An exact replica of the sailboat that won the first-ever America's Cup was tied up on Long Wharf for a few hours on Tuesday afternoon.

The boat, named America, is 138 feet long and was on display and open to the public for free tours as well as a paid two-hour sailing trip.

The tour and sail is part of a promotional tour that started from the boat's home in San Diego and will culminate in Bermuda for the next America's Cup race in June 2017.

The schooner will stop at yacht clubs and coastal communities along the East Coast and Gulf Coast to spread the word and drum up excitement for the next America's Cup.

The America was tied up in Mattapoisett just for the afternoon, because due to its size it had to be gone before the tide receded.

One visitor observed that it was probably the biggest boat Mattapoisett Harbor had seen since the last whaling ship.

The original America was built in 1851 to showcase “American naval architecture superiority” at the first World's Fair, according to Capt. Troy Sears.

At the time, Americans believed they were leading the world in naval architecture when it came to speed.

"(They) brought medical devices, musical instruments, agricultural tools and pistols (to the World's Fair), but the showcase item was America," Sears said.

After the original America made her debut at the World's Fair, the group that had commissioned the ship wanted to prove her worth by racing the local British fleet.

"And also they were gamblers," Sears joked.

Initially the British declined the wager, but they eventually agreed to race America in their final race of the season in August of 1951. They were racing for what was known as the 100 Pound Cup, as in the monetary value of the trophy. The trophy was mistakenly engraved as the 100 Guinea Cup, but both names were forgotten when the America won the race around the Isle of Wight--it was now known as America's Cup.

The boat was later sold to the British and then reacquired by America during the Civil War, during which it served for both the Confederate Navy and the Union Navy.

In 1942 the United States Navy put the America in a shed in Annapolis, Maryland for storage. World War II had just broken out but the old boat's bottom had rotted out, so it was retired. The boat was crushed after a snowstorm collapsed the roof that winter.

The replica was built in 1995 in Albany, New York for commercial events.