For over one hundred and fifty years, the America's Cup has been the premier prize as yachtsmen have been pitted against sailors from around the world in an effort to win this prestigious race. The race takes its name from the champion schooner America, which was created due in large part to the efforts of New York Yacht Club founder John Cox Stevens. Author Richard V. Simpson sheds new light on long-forgotten stories of the early quests for the coveted Cup. Among the notable yachtsmen profiled are Sir Thomas Johnstone Lipton, who earned a special award for being the race's best loser, and Ted Hood, who owned a sail-making company that developed the Dacron cloth from which the twelve-meter sails were cut. This history comes to life with exciting descriptions of the yachts, the races and the colorful personalities of those who longed to capture the greatest prize in yacht racing.
Beginning in 1985, he acted as a contributing editor for the national monthly Antiques & Collecting Magazine, in which eighty-five of his articles have appeared. Bristol's famous Independence Day celebration and parade was the subject of Richard's first venture in writing a major history narrative. His 1989 Independence Day: How the Day Is Celebrated in Bristol, Rhode Island is the singular authoritative book on the subject; his many anecdotal Fourth of July articles have appeared in the local Bristol Phoenix and the Providence Journal. His history of Bristol's Independence Day celebration is the source of a story in the July 1989 Yankee Magazine and July 4, 2010 issue of Parade Magazine.