The defending team--for 132 years the New York Yacht Club--traditionally ran the final two-boat Cup race, while the challengers ran the elimination races leading up to it.

FORBES: Sailing For the Gold

Thursday's incident marks the second time a boat has capsized during practice for the 2013 race while attempting a bear-away.

WSJ: America's Cup Team Feared Capsizing

The harrowing, around-the-world Volvo Ocean Race is about halfway done and one boat celebrating a new lead over the fleet is getting some bad news: this might be your last race.

FORBES: Groupama Cutbacks Bad News For Race Yachties

Winds in the 1911 race were clocked at 82mph and wrecked a well-known boat, the Vencedor, near Charlevoix, Michigan.

FORBES: Windy City Sailing

Winds in the 1911 race were clocked at 82mph and wrecked a well-known boat, the Vencedor, near Charlevoix, Mich.

FORBES: Windy City Sailing

With no agreement on what type of boat to race, the Deed of Gift governing the Cup defaults to 90-foot boats of unlimited beam, or width.

FORBES: Ellison Bets On Pure Speed For Next America's Cup

The Boat Race is unique because it takes place over a course that not only twists and turns - unlike the 2, 000m Olympic course - but does so on tidal water, where the pace of the stream varies, and conditions are never the same from one day to the next.

BBC: SPORT | Other Sport | Boat Race 2003 | Little things count