As we countdown to the 35th America’s Cup The Royal Gazette will bring you one fun fact a day about the boats, the sailors, the crew, or the history of this illustrious competition. There are now 49 days until the month-long sporting spectacle gets under way.

In 1848 the America’s Cup, affectionately known as the Auld Mug, was crafted by Garrard & Co. An ornate sterling silver bottomless ewer, it was bought and donated by Henry William Paget, the 1st Marquess of Anglesey.

The oldest international sporting trophy, the Cup was originally known as the “R.Y.S. £100 Cup”, standing for a cup of a £100 or “sovereigns” in value. The Cup was subsequently mistakenly engraved[8] as the “100 Guinea Cup” by the America syndicate, but was also referred to as the “Queen’s Cup”.

The ewer was originally awarded in 1851 by the Royal Yacht Squadron for a race around the Isle of Wight in England, which was won by the schooner America.

After winning the trophy, the United States embarked on what would become the longest winning streak in the history of sport, a 132-year stretch of domination that saw boats representing the country successfully defend the trophy 24 times from 1870 through 1980—until 1983, when Australia II became the first successful challenger to lift the trophy.

Throughout its history, the America’s Cup has bedazzled a worldwide roster of business and industry tycoons such as Oracle’s Larry Ellison, brewing and real estate mogul Alan Bond, tea merchant Sir Thomas Lipton, aviation pioneer Sir T.O.M. Sopwith, the Aga Khan, media mogul Ted Turner, and Harold S. Vanderbilt, an American railroad executive who won the America’s Cup three times and also helped author the original racing rules of sailing.

Today, the trophy is officially known as the “America’s Cup” after the 1851 winning yacht, and is affectionately called the “Auld Mug” by the sailing community. It is inscribed with names of the yachts that competed for it, and has been modified twice by adding matching bases to accommodate more names.