User:Samfitz17/1983 America's Cup: The End of An Era

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The America's Cup

The America's Cup
US Liberty on starboard watching Australia II cross the finish line to win the 1983 America's Cup
"Australia II" controversial winged keel

       The America’s Cup is one of the most coveted cup in sailing. It is the longest standing international trophy, having being in circulation for more than one hundred and sixty years. With such a long-standing cup, comes a rich history of legendary skippers, inventions, successes and failures.  However one event in the Cup’s history stands out from the crowd. The event is the 1983 America’s Cup where defender Liberty skippered by Dennis Conner sailed against challenger Australia II skippered by John Bertrand. This year goes down in America’s Cup history because this was the first time in one hundred and thirty two years that the trophy was won by a country other than the United States. Seen as a failure to many the 1983 America’s Cup marked the end of the US reign over the coveted cup.

History of the Cup

        The History of the cup can be traced back to a cool August afternoon in 1851, where a radical looking schooner appeared out of the fog and swiftly sailed past the Royal Yacht, located between the Isle of Wight and the South shore of England. As Queen Victoria watched the schooner named, “America” pass the Royal Yacht in first, she asked one of her attendants to tell her the name of the boat in second place. “Your Majesty, there is no second," the attendant said (“History”). That four word phrase, is the epitome of the America’s Cup and how the cup represents the singular pursuit of excellence.

The Loss of the Cup

          The summer of the America’s cup, Dennis Connors appeared on everything from magazines to TV interviews. He even was featured on the cover Sports Illustrated, which to this day no other sailor has been featured. All eyes were on Connors for the first Race on September 14th 1983. Connors won the first and second races by margins of more than a minute, However the Aussies fought back to win the third, fifth and sixth races. The cup title came down to the seventh and final race. As the queen’s attendant said, “there is no second”. The nation had their eyes on Dennis Connors.

For the seventh race the wind was light around eight knots, and very shifty. Mother nature had laid the groundwork for a challenging final race. Now it was time for Dennis Connors to skipper Liberty for the win. Unfortunately this is exactly what he did not do. The pre start was not a typical match race start. “Neither party wanted to make a mistake and end up in the protest room,” Connors would explain later (32nd America’s Cup). Liberty won the start by eight seconds ahead of Australia II. Over the course of the race there were three lead changes, as well as relentless pressure as each of the yachts tried to provoke dramatic new turns of events. Because both upwind speeds were nearly identical, the tacking duels were fierce and close. On top of identical upwind speeds, there were dramatic winds shifts that tested the tacticians on both yachts. As well as variable winds made choosing which sail and trim a very complicated process. “It was on the penultimate leg not the final leg that Australia II passed Liberty. One did not need a PJ Montgomery commentary to realize, in the first minutes of that run, that AUS II was sailing significantly lower and faster than Liberty” (Scuttlebutt). The decision for Connors not to cover Australia II is a question that American’s are still asking today. When Australia II passed Liberty on the final down win leg, the heart of every American sunk. “Does anyone here have any ideas?” Connors asked his crew in a last attempt. However he knew it was over. The boats continued around the track, until after forty-seven grueling tacks, Australia Crosses the finish line by a margin of forty-one seconds. “The winning gun from the New York Yacht Club Race Committee boat was a sound signifying a victory that no American wanted to hear. For what seemed like an eternity (in reality, it was a fraction of a second) there was silence on the water, with the sun setting over Block Island.” (Scuttlebutt). Australia had won the America’s Cup. “Commodore Robert G. Stone Jr. of the New York Yacht Club picked up the cup and gave it to Commodore Peter Dalzeil of the Royal Perth Yacht Club in Western Australia. That simple move officially ended the 1983 America's Cup series and the 132-year reign of the United States. Australia II, sailed by John Bertrand, became the first challenger to win the 27-inch cup since the schooner America won it in a race around England's Isle of Wight in 1851” (Fishman).

Controversy in the 1983 America’s Cup

          September 26th, 1983, the United States looses the America’s Cup after having it for one hundred and thirty two years. That day marked the end of an era. However that day might of not of ever happened. The 1983 America’s Cup was actually almost canceled due to the controversial keel design and boat designer.  According to Dennis Conner, “We had heard rumors two or three months before the 1983 America’s Cup Match that the keel on Australia II was designed by the Dutch Naval Architect Peter van Oossanen” (Scuttlebutt). This rumor was then clarified a few weeks later, and showed that the Australia team was in fact breaking the rules by using a designer not born an Australia Citizen. To further this assumption, the Australian executives wouldn’t sign a contract stating that as Dennis Conner puts it, “they had complied by all the rules of the event” (Scuttlebutt). Which created an outrage at the New York Yacht Club. Put in-between a rock and a hard place, NYYC had to make a decision to race or call it off. As Conner puts it, “The NYYC was not interested in looking like poor sports about this” (Scuttlebutt) therefore they raced. Obviously there is an immense amount of bias in Conner’s remarks towards the illegitimacy of Australia II. However Conner counters his bias with this remark, “my job was only to sail our boat . . . I did the best job I could . . .” (Scuttlebutt) he only sheds light on his insight at the Australia II illegitimacy.

Impact Of the Loss

Impact on Sailing

          With the loss of the 1983 America’s Cup came almost a time of shame in US sailing, a shame that the US were not able to defend the cup after one hundred and thirty two years. No person took the loss of the cup harder than skipper of the boat Liberty, Dennis Conner. Asked about how he felt initially after loosing the cup Conner quotes; “It was awful. I just did not want to get out of bed in the morning. I am usually full of life and energy. . I just wanted to hide” (Sail World). However in retrospect Conner did not take the loss as a horrible defeat. In his eyes loosing the America’s Cup was for the best. He remarked about his eventual feelings towards the loss of the cup:

“Me losing after 132 years was the best thing that ever happened to the America’s Cup and the best thing that ever happened to Dennis Conner…Before the win by the Australians, the America’s Cup was only big in the minds of the yachties, but the rest of the world didn't know or care about it at all. But when we lost it… it was a little bit like losing the Panama Canal - suddenly everyone appreciated it. If I hadn't lost it, there never would have been the national effort . . . without that there never would have been the ticker-tape parade up Fifth Avenue in New York, lunch with the President at the White House and all the doors of opportunity that it opened...” (Sail World). Humbly Conner stated that losing the Cup was best for the sport of sailing and the America’s Cup itself. He also showed the international significance of the Cup and the loss brought countries flocking to win the Cup title. Even though there is bias associated with Conner’s perspective of losing the cup, it still gives an observer an inside look at how champions accept the truth in the face of defeat.

Economic Impact

        The loss of the 1983 America’s Cup did not only have an effect on the sailing world, but it also had an economic effect in Newport Rhode Island. Up to 1983, the small state of Rhode Island was known for sailing and the America’s Cup. Every four or so years, thousands of people would swarm the city of Newport to watch the historic races. However with the loss of the America’s Cup, came Rhode Island’s loss of revenue; a revenue that used to be close to one billion dollars (Providence Business News). Greg Gamon a Newport restaurant owner recalls, “If he lost then all was lost, I thought . . . On the special board I wrote 'Give me Liberty, or give me DEBT” (Newport Patch). He continues by stating, “It has been that way since the Cup left.  The Cup summers were such a lucrative time and it just hasn't been the same since it left” (Newport Patch). It goes to show that the loss of the 1983 America’s Cup not only impacted US sailing, but it also had economic impact. The obvious bias in this perspective is that Greg Gamon was directly affected by the loss of the America’s Cup due to the fact that his restaurant relied on the influx of people for the America’s Cup, where some businesses were not affected at all.

Aftermath of the 1983 America's Cup

         With the Cup lost, the US wanted nothing more but to bring it back. Immediately Conner went to work on the next US America’s Cup Campaign. With the help of designers Britton Chance, Bruce Nelson and David Pedrick, the boat Stars and Striped 87 was created. The radical hull shape with its snub nose entry was not the most aesthetic of designs, but she was fast. Her keel design had a prominent bulb forward entry and keel wings extending off the aft-most third of the keel. The boat was competitive in 10 to 12 knots of wind, but excelled in winds of 16 knots and more (Fisher). The new hull design was tested and proven at the 1987 America’s Cup, where Dennis Conner successfully sailed the US back into the History books by winning back the America’s cup.

References

"History." 34th America's Cup. 21 Dec. 2010. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://www.americascup.com/history>.

"32nd America's Cup - Print - An Anniversary of Legendary Proportions." 32nd America's Cup Official Website. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://32nd.americascup.com/en/scripts/print/popup_print.php?idRubrique=35&idContent=13165>

Kothe, Rob. "Sail-World.com : “ Am Glad I Lost the America’s Cup’ Says Dennis Conner." Sail World - Powerboat-world: Sail and Sailing, Cruising, Boating News. Web. 20 Feb. 2011. <http://www.sail-world.com/USA/index.cfm?SEID=2&Nid=7553&SRCID=0&ntid=0&tickeruid=0&tickerCID=0>.

Hamilton, William. "Newport Estimates Impact of Hosting 2013 America’s Cup at $1.1 Billion - PBN.com - Providence Business News." Homepage - PBN.com - Providence Business News. Web. 20 Mar. 2011. <http://www.pbn.com/Newport-estimates-2013-Americas-Cup-economic-impact-at-11B,54617>.

McLean, Stephanie. "Locals React to Losing America’s Cup." NewportPatch. Web. <"32nd America’s Cup - Print - An Anniversary of Legendary Proportions." 32nd America’s Cup Official Website. Web. 20 Feb. 2011.>.