Word: bertrand
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...that point Conner chose to ignore one of the cardinal rules of match racing, failing to keep Liberty between his opponent and the next mark. "We decided to look for wind," said Conner. It was Bertrand who found it. As they rounded the first mark, the Aussies led by 23 sec., having made up a whole minute. Liberty's strut broke again, and Conner was unable to trim his main properly; by the end Australia II had a 1 min. 47 sec. lead...
...since 1934 that a challenger had won two races. Even with a 3-2 disadvantage, the Aussies were back in the game for keeps. And in Newport the insidious notion began to grow that they might actually win it. "We have got the momentum now," said Australia's Bertrand...
...sixth race, sailed in crystalline weather, there were moderate twelve-knot winds from the northwest. Bertrand lost the start again, this time by 7 sec., but soon into the first tack spotted something his opponent had not: dark patches of water, indicating a wind buildup on the left side of the course. He sailed for it, again uncovered by Conner, who said later, "We missed it." As Liberty rounded the first mark 2 min. 29 sec. behind Australia II, Gary Jobson, a winning crew member in Ted Turner's 1977 defense, exclaimed, "This is a disaster!" The flying bridge...
...last-ditch effort, as Bertrand made his final rounding of the windward mark more than 3 min. ahead, Conner tried to sail over his opponent, get to leeward of Australia II and force it to head back up to windward. He was about a minute too late. By the end of the race, in constantly shifting winds of up to 19 knots from the southwest, Bertrand led by a whopping 3 min. 25 sec. The series was tied 3-3. From London to Perth, the betting was on Australia...
...Americans called another day off, and both crews rested on Sunday. Meanwhile, in anticipation of light air, which has generally favored his opponent, Conner sent Liberty to a Narragansett Bay dockyard for adjustments of the ballast in its bottom. The Australians would just as soon have heavy weather. Skipper Bertrand, who took a master's degree in ocean engineering at M.I.T., recalls that he once took his boat out in a "cyclone just to see what she'd do." Says he: "It was blowing 45 or 50 knots. We couldn't even get the deck...