Australian Sailcloth For Americas Cup

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30901, 6 November 1965, Page 11

Australian Sailcloth For Americas Cup

AFTER Gretel’s win in 1962, few people doubted Australia's ability to design, build and crew a worthy challenger for the America’s Cup. But one barrier remained, and it seemed insurmountable . . . sailcloth. Without limitless money, specialised resources and years of research, how could

Australians hope to produce a fabric equal to the dacron that was so clearly the secret of America’s success?

The New York Yacht Club, whose committee controls the cup races, was adamant: no American materials were to be available, as they had been for Gretel, for future challengers.

Critics in America and Europe and many in Australia advised the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron to forget its 1967 challenge, rather than repeat Britain’s blunder with Sovereign in 1964. The critics can relax, for when the Australian challengers, Dame Pattie and Sir Frank Packer’s contender, arrive in Newport, Rhode Island, in July, 1967, for the final trials before the cup races in September, they will have Australianmade sails “as good as any in the world.”

In fact, says Australia’s new monthly magazine

“Modern Boating,” under stimulus of competition Australia has not only become the first country to produce sailcloth as good as America’s best; she may soon also start selling it to America.

The sailcloth breakthrough report is a scoop for the magazine, all of whose staff (they call them “the crew”) are top-rankers, dedicated sailors and power skippers—even the accountant.

The publication is directed by Colin Ryrie, the 35-year-oild Finn helmsman who has twice represented Australia at the Olympic Games. He was also a crew member of the America’s Cup challenger, Gretel. His editor is a New Zea-land-born journalist, Bob Ross, who is 33. Ross learned to sail at Plimmerton and Paremata Boating clubs in a P Class seven-footer; he is now an experienced ocean racing man, and last year bought a Finn. Ryrie, who is a sailmaker by occupation, introduced a weekly boating section to the Sydney “Daily Telegraph” six years ago. From a minimum of three pages each Friday it grows as big as 14 pages at the height of the season.

But as the section was restricted mainly to New South Wales, Ryrie felt the need for a comprehensive national publication which eould also do better justice to pictures than newspaper reproduction. This, plus his experience as former editor of “Seacraft” magazine, led to the production of “Modern Boating" which, in addition to a team of overseas correspondents has offices in London and New York to teleprint news and radiogram pictures. Its overseas representatives are Paul Elvstrom, four times Olympic gold medallist, sailmaker, yacht designer and builder; Jack Knights, class boat winner,

boating editor of the London “Daily Telegraph,” designer and builder; Richard Creagh-Osborne, boating book publisher, former chairman of the International Yacht Racing Union’s technical committee for small boats; Hugh Somerville, former editor of the American “Yachtsman”; and Bill Robinson, executive editor of “Yachting.” The remarkable Elvstrom has begun a series of articles on racing tactics; and they will be followed with a series by a local boy who also made good. His articles will be entitled: Mander on Tuning.