America (yacht)

America was a 19th-century racing yacht and first winner of the America's Cup international sailing trophy. The Royal Yacht Squadron's "One Hundred Sovereign Cup" or "£100 Cup," mistakenly known in America as the "One Hundred Guinea Cup," the trophy was later renamed after the original winning yacht. On August 22, 1851, America won the Royal Yacht Squadron's 53-mile (85 km) regatta around the Isle of Wight by eighteen minutes.

America origins

A syndicate of New York Yacht Club members, headed by NYYC charter member Commodore John Cox Stevens, with members Edwin A. Stevens, George Schuyler, Hamilton Wilkes, and J. Beekman Finley, would build a yacht to sail to England. The purpose of this visit was twofold: to show off U.S. shipbuilding skill and make money through competing in yachting regattas. Stevens employed the services of the shipyard of William Brown and his chief designer, George Steers.

Designer

America was designed by James Rich Steers and George Steers (1820–1856) (See George Steers and Co). Traditional "cod-head-and-mackerel-tail" design gave boats a blunt bow and a sharp stern with the widest point (the beam) placed one-third of the length aft of the bow. George Steers' pilot boat designs, however, had a concave clipper-bow with the beam of the vessel at midships. As a result, his schooner-rigged pilot boats were among the fastest and most seaworthy of their day. They had to be seaworthy, for they had to meet inbound and outbound vessels in any kind of weather. These vessels also had to be fast, for harbor pilots competed with each other for business. In addition to pilot boats, Steers designed and built 17 yachts, some which were favourites with the New York Yacht Club.

America³ (1992 yacht)

America³ was an International America's Cup Class yacht that successfully defended the 1992 America's Cup from Il Moro di Venezia. It was launched in 1992.

References

America³

America³ (pronounced "America Cubed") is the name of both a syndicate that vied for the America's Cup in 1992 and 1995 and its boats.

1992 Cup victory

The program was operated by Bill Koch and Harry "Buddy" Melges in the 1992 America's Cup. After winning the Defender Series, America³ defeated the Italian challenger Il Moro di Venezia to successfully defend the Cup.

The yacht was built by Goetz Custom Sailboats Inc. in Rhode Island and the carbon fiber mast package was built by the Offshore Spars Co. in Michigan.

1995 Cup defense

In 1995, Bill Koch revamped the program to begin the first all-female, America's Cup boat. America³'s successor, Mighty Mary, was on her way to the 1995 America's Cup, in the lead of the last race of the Defender Series over Stars & Stripes. But with a commanding lead of nearly 5 minutes, Dave Dellenbaugh (the only man on the otherwise all-female crew) committed a crucial tactical error and Stars & Stripes skipper Dennis Conner made a series of moves to beat Mighty Mary to the finish line by scant seconds. After winning the Defender Series, Conner opted to use the third syndicate that year, Young America, to defend the cup, losing to Team New Zealand, 5-0.

America (band)

America is a rock band, formed in England in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Dewey Bunnell, Dan Peek, and Gerry Beckley. The trio first met as sons of U.S. Air Force personnel stationed in London, where they began performing live.

America achieved significant popularity in the 1970s, and was famous for the trio's close vocal harmonies and light acoustic folk sound. This popularity was confirmed by a string of hit albums and singles, many of which found airplay on pop/soft rock stations.

The band came together shortly after the members' graduation from high school, and a record deal with Warner Bros. Records followed. Their debut, a 1971 self-titled album, produced the transatlantic hits "A Horse with No Name" and "I Need You"; Homecoming (1972) produced the single "Ventura Highway"; and Hat Trick (1973), a modest success on the charts which fared poorly in sales, produced one minor hit song. 1974's Holiday featured the hits "Tin Man" and "Lonely People"; and 1975's Hearts generated the number one single "Sister Golden Hair" alongside "Daisy Jane". History: America's Greatest Hits, a compilation of hit singles, was released the same year and was certified multi-platinum in the United States and Australia. Peek left the group in 1977 and their commercial fortunes declined, despite a brief return to the top in 1982 with the single "You Can Do Magic".

America (Dan Deacon album)

America is a studio album by American electronic musician Dan Deacon, released August 27, 2012 on Domino Records. The album cover is a photo of Lake Placid.

Recording

Production

America was recorded using both electronic sounds and live recordings. An anechoic chamber was built in Baltimore to record the orchestral track "Rail." The reason Deacon decided to incorporate live instruments onto the album was that Deacon felt that electronic beats were limited by its lack of flaws and that he wanted the "slight imperfection in timing" human musicians have. Because he wanted the album to sound "more like a rock record" than an electronic one, Deacon enlisted King Crimson engineer Simon Heyworth to master the album.

Themes

In an interview with NPR, Deacon said that the album was inspired by the politics and geography of the United States, saying:

Deacon described the album as "political," saying that the lyrics were "[..] inspired by my frustration, fear and anger towards the country and world I live in and am a part of." However, Deacon also said that he did not want the political nature to be overt, arguing that people do not respond to overt political messages.