I don't have much recollection of this kit. I vaguely remember buying one and starting to build it, but I don't recall finishing it. I remember it as a reasonably accurate, reasonably well-detailed kit. I think it was simplified "for beginning modelers," but the America was by nature a relatively simple subject in terms of hull, deck, and rigging.
The bible on Revell kits, Thomas Graham's Remembering Revell Model Kits, says the kit was originally released in 1969, and describes it as being on 1/56 scale. The book gives the following data: "Black, tan plastic. Paper flag sheet. Rigging thread. Flexible, tough paper sails that allowed the model to be sailed on ponds. 'Simplified' series. Two-feet long. Reissued as H-372 Blockader (1974)."
When I was working at the Mariners' Museum I did a little research on the America (not much) in conjunction with an exhibition about the history of the America's Cup. We had some fragments of the ship, including a big skylight. (The hinges on it were missing. I remember driving all over Tidewater Virginia looking for acceptable replacements - and eventually giving up and having a machine shop make a set, at hideous expense.) I do recall that there are quite a few sets of plans of the America that disagree with each other in minor ways. The museum had a couple of original drawings of her by Donald McKay, who had her in his Boston yard for repairs sometime after the famous race. We also had a half model of her; on its backboard was a silver plate inscribed to indicate that the model had been made by the ship's designer, George Steers, for presentation to Queen Victoria.
I know of no reason why this kit couldn't be made into a nice model. From the photos in this thread I gather at least a couple of Forum members have done it, or are well on the way.
It does strike me that Revell's little plastic stand doesn't do the beautiful lines of the America justice. She really deserves a pair of nice pedestals, or some other decorative base that would bring her waterline horizontal. Unfortunately it's sometimes difficult to make such a mounting system for a plastic hull - unless you've planned for it well in advance.
Youth, talent, hard work, and enthusiasm are no match for old age and treachery.