Briggs Swift Cunningham II (January 19, 1907 – July 2, 2003) was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht Columbia to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race and for his efforts as a driver, team owner, and constructor in sports car racing, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Cunningham was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, on January 19, 1907. The family was long-time residents of the Cincinnati area. Cunningham's grandfather had been involved in operating river boats and shipping, then had gone into the meatpacking business with son Briggs Swift Cunningham, Sr. The meatpacking business was eventually known as Evans, Lippencott & Cunningham. Cunningham, Sr., later became founder and president of the Citizen's National Bank, as well as director of the Pennsylvania Railroad, among several others. He was also the chief financier of soap company Procter and Gamble. William Cooper Procter would be Cunningham's godfather.
Cunningham, Sr., died when Briggs was five years old. The estate was structured such that the Cunningham heirs did not receive full control of it until age 40.
Cunningham's maternal uncle was Dr. Ashton Heyl, a former Rough Rider. Heyl had installed a Hispano-Suiza aircraft engine in a Dodge touring car. As a boy, Cunningham was a passenger during some impromptu street races in the car with Heyl.
Cunningham's early schooling took place at Groton and the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. His university days were spent at Yale. He was also a brakeman on the Olympic bobsled team.
On October 2, 1929, Cunningham married Lucie Bedford, the granddaughter of E.T. Bedford, a co-founder and director of Standard Oil. The couple spent an extended honeymoon in Europe, where Cunningham won a concours with a Mercedes Benz SS delivered to him personally by Rudolph Caracciola. Also during this trip, he attended his first major automobile race, the 1930 Monaco Grand Prix. When the couple returned to the US, they settled on Long Island.
During World War II (WWII), Cunningham tried to enlist in the US Navy, but was deemed ineligible due to a combination of age and a pre-existing condition. He instead joined the Civil Air Patrol, flying submarine patrols off the East Coast, first in a Fairchild and later a Sikorski S39B amphibious airplane, both paid for by himself.
By building and sailing his own ships, and building and racing his own cars, he epitomized the definition of the American sportsman.
Owing to his mother's concerns about the dangers of automobile racing, Cunningham did not pursue a driving career until after her death, but did race sail boats competitively.
At 17, Cunningham joined the Pequot Yacht Club and began to race Star Class boats. He said that his wife was who taught him to sail.
Cunningham partnered with his father-in-law Frederick T. Bedford to purchase the 8-meter Loke in 1928.
In 1929, Cunningham bought the 6-meter Akaba, and renamed her Lucie — the first of two of his boats with that name. In 1930, Cunningham commissioned Clinton H. Crane to design a new 6-meter boat, also to be named Lucie. She was built at the Henry B. Nevins Boatyard in New York in 1931. He spent part of his honeymoon sailing the new Lucie. Cunningham won six world titles in 6-meter yachts.
F.T. Bedford commissioned the 12-meter Nyala as a gift for Cunningham and his daughter Lucie when they married.
In 1931, Cunningham was a crew member aboard the Dorade when she won the race around the Fastnet Rock.
In 1937, he was a member of the crew for Harold Stirling Vanderbilt on his yacht Vim.
Cunningham bought the schooner Brilliant from the Coast Guard after WW II, and modified her in an attempt to increase her speed. In 1953, he donated the Brilliant to the Mystic Seaport to be used as an off-shore classroom.
Brilliant was the first vessel to receive a Cunningham downhaul, an improved downhaul invented by Cunningham that has come to bear his name.
Cunningham was part of the syndicate that commissioned construction of the 12-meter sloop Columbia to contest the first postwar America's Cup race in 1958. The original choice to skipper Columbia in the America's Cup was Cornelius "Corny" Shields, but when he was sidelined by heart trouble, Cunningham stepped in and led the boat and crew to victory.