Top 10 local sports stories

If a local television station in Lincoln, Nebraska or Chattanooga, Tennessee decided to produce a list of the top 10 local sports stories of the past 60 years, a sailing event might be hard pressed to be included. But if you are in Providence, RI, then it should be… and was when WJAR-TV’s compiled such a list for their 60th anniversary celebration, and amongst the notable events was the 1983 America’s Cup:

For 132 years, the New York Yacht Club hold on the America’s Cup was unmatched. Every 3 years, challengers would line up to get beat by the NYYC’s Defender. But in 1983 that all changed. Australia 2, with its radical keel design beat Dennis Connor and Liberty to wrestle the cup away. The 7th and deciding race aired live on NBC 10. The first time ever a sailing race had aired on live television.