Rare copy of the first edition by François Chevalier & Jacques Taglang, published in 1987, in very good conditions. In-folio oblong shape, unbound booklet with a wooden slipcase produced in 2024; 692 pp. with endpapers illustrated in grey; beautifully illustrated with hundreds of plans and drawings in black in the text and one colour drawing by Marc P.G. Berthier. The first 10 pages are slightly damaged at the upper right corner.
2574 copies of this book have been printed and signed by the authors, numbered from 0001 to 2574; 100 copies bound in leather numbered from I to C and also signed by the authors; 26 copies, indexed A to Z have been reserved for the author-publishers and their contributors. This copy is marked as “HC” and provided to us for sale directly from Jacques Taglang.
Translated into English by Roger T. Wakelam.
Designed by François Mutterer.
Rereadings & Corrections by Hervé Hillard.
Languages: English and French
From the foreword by Ben Lexcen: As a student of the America’s Cup and its history, I am grateful to François Chevalier and Jacques Taglang for faithfully collecting the designs of all the challengers and defenders. I know the idiosyncrasies of designers an their paranoia for secrecy, so it must have been with great charm that they managed to convince contemporary designers to release their plans and working drawings. The Cup has continued for 135 years and for four of those years they have toiled to complete this wonderful publication. Mr. Chevalier’s masterstroke of re-drawing the plans so that the yachts are presented in the same format is brilliant. Now, it is simple to followed the history of this great contest and to study the changes which emerged as different Rules prevailed. The concept of every beautiful yacht can be carefully and thoroughly evaluated.
This beautiful book is destined to be a collectors item as well as an invaluable reference source. It is an honour to be asked to make such a small contribution to its success.
