The 90-foot schooner Magic (R.F. Loper) led a fleet of 14 sailboats from the NYYC in a single 35-mile race off New York, defeating Great Britain’s Cambria, which was owned by James Ashbury.

The 108-foot Cambria, designed and built by Michael Ratsey of Cowes, finished 10th overall, beaten also by the namesake of the America’s Cup.

The schooner Columbia, designed and built by J.B. Van Deusen, and a second schooner, Sappho, from the board of C. & R. Poillon, easily defeated a second challenge from James Ashbury and Michael Ratsey’s schooner Livonia.

Columbia won the first two races, but lost the third after losing a jib stay and her steering gear. As was the custom at the time, Sappho was allowed to sail in the next two races of the seven-race series, winning them both.

Alexander Cuthbert’s 106-foot Countess of Dufferin of Ontario, Canada, mounted the third challenge. This was last time schooners raced for the America’s Cup.

Defender Madeleine—owned by John S. Dickerson, designed by J. Voorhis, and skippered by J. Williams—was unbeatable in the two-race series, as she had been for the previous three years.

The 68-foot cutter Mischief, owned by NYYC member Joseph Busk of England and designed by A. Carey Smith, quickly dispatched, 2-0, a second challenge from Canadian Alexander Cuthbert, who sailed Atalanta.

Mischief was originally a trial horse for the David Kirby-designed Pocahontas, but sailed so well during the trials, she was selected to defend the Cup.

Puritan, a 94-foot cutter designed by Ed Burgess, defeated Genesta, designed by J. Beavor Webb and owned by Sir Richard Sutton.

It was the closest match yet, with Genesta winning the first race after her mainsail was punctured by Puritan’s lengthy bowsprit. However, Sutton, a noted sportsman, asked that the race be dismissed, not wanting to claim such an easy victory.

Puritan, owned by a Boston-based syndicate headed by General Charles Paine, then won the next two races, but the second one was the closest race to date: a mere 1 minute, 30 seconds separated the two sailboats.

Designer Edward Burgess claimed his second victory over J. Beavor Webb, his British counterpart, when the 100-foot Mayflower sent the lavishly appointed cutter Galatea back to England after two races.

The Mayflower, and others like her, was characterized as a "skimming dish"" for her broad beam and shallow draft.

The George L. Watson-designed Thistle set several America’s Cup precedents with an innovative design and a hull kept hidden behind a tarpaulin. The 108-foot sloop was thought to be Britain’s best chance yet for recapturing the America’s Cup.

But the precedent that counted most—winning—was also maintained, as the Edward Burgess-designed Volunteer came from behind to take the first race, and led from start to finish in the second race of the three-race series. The Cup was saved again.