Word: coxes
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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Sailor & Sportsman. It was a long sail for the newly built 12 meter. In the opening sets of trials, Eagle and her skipper William Cox seemed able to beat anything without wings. What made Connie the better boat eventually was a difficult-and genuinely sportsmanlike-move on the part of Eric Ridder, 46, her skipper and part owner. Though Ridder is a crackerjack blue-water sailor, he never could get the better of Eagle's Bill Cox. So he turned the start and the all-important windward legs over to his second in command, Bob Bavier, 46. "It takes...
Bavier's special excellence is getting the last fraction of a knot out of his sails and hull. Not a man for complex tactics, he left most of the maneuvering to Cox, instead concentrated on speed. With that strategy, he lost only once in seven races-and then in fluky breezes that wandered all round the compass. Five of the six wins were not even close. That still left Eagle with the better overall record for the trials (19-10 v. Connie's 18-11), but there could be no question as to which was now the faster...
...back to the sailmaker as many as ten times; they will all be stored away until the big day. "I think we have the best 12 meter that ever floated," adds the proud helmsman. "Well, don't be the first to lose to the British," laughed Eagle Skipper Cox, offering his congratulations. "My God," said Ridder, "what an appalling thought...
Newport jangled with rumors of arguments among Eagle's crew. Skipper Cox, swallowing earlier statements about "the best crew any 12-meter ever had," bounced veteran Deck Boss John Nichols and one alternate. Concerned about the boat's sluggishness in light air, Eagle Designer Bill Luders narrowed the forward edge of her keel, replaced the lost weight with inside ballast, and reduced the rudder area...
...days later they were at it again, and this time Eagle made it exciting. As usual, Cox won the start for Eagle, defended masterfully through a series of furious tacking duels, and led Bavier's Constellation around all five marks of the 24.3-mile Olympic course. Turning the final buoy for the 4½-mile upwind beat to the finish, Cox had a 22-sec. lead. Then Bavier set a new jib on Constellation and launched an exhausting short-tacking drive; 17 times in 15 minutes he put about, gaining a precious second or two on each tack...