Thanks for your many kind comments and emails after we posted Q&A #1. We have received a dozen or so good questions, and are endeavoring to get them answered authoritatively and posted here ASAP. Here's #2:

Q: What literature about the America's Cup do you recommend? I am particularly interested in Cup people past and present. --Marc Zimmermann.

A: Marc, thanks for the tough question. Over the years there have been many books, good and not so, written about the Cup and some of the leading personalities. Here are some of my favorites that I know are on the bookshelves of many who are students of the Cup:

+ The Lawson History of the America's Cup: published in September 1896, it is widely considered the first authoritative book on the Cup albeit the author(s), it is iwdely acknowledged, had a bit of an axe to grind with respect to the New York YC.

+ Then there is Ranulf Rayner's book, The Story of the America's Cup 1851-2003 first published in 1996 and recently re-issued and updated through AC 31 (2003). More of a coffee table or even art book (paintings by Tim Thompson depict scenes from the Cups history), it covers in some detail many of the Cups personalities over the 150+ years.

+ Keelhauled by Doug Riggs was published in 1986 following the win in 1983 by Royal Perth YC that ended NYYC's 132-year reign -- the so-called "longest winning streak in sports." It's sub-title "History of Unsportsmanlike Conduct and the America's Cup" notwithstanding, Doug's book offers an interesting perspective into the personalities, strengths and foibles of many of the Cup's key players of both the 19th and 20th centuries.

+ Published in 1989, John Rousmaniere's A Picture History of the America's
Cup has some of the best early photos of the Cup and is a balanced overall presentation by one of the sport's great contemporary authors.

+ Not a book, but an excellent online article on the Cup's history from a more technical perspective is Halsey Herreshoff's History of America's Cup Racing.

However, it's such a good question I thought it wise to get another perspective -- and from a European who has read practically every AC book ever written, journalist and author Bob Fisher (GBR). He is nearly through writing his own, exhaustive book on the history of the Cup. From Fish we received this insightful email today after he had read our (draft) answer above:

"There are one or two points in the answer to Marc's question that need clarifying and correcting. The Lawson History was published in a limited edition of 3,000 at Boston in 1902. Thomas's axe was that he had refused to join the New York Yacht Club, and that club could not countenance a boat owned outside its membership to compete for the right to defend, so Lawson's Independence was refused entry to the trials that were held in 1901. Ironically, the shape of Independence appeared to have an influence on Nat Herreshoff when he designed Reliance in 1903. Whereas Boudoin Crowninshield didn't produce the right engineering to make the great scow-form work, Herreshoff did.

"Strangely, The Boston Globe in an editorial of August 6th 1983 took a similar view to that of its former local citizen, Lawson, when criticising the NYYC over its policy towards Ben Lexcen and the winged keel of Australia II. It concluded: 'What is disturbing is cry-baby poor sportsmanship. Any group with custody of an artifact called the America's Cup represents the nation. The New York Yacht Club should remember that grace under pressure, fair play and even a sense of humor is expected of alleged sportsmen. May the best boat win.'

"Many of the books written about the Cup are by, or co-authored by, those who have been intimately involved as competitors [or managers] and are thus not totally objective. For this reason, those to which I have referred most in my researches for my book that will be published on May 31st next year, are:

+ The America's Cup - an informal history - by Ian Dear.

+ America's Cup 1851-1983 by John Rousmaniere.

+ An America's Cup Treasury by Gary Jobson that highlights the pictures of Edwin Levick."

-- Bob Fisher

Marc, I hope that helps, and thanks for the question. Perhaps some of our readers will chime in with their reactions to the above list, and their own favorites and recommendations in the comment section below.