Australian crew quietly confident of Cup victory

Press, 27 September 1983, Page 32

Australian crew quietly confident of Cup victory

NZPA Newport, Rhode Island Waiting for the uncertain re-run of the America’s Cup final race, Australia Il’s crew were yesterday making a passion out of a virtue.

While the pen hovered over a new chapter in sporting history, the Australians dismissed the occasion as “melodrama.” If they were to be believed, then the power of quiet confidence had taken on a very new meaning. Since last Friday they have known that THE CUP could be theirs after one totally testing race. The waiting was heightened by a postponed race, and spread over two lay days. Even today, they were told, there might still not be enough wind to achieve a result.

Yet the impatient French skipper, Bruno Trouble, who was sailing against Australia II all throughout the challenger eliminations, came off their dock surprised last night. Trouble spent an afternoon hammering Challenge 12 through starts against the challenger, helping to keep Australia Il’s crew on their mettle. “I was very impressed,” he said. “They are very quiet and confident. To me it’s a surprise after all this waiting.” Australia H’s skipper, John Bertrand, gave weight to growing opinion that his temperament is akin to Bjorn Borg’s when he smiled and said: “It has become quite a melodrama, hasn’t it? We were saying that if it gets any colder we’ll have to race ice boats.”

It was of no consequence to his crew if they even had to wait another three days: “We’re very ‘up’ for it, but we have a very realistic atmosphere. Everyone’s got their feet on the ground — the spectator aura has subsided.” “I don’t think the waiting has changed anything.” The syndicate head, Alan Bond, put it another way when he said before the first attempt at running the race: “These guys realise that they’ve put too much into it to get too excited now.” The wind willing, Aus-

tralia II meets Liberty at 4 a.m. this morning for the second attempt at running what a former Cup defence skipper, Bill Ficker, called the most significant race in sailing history. But the Newport weather centre was last night hesitant about predicting a good race breeze. Meanwhile tension between the two camps heightened as the defenders announced — to Mr Bond’s voacal disapproval — they would slip Liberty for another possible alteration of ballast. It had already been changed for Sunday morning — the boat was lightened by about 450 to 600 kg, and its sail area was increased. Yesterday heavier airs were forecast for the re-run,

and it was thought that

Liberty might be changed again to suit. Mr Bond said: “We came here to race one yacht, not three yachts.” Saying that the syndicate was “most upset,” Mr Bond warned the ■ Americans to expect to see a race protest today. But Liberty’s designer, Johan Valentijn, said of Mr Bond: “He’s just stirring. We know exactly what we are doing. Under the rules we can change the ballast during a match.” According to Valentijn, three tested weight combinations are available to

Liberty. One is good for increasing its speed in 9-12 knots of wind, another for 12-14 knots, and a third for 14-16 knots. However Bertrand believes that such changes are so minor anyway that they cannot make much difference to a yacht’s over-all performance. “Look at Intuition over there,” he said, nodding towards a two ton ocean racer. “About 20001bs (900 kg was taken out of her and there wasn’t much change. And a 12 metre weighs up to 30 tons.” Valentijn, tossing the arguments to and fro, eventually shrugged his shoulders and said: “It’s all a gamble. Tomorrow we will know the answer.” Weather permitting.