The Challenge; “The young should be put in charge of dipping lug cutters, winter and summer, and learn how to take them across the 20 or so miles of open bay or firth.” Kurt Hahn (1886-1974)
The Challenge was born on the west side of the Atlantic. At a North Carolina small craft conference the idea of an international contest between traditional one-class craft arose.
Founder Lance Lee was strongly influenced by the ideas of the educator Kurt Hahn who had referred to the sea as ‘my sternest schoolmaster’. 
Elegant 38ft admiral’s gigs were chosen for their grace, speed and simplicity. Two boats, Liberté and Egalité, were built at the traditional wooden boat apprentice shop at Rockport, Maine. Egalité was presented to France for the first contest.
The First Challenge
This first contest took place in 1986 in New York harbour between the United States and France on the occasion of the refurbishment of the Statue of Liberty. Subsequent contests have taken place every two years between member nations on the two sides of the Atlantic. Today there are twelve members of Atlantic Challenge that take part in the biennial Contest of Seamanship:- Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Great Britain & Northern Ireland, Holland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Russia, and United States.