The 1887 "Deed of Gift"

George L. Schuyler

The Deed of Gift is the century-old document, prepared in 1887 by George L. Schuyler (at that time, the sole surviving owner of "America"), that sets forth the rules for the America's Cup races. It is only three pages long but establishes the fundamental rules of the America's Cup.

Straightforward conditions
The conditions outlined in the original Deed were straightforward. Any organised yacht club of any nation could issue a challenge but (giving the NYYC a slight advantage) the challenging vessel had to be between 30 and 300 tons; the match had to be sailed over the usual course set for the annual regatta of the club in possession of the Cup; and the challengers had to set the date, name the vessel and its dimensions and rig six months in advance.

In 1881 the original Deed of Gift was replaced by a more stringent one, which imposed additional limitations for the challengers. Yachts had to be constructed in the country which was to be represented, and all the vessels intending to compete for the Cup were to proceed under sail 'on their own bottoms' to the port at which the contest was to take place.

In 1887 a third Deed of Gift was drawn up, the principle feature being that to obtain a match the challenging club must give 10 months notice. The competing vessels were limited in their waterline measurements and no restrictions were placed on centreboards; the number of races a challenger might demand by right was named as three, all to be sailed over ocean courses with at least 22 feet of water depth.

Subject to interpretation
The Deed has, since the first race, been subject to many interpretation disputes between the holder and challengers and has in recent times been amended. Past Trustees have from time to time issued their interpretation of the terms of the Deed of Gift which are known as Trustee Interpretive Resolutions. However, structured to encourage the club holding the Cup to reach agreement with Challengers on how the race is to be organised and run, the Deed of Gift contains the following clause which is known as the Mutual Agreement Clause:

"The club challenging for the cup and the club holding the same may by mutual consent make any arrangement satisfactory to both as to the dates, courses, number of trials, rules and sailing regulations, and any and all other conditions of the match, in which case also the ten months' notice may be waived".
If no agreement is reached, which has happened only once this century in 1988, the Deed of Gift specifies precisely how the race is to be organised.