The Citizen Cup is a trophy which was awarded to the winner of a regatta held in 1992 and again in 1995 to decide on a defender of the America's Cup.
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The formal America's Cup races are always between two yachts from different countries. This means that any syndicate from the country of the defending yacht club would not be participating in the challenger series. The yacht club defending the America's Cup staged a series of races to select the yacht to defend and race against the challenger for the America's Cup. For many years a defender series had been a part of the defender selection process and in 1992 Citizen Watch offered the Citizen Cup to be awarded to the winner of the defender selection series. In parallel the challengers competed for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the winner went on to challenge for the America's Cup.
The 1995 Citizen Cup regatta was won by Stars & Stripes, however, the defending San Diego Yacht Club opted to race the second-place boat Young America, sailed by the winning Stars & Stripes crew, in the succeeding America's Cup races as it was thought that this would give them the best chance of beating Black Magic of New Zealand.
The Citizen Cup was discontinued after the 1995 regatta. Beginning with the 2000 America's Cup the defending yacht club has opted not to hold a defense selection regatta because the countries that have won the America's Cup, New Zealand and Switzerland, have not had the resources to field multiple teams.
Its is unclear yet if the 2010 America's Cup winner, the Golden Gate Yacht Club in San Francisco, will hold a defender's cup, or simply retain the winning BMW Oracle Racing team.
| Regatta | Sail | Yacht | Club | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 Citizen Cup | USA-34 | Stars & Stripes | San Diego Yacht Club | San Diego, United States |
| 1992 Citizen Cup | USA-23 | America³ | San Diego Yacht Club | San Diego, United States |
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