Incredible Shebang

During its 119-year history, the America's Cup challenge has been spectacularly one-sided. Last week, though the U.S. yacht Intrepid held a 3-1 lead over Australia's Gretel II on the scoreboard, the action on the water was the closest, most hard fought in years. Plagued by fog, riddled with protests and jolted by a collision, the best-of-seven series was also one of the most bizarre and controversial in Cup annals. Said the Sydney Sun: "The name of the race committee boat sums up the whole shebang--Incredible."

The controversy was unfortunate if only because it tended to obscure the fact that Gretel II was the most formidable foreign challenger since the Cup switched from giant J-class boats to 12-meter sloops in 1958. When Intrepid scored her easy victory over Valiant in the U.S. trials a month ago, it was generally conceded that she had all but clinched the Cup. In 20 previous attempts, few challengers had even come close to wresting the trophy from America, and the preliminaries off Newport gave no indication that this year's races would break any precedents. The Aussies, scuttled in their 1962 and 1967 bids for the Cup, arrived late in Newport and looked unimpressive in their victory over the hapless France. Just a week before meeting Intrepid, Skipper Jim Hardy and Designer Alan Payne decided to move Gretel II's mast 5 3/4 inches aft. So major a modification, made so late in the contest, suggested that the Australians were less than prepared to take on Intrepid's Skipper Bill Ficker and his finely drilled crew.

Turnabout. That seemed to be the case when the two sloops squared off for the first race in a cold rain and stiff, 20-knot winds. Trailing by 200 yds. at the first mark on the triangular 24.3-mile course, Gretel II attempted to set her spinnaker, but it knotted into the dread hourglass shape that is the stuff of a racing skipper's nightmares, and stayed that way for five agonizing minutes. Barely had the crewmen cleared the headsail when Gretel II nosed into a heavy wave that bucked Crewman Paul Salmon off the slippery deck. While the Aussies circled to rescue their comrade, Intrepid glided on to win by 5 min. 52 sec.

Three days later, Gretel II staged a quick turnabout by racing off to a 400-yd. lead--the first time that a challenger had led on the opening leg since England's Sceptre did it in 1958. Intrepid gradually caught and passed Gretel II, but on the fourth leg the race committee had to cancel the contest because of fog. Though indecisive, the encounter suggested that Gretel II was faster than Intrepid in light breezes. She proved it in a race that, among other odd developments, was won one day and then, without a sail being hoisted, lost the next. En route to the America's Cup buoy, Tactician Steve Van Dyck of Intrepid was stung on the lip by a bee, and when his face swelled up like a melon, he had to be airlifted to a hospital. Soon after, the Coast Guard had to clear some of the 1,000 spectator boats away from a "floating mine" that a Navy demolition team later identified as a fishing float. The real blast came a few seconds after the starting gun. Caught in a squeeze between Gretel II and the stationary committee boat, Intrepid was struck amidships by the Aussie sloop, which lost a small chunk out of her bow. Both boats immediately raised red flags of protest. Then Gretel II recovered from the disastrous start, caught Intrepid on the fifth leg and, in a jibing duel, pulled ahead to win by 1 min. 7 sec.

Comeback Win. The next day, the race committee declared Intrepid the victor of that race because in the collision Gretel II had violated Rule 42.1 E of the yacht racing manual and was therefore disqualified. The committee's decision that Intrepid was entitled to the right of way was based on the claim that she had overlapped Gretel II. The Australians vehemently denied that they had been overlapped and charged Intrepid with "barging" (forcing a passage). GRETEL ROBBED, headlined the Sydney Daily Mirror. "Hometown justice," sneered Publisher Sir Frank Packer, head of the Gretel II syndicate. Noting that the committee is made up of New York Yacht Club members, Sir Frank bitterly suggested that lodging a protest with them "is like a man complaining to his mother-in-law about his wife." Although most impartial observers agreed that the evidence tended to support the committee's ruling, there was widespread feeling that future protest decisions should be made by an international committee rather than by the hosts.

Angered and disheartened, the Australians lost the third race by 1 min. 18 sec. as Intrepid capitalized on two tactical blunders. The first occurred when Gretel II crossed the starting line 30 sec. before the gun; she had to turn back to cross again, allowing Intrepid to breeze off to a 100-yd. lead. The second goof came on the fifth leg when Gretel II, closing hard on the defender, failed to follow Picker's starboard jibe and went in search of a better breeze on a port jibe. She did not find it. The fourth race saw Intrepid leading at all five marks, but with a scant mile and a half to go, the wind shifted and died down--and so did Intrepid. Playing the light air superbly, Hardy came on strongly while Ficker belatedly tried to cover with a tack that left him well to leeward of the finish line. Gretel II squeaked across Intrepid's bow to win a startling comeback victory by 62 sec. At week's end, the race committee, which had packed its bags in anticipation of a 4-0 sweep by Intrepid, unpacked.

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