Sideline Sid Sports correspondent & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Images of America's Cup catamarans high-tailing round the Bahamas extremely picturesque course, got Sideline Sid thinking about the origins of the oldest sporting trophy in international sport. 

We were lucky enough to spend nearly a week in San Francisco during the 2013 America's Cup series and got to see the early Challenger action between Luna Rosa and Artemis.

The sheer speed of the big Cats in San Francisco, took your breath away.

One minute they were right in front of you under the Golden Gate Bridge and the next minute they were gone in a flash heading for Alcatraz. 

A couple of decades ago, it would have been off to the local library to dust off the history books to gleam information about the history of the America's Cup.

While today the Cup history is a fingertip away courtesy of Mr Google. 

The official America's Cup website tells you all you need to know about the Cups history and keeps you up to date with the 2017 series.

The America's Cup dates back to 1851, when a syndicate of New York businessmen sailed the schooner America to represent the United States at the World's Fair in England.

The schooner won a race around the Isle of Wight to win a trophy called the 100 Guinea Cup. 

The yacht America beat the best of the British fleet to win the sterling silver trophy that would become the America's Cup, named after the yacht -  not the country. 

Shortly after United States won the 100 Guinea trophy in 1851, the America ownership syndicate donated the silverware to the New York Yacht Club under a Deed of Gift, which stated that the trophy was to be a "perpetual challenge cup for friendly competition between nations".

While the Deed of Gift still governs the America's Cup today, the friendly part has long gone, with lawyers taking center stage on many occasions as the Cup titles and defenses have been decided in court. 

World War Two ended the old J Class and when America's Cup racing returned in 1958, it heralded the era of the 12 metre yachts. 

The America's Cup remained in the United States grip for 132 years, before Alan Bond and Australia II, took it back to Australia in 1983. It was the Challenger series in Freemantle during 1987, that New Zealand first got involved in the America's Cup. 

When Dennis Connor took "The Auld Mug" back to the USA from Freemantle, the Kiwi syndicate successfully exploited a loophole in the Deed of Gift, to demand a challenge in 1988.

The much talked about battle, between a giant 90 foot kiwi boat and Dennis Connor, turned into a miss-match when Connor chose to defend the yachting prize in a much smaller catamaran. 

From there Peter Blake went on to win the America's Cup 1995, defend it in 1999/2000 in Auckland, before waving goodbye to the world's oldest sporting trophy in 2003. 

We all know what happened in San Francisco in 2013, when Team USA incredulously  came back from 8-1, down to snatch the America's Cup 9-8.  

To a diehard kiwi sports fan such as Sideline Sid, the 2013 America's Cup loss when we had one hand on the trophy, stills hurts today - with only ultimate victory in the Bahamas easing the pain from four years ago.