The Clifford Day Mallory Cup, or Mallory Cup for short, is the competition for the United States Adult Sailing Championship.[1]
In a sport with hundreds of different classes of boats and a national champion for each, the point of the Mallory Cup is to determine an overall champion for the sport of sailing in the United States. Run by US Sailing (as opposed to any given class), eliminations are held throughout the country, and the finals are raced in a different type of boat each year to eliminate any advantage a sailor from any particular class might otherwise have. Competitors sail boats that are provided by the host club, and teams are required to race each boat at the event once so that nobody will have an advantage in terms of equipment.
As with national championships in other sports, the top three finishers receive gold, silver, and bronze medals. The winner holds the Clifford Day Mallory Cup until the following year's champion is crowned. A piece of history itself, the Mallory Cup was originally given by the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire to the family of Lord Nelson in appreciation of his command over the English fleet that defeated Napoleon in the Battle of the Nile.[1]