Time for the Twelves

Her 90-ft. aluminum mast unstepped, her Honduras mahogany hull swathed in protective padding, Australia's sleek, 12-meter challenger for the America's Cup was ready last week for her voyage to the U.S.--as deck cargo aboard the freighter City of Sydney. For two months, Gretel (pronounced Great-ul) had been testing herself against her American trial horse, Vim, and stories about her speed were flying like loose sheets in a gale. Though the Aussies carefully tut-tutted the report, one story had it that Gretel had beaten Vim by 16 minutes over a 16-mile course--a fantastic margin. "We don't know what to believe," says veteran U.S. Yachtsman Cornelius Shields, adviser to the Columbia crew that easily defeated Britain's Sceptre to win the cup in 1958. "But we do know one thing though--this boat is no Sceptre. We're very concerned about our competition this year." Tax-Free Devices. After a 111-year monopoly on the America's Cup, U.S.

sailors can tell a good boat when they see one. Gretel looks good. By the time Designer Alan Newbury Payne finishes tinkering with her fittings, the tab will approach $700,000. A good bit of the money was spent on tank tests and endless experiments to find a new formula for speed.

Gretel's rudder is deliberately placed far forward to cut down the boat's "wetted surface." Her floor boards are hollowed out to reduce weight, and some of the metal parts have been drilled full of holes.

Her mainsail is controlled by a single cable attached to a three-speed gearbox.

Her "shear," or deck profile, is "hogged" (i.e., slightly humped) so that her sails can be set higher to take advantage of the steadier breezes that blow well above the water's surface. "A kind of tax-free device, you might call it," says Sir Frank Packer, head of the three-man syndicate that built Gretel. Though U.S. yachtsmen have reservations about Gretel's design--some thought her "long-ended," said her fore-and-aft overhang might make her hobbyhorse in a brisk breeze--they conceded that the trim Australian boat might well be the toughest challenger yet.

Says Shields: "She is a very well-built boat, and a lot of clever, original thinking has gone into her design." Whatever U.S. boat defends against Gretel off Newport, R.I., this September will have to earn the right. Columbia, skippered by Corny's son "Glit," has been in drydock all winter getting a shorter, sharper keel, a new mast, new sails, and new "coffee grinder" winches. Says the senior Shields: "People ask, 'Why change a boat that is obviously very fast?' Well, we figure we need every advantage we can get to lick our competition." Chandler Hovey's Easterner, trounced in 14 straight races in 1958, has undergone major surgery. Her mast has been stepped aft some 18 in.; she has a new keel, new sails, and a new skipper: Olympic Gold Medal Winner George O'Day. Henry Mercer's Weatherly, sailed by canny Bus Mosbacher, has been stripped for action.

Her icebox and other unnecessary appurtenances have been ripped out, her stern has been chopped off, and like Easterner, she is going to get a new keel.

Keel v. Hull. Last week, at Marblehead, Mass., a fourth U.S. candidate slid down the ways on the midnight tide. In what was probably the biggest crowd ever to attend a shore-bound yachting function, 1,200 sailors packed into M.I.T.'s Kresge Auditorium to hear about Nefertiti, a radical 12-meter yacht designed by self-taught Naval Architect Frederick ("Ted") Hood, a world-renowned Marblehead sailmaker. Built in secrecy at a cost of $300,000, she is what her builders call a "beamy cutter," shaped like a wine glass and 1 1/2 ft. wider than normal for 12-meter yachts. Like Gretel she has a divided cockpit, but the helmsman stands far aft, instead of forward, to be out of the work area. For extra speed she has a long, flat run, a stubby, reverse transom, and at 57,500 lbs., she is fully 500 lbs.

lighter than any of her competitors.

"This is a case of maximum keel and minimum hull," says Engineer Stedman Hood, Ted's father. "Every little bit you can save in hull weight can be added to the keel for extra stability and better sail performance." Radical as she is, nobody is selling Nefertiti short. Ted Hood's new boat looks fast, and at the very least, she should have perfect sails.

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