Aussies Confident of Keeping America’s Cup Trophy

While the 13 America’s Cup challengers batter each other on and offshore, the Australian defense rivals have been quietly watching, shrewdly appraising the ranks that will produce their eventual foe.

Unperturbed by the controversy over New Zealand’s fiberglass hull, the four syndicates competing for the honor of defending yachting’s premier prize are interested in speed and are now confident their boats are faster.

With the defender elimination series having started Saturday, skippers and syndicate officials were predicting the trophy will remain enshrined at the Royal Perth Yacht Club after the best-of-seven series beginning Jan. 31.

“From what we have seen out there, the challenge boats can be beaten,” says Warren Jones, the executive director of Alan Bond’s America’s Cup Defence 1987.

“The days are gone when other syndicates are in awe of the American syndicates,” says Jones, a veteran of the 1983 uproar when the New York Yacht Club tried unsuccessfully to expel Bond’s Australia II from the contest.

“The Americans have got to come out knowing full well that nobody is frightened of them, and they don’t have that psychological advantage” of a 132-year winning streak anymore.

Millionaire industrialist Bond has entered two boats, Australia III and Australia IV, in the defender selection series.

Noting there does not appear to be a “rocket ship” among the challenging 12-Meters, Jones says, “There is a bunch of fast, well-prepared defenders and by Jan. 31, there are going to be two super 12-Meters out there. And I genuinely believe that Australia can successfully defend the Cup.”

Ben Lexcen, the inventor of the winged keel that gave Australia II the winning edge and designer of Bond’s current entries, says there’s no chance the syndicate will become involved in Dennis Conner’s campaign to check the construction of New Zealand’s boat to make sure it doesn’t have an advantage over the aluminium Twelves.

Australia “lives in the biggest glass house in the world” because of its winged-keel innovation and would be “the biggest hypocrite in the world” if it complained about New Zealand’s boat, Lexcen contends.

Jones’s confidence is reflected on the back wall of his office, where each date slot on a chart is filled in with notations. Under the first week of February, large block letters, say, “WIN AMERICA’S CUP.”

Kookaburra skipper Iain Murray, recently named Australian Yachtsman of the Year,” regards the NYYC’s America II team as “the greatest threat” and lists the other top challengers as French Kiss, New Zealand, Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes and Great Britain’s White Crusader.

“This is only a personal thing, from what I’ve seen,” he says. “We have a sophisticated measuring instrument on board our boats for measuring a gain rate, which we have been able to assess most of the other boats with.”

With Taskforce ’87 also entering two new boats, Murray stresses there’s no time to waste.

“The pressure to perform early is on everyone, including us,” says the six-time world 18-foot skiff champion. “I think we’re in pretty good shape,” “We’ve done a lot of research (on hulls) and tried a lot of keels. But that side of our program has slowed down now, although it won’t stop until we defend the Cup.”

Murray sees no obvious obstacles to winning the defender trials.

“I don’t think we have any real problems, or, for that matter, a weakness. It’s quite conclusive to us that what we’ve done is right,” he says.”

The two other defense rivals, South Australia and the Eastern Australian Defence’s Syndicate’s Steak ‘n Kidney, are also confident although Steak n’ Kidney replaced skipper Gary Sheard only days before Saturday’s first race.

The helm went to Fred Neill, sacked from South Australia after the World 12-Meter championship in February.

Steak ‘n Kidney has performed well in informal jousting and has earned the respect of competitors, including Conner.

Syd Fischer, syndicate head, says, “We knew we had an exceptionally fast boat for the 12-22 knot winds expected for the final series, and the speed shown in much lighter winds has come as a nice surprise.”