The 2nd
Louis Vuitton Cup
The Louis Vuitton Cup was the name of the Challenger Selection Series sailing competition from 1983, named after its sponsor, Louis Vuitton. The winner of the competition became the challenger to compete with the defender of the America's Cu ...
was held in
Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
, Western Australia in 1987. The winner,
Stars & Stripes, went on to challenge for and win the
1987 America's Cup.
Teams
Twelve syndicates from six countries (Canada, France, Italy, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) competed in 25 boats for the right to challenge. A further two syndicates entered but failed to compete in the Cup itself. The first syndicates arrived in Fremantle in 1984 with most having established a presence by late 1985 for the 1986 12-Metre World Championships.
It was estimated that the foreign syndicates spent $200M in the challenge efforts.
US Merchant Marine Academy Foundation (USA)
The syndicate from
New York Yacht Club
The New York Yacht Club (NYYC) is a private social club and yacht club based in New York City and Newport, Rhode Island. It was founded in 1844 by nine prominent sportsmen. The members have contributed to the sport of yachting and yacht design. ...
was the first foreign syndicate to arrive at Fremantle in 1984. It had two 12-Metre boats, US-42 and US-44 (both named ''America II'') sailing in the following year, skippered by
John Kolius. A third sister boat, US-46 arrived shortly after. The challenge cost the NYYC $15M.
Kolius later resigned and was replaced by
John Bertrand and Tom McLaughlin.
Lexi Gahagan was the navigator.
Heart of America Challenge (USA)
Heart of America was from the
Chicago Yacht Club
The Chicago Yacht Club is located in Chicago, Illinois. "CYC" is well known as being the Organizing Authority for the Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac held each July. CYC also organizes dozens of other sailboat races and regattas throughout t ...
and used 1980 defender candidate ''Clipper'' as a trial horse. After receiving commercial support from the
Chrysler Corporation
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
the team built ''Heart of America'' (US 51) to sail in the Cup. Because of concerns about the "arm of the sea" clause of the
Deed of Gift of the America's Cup
The Deed of Gift of the America's Cup is the primary instrument that governs the rules to make a valid challenge for the America's Cup and the rules of conduct of the races. The current version of the deed of gift is the third revision of the orig ...
, the Royal Perth Yacht Club requested and received an interpretive ruling from the New York Supreme Court to allow a challenge from a club based on the Great Lakes. The boat was skippered by
Buddy Melges
Harry C. "Buddy" Melges Jr. (born January 26, 1930) is a competitive sailor. He has earned national and international championships in several classes in conventional sailing and ice-boating.
Early life
Born in Elkhorn, Wisconsin, Melges ...
and included Bill Shore,
Larry Mialik,
Andreas Josenhans
Andreas Josenhans (born 12 September 1950) is a German-born Canadian sailor who competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Career
He was a member of the youngest of the Olympic sailing crews at the Montreal 1976 Olympics, with fellow sailors Glen Dex ...
, Jim Gretzky, Wally Henry, John Stanley,
Fred Stritt and
Dave Dellenbaugh.
[
]
Eagle Foundation (USA)
From the Newport Harbor Yacht Club
Newport Harbor Yacht Club is a yacht club located on the Balboa Peninsula, which is a neighborhood of the city of Newport Beach, Orange County, California.
Facilities
The Newport Harbor Yacht Club facility has a main dining room and outdoor ...
, the Eagle syndicate was based in Newport Harbor, California. The skipper was Rod Davis and designer was Johan Valentijn. The syndicate purchased ''Magic'', a 1983 light displacement Johan Valentijn design, and retrofitted the vessel with a Joop Sloof designed wing keel similar to ''Australia II''. ''Magic'' was fitted with Optim data acquisition equipment and extensively tested in Newport, Rhode Island. Data from these tests, large scale model testing and design assistance from Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...
, and Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
senior engineers resulted in Johan Valentijn's design ''Eagle''. This 12 meter was close in size to ''Liberty'', but due to a very low center of gravity winged keel design was optimised for Fremantle conditions. ''Eagle'' was shipped to Perth while ''Magic'' remained in the United States of America.
The crew included Doug Rastello and Jim Allsopp.[
]
Golden Gate Challenge (USA)
The Golden Gate Challenge by the St Francis Yacht Club, was the first America's Cup Challenge by the city of San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
and its mayor Dianne Feinstein
Dianne Goldman Berman Feinstein ( ; born Dianne Emiel Goldman; June 22, 1933) is an American politician who serves as the senior United States senator from California, a seat she has held since 1992. A member of the Democratic Party, she was ...
lead a council of 60 Bay Area mayors to build regional support. The Challenge built two new yachts. The first (built by Stephens Marine in Stockton, California) yacht was a conventional 12-Metre code named "E-I" (for evolutionary one) (12/US-49) with a winged-keel. The second yacht (built by Derecktor Shipyards in Mamaroneck, New York) dubbed "R-1" (for revolutionary one)(12/US-61). Nicknamed "USA-61", the yacht introduced two major innovations. On R-1, the classic "trim-tab" of previous 12-meter yachts was moved from the trailing-edge of the keel to the front of the boat, and renamed "the bow-rudder". The twin rudders could be operated in two steering modes,"collective" (where the rudders turned in the same direction) or "cyclical" (where the rudders turned in opposite directions). Steering the bow-rudder from the stern cockpit presented the engineers with a mechanical challenge and the helmsman with a "never drove one of these before" steep learning curve. USA-61 boat was fastest in smooth water - where the bow rudder stayed in the water. Unfortunately, the 20+ knots of breeze and 5–6 foot waves on the race course offshore of Fremantle, Australia didn't provide the ideal sea-state for the world's first bow-ruddered boat. Competitors smiled whenever they saw USA's bow rudder come out of the water in the steep waves of Freo. On the other hand, "USA-61"s second innovation was its super-narrow (just 19" fore and aft) keel with a 47,000 lb lead, squished ellipsoid bulb (known as the "geek") on the tip - instead of a classic or winged keel. While, the bow-rudder was seldom imitated, the "bulb keel" innovation has endured and been copied by virtually all racing monohulls since its introduction on USA-61 in 1987. The management: Cyril Magnin, Honorary Chairman; Bob Scott, Founder and chairman; Bob Cole, Vice Chair; Tom Blackaller, President and Skipper; Ron Young, General Manager and Development; Gary Mull, Naval Architect; Heiner Meldner, Hydrodynamicist; Alberto Calderon, Aerodynamicist; Ken Keeke, Director Onshore Operations. The crew: Tom Blackaller, Skipper; Paul Cayard, Tactician; Craig Healy, Navigator; Stevie Erickson, Mainsail Trimmer; Russ Silvestri, Hank Stuart and Jim Plagenhoef Jib and Spinnaker Trimmers; Brad Lewis, Mikey Erlin and Jeff Littfin Grinders; Kenny Keefe, Pit; Bruce Epke, Mastman/Sewerman; Tom Ducharme, Scott Easom, Scott Inveen, Bowmen. Both boats were named "USA". Tom had skippered "Defender" in the 1983 America's Cup, with Paul Cayard
Paul Pierre Cayard (born May 19, 1959) is an American yachtsman and professional sailor. He has competed at multiple world championship level sailing events, including the America's Cup, the Whitbread Round the World Race, the Volvo Ocean Rac ...
as tactician and Peter Stalkus as navigator.[
]
Sail America Foundation (USA)
After the 1983 loss, Dennis Conner
Dennis Walter Conner (born September 16, 1942) is an American yachtsman. He is noted for winning a bronze medal at the 1976 Olympics, two Star World Championships, and three wins in the America's Cup.
Sailing career
Conner was born September ...
found sponsors and built a syndicate to challenge for the America's Cup. Based at the San Diego Yacht Club
San Diego Yacht Club is a yacht club located in San Diego Bay. It is located in Point Loma across from a spit of land known as Shelter Island.
Facilities
The San Diego Yacht Club facility has a main dining room and outdoor deck seating, a b ...
, the syndicate made use of Conner's 1983 America's Cup defender ''Liberty'' (US 40) and refit the 1982 built ''Spirit of America'' (US 34), re-commissioning her as ''Stars and Stripes 83'' (US 53). In addition, they commissioned the building of three new boats: ''Stars and Stripes 85'' (US 54), ''Stars and Stripes 86'' (US 56) and '' Stars and Stripes 87'' (US 55). Conner practiced for the Fremantle conditions by training in Hawaii, taking the three new boats with him down to Fremantle to compete for the Cup.
Tom Whidden
Thomas A. Whidden is one of the most-acclaimed sailors of all-time. He is a member of both the America's Cup Hall of Fame and the National Sailing Hall of Fame. Whidden joined North Sails, the world's largest sailmaker, in 1986, just before being ...
was the tactician, Peter Isler the navigator and the crew included Scott Vogel, Kyle Smith, Jon Wright, Jay Brown, Adam Ostenfeld, Jim Kavle, Henry Childers, Bill Trenkle and John Barnitt.[
]
Courageous Challenge (USA)
From the Yale Corinthian Yacht Club
Yale Corinthian Yacht Club is a public sailing facility located on Short Beach in Branford, Connecticut (United States), home of the Yale University sailing team. It is generally abbreviated as "YCYC" and is affectionately pronounced "yic-yic." ...
, sailing ''Courageous'', winner of the America's Cup
The America's Cup, informally known as the Auld Mug, is a trophy awarded in the sport of sailing. It is the oldest international competition still operating in any sport. America's Cup match races are held between two sailing yachts: one f ...
in 1974 and 1977. The boat had been heavily redesigned and updated to make her more competitive for the 1987 campaign. Unfortunately she was largely outclassed by the competition, winning just one race (over Challenge France) but losing to the major contenders by eight to ten minutes an outing. The team withdrew from the Cup before the end of the first round.
The afterguard included Dave Vietor, Warwick Tomkins and Mike Buonvino.[
]
Consorzio Italia (Italy)
From Yacht Club Italiano
The Yacht Club Italiano is a yacht club in Genoa, Italy.
History
It was founded in 1879 and is one of the oldest sailing clubs in the Mediterranean. This club was bestowed Royal Patronage by HRH King Umberto I of Italy since its inception.
This c ...
, the Consorzio Italia syndicate was backed by Gucci
Gucci (, ; ) is an Italian high-end luxury fashion house based in Florence, Italy. Its product lines include handbags, ready-to-wear, footwear, accessories, and home decoration; and it licenses its name and branding to Coty, Inc. for fragran ...
. The syndicate was inspired by the success of Azzurra
Azzurra is a yacht racing team that competed in the America's Cup, the Audi MedCup and the 52 Super Series for the Italian Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
History
Funded by business magnate Aga Khan IV and industrialist Gianni Agnelli, and mana ...
in 1983 and began by purchasing '' Victory '83'' to give them a bench mark. The boats were skippered by Flavio Scala and Aldo Migliaccio, with Italophile Rod Davis in the afterguard alongside Tommasso Chief and Stefano Roberti.[ ''Italia II'' was seriously damaged during its launch but was repaired in time for the Cup.
]
Azzurra (Italy)
Azzurra
Azzurra is a yacht racing team that competed in the America's Cup, the Audi MedCup and the 52 Super Series for the Italian Yacht Club Costa Smeralda.
History
Funded by business magnate Aga Khan IV and industrialist Gianni Agnelli, and mana ...
was the challenger of record for 1987. From the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda
Yacht Club Costa Smeralda was established by the Aga Khan in 1967. It is situated at Porto Cervo in Costa Smeralda, northern Sardinia and provides services for recreational sailors.
The club challenged for the 1983 America's Cup with ''Azzurra' ...
and backed by the Aga Khan, the syndicate eventually had four boats at its disposal. ''Azzurra I'' (I-4) competed in the 1983 Louis Vuitton Cup at Newport. Then ''Azzurra II'' (I-8) managed to come fifth in the 1986 World Championships, a disappointing result which prompted the construction of two new boats, ''Azzurra III'' (I-10) and ''IV'' (I-11), from competing designers.[
] The skipper was Olympian Mauro Pelaschier
Mauro Pelaschier (born 29 April 1949) is an Italian sailor. He competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics and the 1976 Summer Olympics
Events January
* January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enter ...
with support from Tiziano Nava, Matteo Plazzi
Matteo Plazzi (born in Ravenna) is an Italian sailor who has competed in multiple America's Cups.
Plazzi's first foray into the America's Cup was with ''Azzurra'' in the 1987 Louis Vuitton Cup. In addition to competing in the America's Cup, Matte ...
, and Francesco de Angelis.[
]
Challenge Kis France (France)
From the Societe des Regates Rochelaise yacht club, the Challenge Kis France was skippered by Marc Pajot
Marc Pajot (born 21 September 1953, in La Baule) is a French sailor. He has been a crew member on Éric Tabarly’s boats.
Noted for winning the Silver medal at the 1972 Olympics at 19 with his older brother Yves, 5 times world champion, winner ...
and included Marc Bouet and Bertrand Pacé
Bertrand Pacé (born 15 August 1961 in Petite-Synthe) is a French sailor competing in match racing. He won the 1994 World Match Racing Championships in La Rochelle, France.
Pacé was a navigator for the Challenge Kis France at the 1987 Louis Vu ...
.[ The boat performed well, winning the second and seventh race in the World Championship series. The syndicate was owned by French businessman, Serge Crasnianski who invested $10 million in the challenge. He later estimated that the venture may have cost his company as much as $70 million in lost revenue. His company, KIS France developed an instant photo development system in 1981 which cornered 60 percent of the world photo laboratory market. The RPYC challenged the legality of the ''French Kiss'' name, claiming that it was too commercial being associated with the KIS photo-labs. However, the name was subsequently cleared by an international jury.
]
Marseilles Syndicate (France)
The Societe Nautique de Marseilles challenge began with the purchase of ''France 3'' and ''Challenge 12'' and the confirmation of skipper Yves Pajot, brother of Marc Pajot (''French Kiss'' syndicate skipper). Both twelves were then sailed in Fremantle. However, soon after the construction of ''Challenge France'' that the syndicates financial position became known, and it was in deep financial difficulty. The afterguard included Francois Brenac.[
]
New Zealand Challenge (New Zealand)
Originally backed by Marcel Fachler, and later Michael Fay, the team consisted of several Fibreglass boats designed by Ron Holland, Bruce Farr and Laurie Davidson. KZ 3 and KZ 5 were built identically and KZ 7
''New Zealand (KZ 7)'' "Kiwi Magic" was the America's Cup challenge boat sailed by Chris Dickson in the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger series held in Gage Roads off Fremantle, Australia during the summer months of 1986 through 1987. She was Ne ...
was then developed after further testing and editing. Skippered by Chris Dickson, the crew were: Brad Butterworth
Bradley William Butterworth (born 1959) is a New Zealand yachtsman known for the role he played as tactician and skipper in the America's Cup for Team New Zealand and the Alinghi team of Switzerland.
Butterworth was born in Te Awamutu, New Zeal ...
, Ed Danby, Simon Daubney
Simon Leslie Daubney (born 17 July 1959) is a New Zealand sailor (sport), sailor who has sailed in the Olympics and is a member of the America's Cup Hall of Fame.
Early life
Daubney was born in Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1959.
Olympic career ...
, Brian Phillimore, Mike Quilter, Tony Rae, Jeremy Scantlebury
Jeremy Scantlebury is a New Zealand sailor who has competed in multiple America's Cups.
Scantlebury sailed with Digby Taylor on ''NZI Enterprise'' during the 1985–86 Whitbread Round the World Race. He raced with New Zealand Challenge on ''KZ 7 ...
, Kevin Shoebridge, Andrew Taylor and Erle Williams
Erle may refer to:
Places
* Erle, Astrakhan Oblast, Russia
* Erle, California, a former settlement in the United States
*Erle (river), a river of Thuringia, Germany
*, a borough of the German city of Gelsenkirchen
*, a village in the German muni ...
.
David Barnes was the alternative skipper and the crew included Warwick Fleury
Warwick David Fleury is a New Zealand sailor who has competed in eight America's Cups.
He competed with New Zealand Challenge in the 1987, 1988 and 1992 America's Cup campaigns.
Fleury was a trimmer with Team New Zealand during their successfu ...
, Alan Smith, and Ross Halcrow.[
]
Secret Cove/TrueNorth (Canada)
A combined challenge from Canada's Secret Cove Yacht Club and Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron
The Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron (RNSYS) is a yacht club, the oldest in the Americas, and is located on the Northwest Arm of Halifax Harbour in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
History
Originally established as the Halifax Yacht Club in 1837, the c ...
. ''True North'' performed well in the World Championships and was heavily modified afterwards. ''Canada I'' was designed by Bruce Kirby and became Canada II after being heavily redesigned before the event began. The two teams merged after both were unable to attract the big name sponsors needed for a serious challenge. After extensive training, only ''Canada II'' was sent to Fremantle. Skippered by Terence Neilson, the crew included Hans Fogh
Hans Marius Fogh (8 March 1938 – 14 March 2014) was one of the most successful competitive sailors in history, with dozens of national and international championships and in many different classes, including two Olympic medals.
Olympic caree ...
and Andy Roy.[
]
British America's Cup Challenge (United Kingdom)
From the Royal Thames Yacht Club
The Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) is the oldest continuously operating yacht club in the world, and the oldest yacht club in the United Kingdom. Its headquarters are located at 60 Knightsbridge, London, England, overlooking Hyde Park. The club ...
, ''White Crusader'' was designed by Ian Howlett and was a traditional 12-metre design evolved from the DeSavery Victory'83 boat of the previous Americas Cup event. However, ''White Crusader II'' was a radical design and designed by David Hollam. This second boat was used as a trial horse against White Crusader, but the team eventually decided to use the more conventional designed boat. Tank testing was carried out at Southampton University
, mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour
, type = Public research university
, established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...
and HMS Haslar. The deadline for acceptance of challenges was 1 April 1986 and Admiral Sir Ian Easton wrote his own personal cheque for $16,000 as an entry fee deposit. Harold Cudmore
Harold Cudmore, (born April 21, 1944) is an Irish sailor.
Born and raised in Cork, Harold Cudmore became an internationally famous yacht racing skipper and match racer.
Cudmore had success in classes from the International 505, where he plac ...
acted as skipper-tactician and starting helmsman who then handed over the helm to Chris Law
Christopher Murray Alexander Law (born 21 October 1969) is a Scottish National Party (SNP) politician. He has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Dundee West since 2015. He was first elected at the 2015 general election, winning a seat ...
for the remainder of each races. Eddie Warden-Owen was the navigator.[ Both boats were originally named simply Crusader One and Two but the "White" part of their names were added when millionaire Graham Walker (Of White Horse whiskey fame) gave heavy sponsorship to the British challengers at the last minute before the event started so the "White" was added to their names.
]
Rounds Robin
The regatta was staged in three rounds robin stages, with points awarded on an increasing scale the later the round in an attempt to reward the fastest boats at the end of the series. The top four boats were then placed in an elimination series to select the challenger. The first round robin (5-20 October) saw three boats standout, ''America II'' of the New York Yacht Club, ''Stars and Stripes 87'' and the surprise of the regatta, ''KZ 7'', all of which finished the first round robin with 11–1 records. The second round (2-19 November) saw ''Stars & Stripes'' struggle. Conner's boat was optimized for heavy airs, and suffered from a shortage of sails for lighter breezes. When a spell of Easterlies settled over Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
she was caught out of her element and dropped four races. She lost to Tom Blackaller and ''USA'' in 5 to 10 knot winds, and the following day to the Kiwis, even though the breeze had picked up to 22 knots. On the ninth day she lost again to the British team ''White Crusader'' in 4 to 6 knots breeze, and the following day to ''Canada II'', whom she had led around the final mark but was caught out when the breeze died away. The Kiwis continued to dominate the regatta, winning every one of their eleven match races, while ''America II'' continued to make a strong showing with a 9–2 record. The third round (2-19 December) saw a change in fortunes. ''America II'' simply was unable to continue to improve her speed, while other boats were making improvements and getting faster. She struggled to a 6–5 record in the final round. What was a strong performance coming in simply was not enough by the third round, and their loss to ''KZ 7'' placed them out of the running for the Semis. The loss meant the New York Yacht Club was eliminated for the first time in Cup history. ''USA'' with her unique design was finally showing her potential, as Tom Blackaller became better versed in handling the boat with the forward canard or rudder. Marc Pajot's ''French Kiss'' upset ''America II'' and found her way into the Semis.
Knock-out stage
Semi-finals
''KZ 7'' was the top qualifier of the round robins, followed in the points competition by ''Stars & Stripes 87'', ''USA'' and ''French Kiss''. In the Challenger semi-finals (28 December – 7 January) ''KZ 7'' easily defeated ''French Kiss'' 4–0, with none of the races closely contested. Meanwhile, a far more spirited competition between ''Stars and Stripes 87'' and ''USA'' ensued, with USA leading all of the first race till the final mark. In the end though Tom Blackaller couldn't quite find the speed he was looking for constantly, and the result was ''Stars and Stripes 87'' winning the semi 4–0.
Final
Going into the Louis Vuitton Finals (13-23 January), ''Kiwi Magic'' was the favorite. She was clearly a fast boat in both light and heavy air, had beaten ''Stars and Stripes 87'' twice, and had won an incredible thirty-seven of thirty-eight match races. But ''Stars & Stripes 87'' was showing her best form of the regatta, particularly in heavy winds above 20 knots.
The first two races were similar, with ''Stars & Stripes'' going out to an early lead in the opening beat to the first windward mark, and then holding that lead throughout the remainder of the rest, holding ground on the downwind legs and extending it on the beats. The third race started out much as the previous two, with both boats taking a long tack out to the left hand side of the course in what Dennis Conner termed a "speed test". ''Stars & Stripes 87'' rounded the first windward mark 26 seconds ahead, and that is when trouble started. The snap shackle failed causing the spinnaker to drop into the sea. The ''New Zealanders'' closed the gap, gibing back and forth across Conner's stern until they achieved what they were looking for, an inside overlap on the bottom mark. With right of way ''KZ-7'' was able to slide ahead on the turn about the mark. Once there the ''New Zealanders'' proved a difficult boat to get past. On the second beat to windward they kept the American boat at bay with a tight cover. No room was available to get by on the reaching legs. But the third beat was one for the records books. Conner threw 55 tacks at the Dickson and his boat plus two false tacks in an effort to break free. The New Zealanders covered them all in one of the most exhausting and tense beats to windward in America's Cup history.
The fourth race saw a complete turn in fortune, as now ''KZ 7'' experienced a number of uncommon structural failures which snowballed due to the actions of the skipper and crew, the result being ''Kiwi Magic'' blowing her backstay in an abrupt gibe, losing to ''Stars & Stripes'' by 3 minutes 38 seconds.
The fifth race was extremely competitive, with ''Stars & Stripes'' taking the initial lead on the first windward leg as she did in the first four races, but on the second beat to windward her Number 6 genoa blew to pieces and the Kiwis closed the gap. All hands went forward to clear the wreckage and hoist the Number 7 genoa, and ''Stars & Stripes'' held on to the slimmest of leads throughout the next four legs. Rounding the final mark she held a six-second lead, but here Dickson made one of the rare mistakes of his summer and struck the mark, forcing ''KZ 7'' to round again and ending all hope they had of winning the race. ''Stars & Stripes 87'' took the series, four wins to one. Perhaps Michael Fay summed up their effort best:
"We did the best we could. We couldn't beat the other guy on the day, and we've got to shake his hand and say 'Well done' because that's what happened. They did a very good job and they beat us."
Added Chris Dickson: "The best boat won. Thirteen years beat thirteen months experience. Congratulations guys."[
Following the completion of the race, Gianfranco Alberini, Commodore, Yacht Club Costa Smeralda, the Challenge Club of Record responsible for organizing the challenger selection process had at last completed his responsibilities.
"We have concluded today two hundred and twenty three races. It was quite an historic performances, and I think it will go down in the Guinness records. Two hundred twenty three races, very successful for sure, selecting the two best yachts for the finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, and the best challenger for the America's Cup 87."][
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louis Vuitton Cup
1987
1987 in sailing
Sailing competitions in Western Australia
1987 in Australian sport
Sport in Fremantle
12-metre class
1987 America's Cup