It took place in Newport and consisted of a series of races between the defender Ranger, entered Harold S. Vanderbilt, and Endeavour II, the second in Sir Thomas Sopwith's line of Cup challengers.

In 1935, Sir Richard Fairey issued a challenge to the New York Yacht Club for the America's Cup.

[1] The NYYC accepted this challenge, but since 1936 was an American presidential election year, they opted to hold the races in 1937.

[1] However, the poor state of the American economy meant that he could not attract backers, and eventually funded the entire defense himself, investing $400,000[1] (around $8.5 million in 2022 dollars).

His yacht, Ranger was designed by Olin Stephens and Stanley Burgess and built at the Bath Iron Works.