983, when Louis Vuitton, the luggage and fashion design company, stepped in to offer a trophy, the Louis Vuitton Cup, to the winner of the challenger selection series.
The cup has been offered in every America's Cup year since then, except for 1988, when there was only one challenger.
There's preliminary match and fleet racing, but the selection series itself takes place in the same year as the America's Cup races. In the first round, all would-be challengers compete against one another in round-robin racing. The top four finishers advance to the semi-finals, and the two winners in that round race in the final round to determine the challenger.
The semi-finals and the final are both best-of-five series.
