Intrepid Indeed

In the countdown for the 1970 America's Cup in September, midsummer is the time for a series of shakedown races called the Observation Trials. As it happened, some of the most telling observations about this year's competition could be made right at dockside in Newport, R.I. Late into the night, Naval Architect Olin Stephens was seen tinkering with Valiant, his latest 12-meter design. Near by, Skipper-Designer Charlie Morgan Jr. was hard at work seeking to improve his golden-hulled Heritage. At another slip, the crew of Helmsman Bill Picker's Intrepid lounged on the sloop's deck, sporting green-and-white buttons that declared PICKER IS QUICKER.

So it seemed. Though the final trials to decide which of the three U.S. boats will defend the cup do not begin until Aug. 18, the Observation races suggested that Picker and Intrepid are ready to sail off to one of the greatest upsets in America's Cup history. When the U.S. contenders hit the water this spring, Valiant was the heavy favorite simply because she was the latest creation of Olin Stephens, the 62-year-old designer of four of the last five cup champions. In fact, Stephens' winning design for the last America's Cup in 1967 was Intrepid. Now, radically revamped by 29-year-old Designer Britton Chance Jr., Stephens' own boat threatens to break the old master's winning streak.

Consistent Superiority. The changes that Chance made on Intrepid--shorter keel, rounder bow, fuller afterbody --have obviously made the white-hulled sloop swifter than ever. What is astonishing is that she may actually be a faster boat than Stephens' brand-new Valiant. Her first two races around the triangular 24.3-mile course set the pattern for the trials. With Picker at the helm, Intrepid handily defeated the trial horse Weatherly by 3 min. 55 sec., and then trounced Heritage by the embarrassing margin of 5 min. 17 sec.

Valiant, under Skipper Bob McCullough, was the next victim. In their first match, McCullough sloppily cut off Picker's boat in the preliminary maneuvering and was disqualified. Next time out, Valiant took the lead but was soon overhauled by Intrepid in a furious tacking duel; from then on, Intrepid was never headed, as she repeatedly outfooted Valiant on the windward legs of the course to win by 2 min. 14 sec. Two more times Intrepid and Picker proved quicker--by the combined times of 4 min. 20 sec. Only in the last race was McCullough able to salvage something from the trials by boxing out Intrepid at the gun and going on to win a hard-fought race by 1 min. 50 sec. Final tally: 9 victories, 1 loss for Intrepid; 4 victories, 6 losses for Valiant. Heritage was just about out of it with a dismal 2-7 record.

For Picker, 42, a prosperous architect from Newport Beach, Calif., Intrepid's showing was fitting answer to those skeptics who felt that he was not up to handling a tricky 12-meter. Though he was co-helmsman of Columbia in the 1967 cup trials, most of his experience is in ocean racers and smaller one-design boats. Nevertheless, Picker, the Star Class world champion in 1958, has proved his contention that the tactics he learned in small boats would serve him well in the America's Cup. A tall, totally bald man, he resembles the thin man's Mr. Clean only in looks. Unlike some skippers, he does not impose a curfew on his young crew, nor does he lead them in calisthenics. Even so, he had his charges outhustling the more experienced Valiant hands on nearly every tack. "Though we aren't No. 2 any more," says Picker, "we still have to try harder to uphold the tradition of Intrepid."

Over on Valiant, Bob McCullough is desperately trying to build a tradition from scratch. His boat is plagued by steering problems and a tendency to surge erratically in heavy seas. "We seem to be moving in spurts, and we don't yet know the reason for it," he says. Though he and Stephens modified Valiant before and during the trials, the 49-year-old skipper allows that more "substantial changes" still have to be made on the sails, the rigging and the hull. A seasoned competitor, McCullough is still very much in the race even though he no longer sounds like No. 1. "Maybe," he muttered after one defeat, "we went for too radical a design." Come Aug. 18, he will find out.

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