Word: gretel
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Born in 1945 on V-E day and gone for good just before their 21st birthday, the Sweetmeats came to mean something to just about everybody in America at one time or another. The middle-aged remember them as those darling eight-year-old stars of Hansel and Gretel, tragic dears orphaned by an auto crash, who became the exemplary children of the Marezie Oats oatmeal commercials. To the kids who had to eat the gruel, Pookie and Paul were the double thrust of the '60s youth rebellion. Paul is revered for exposing himself at a Dallas rockfest, Pookie...
...sooner had Intrepid nosed out Australia's Gretel 11 in the fifth and deciding America's Cup race last week than the spectator boat America, a replica of the schooner that first won the cup in 1851, hoisted the signal flags for Q.E.D. (quod erat demonstrandum-which was to be proved). A more fitting postscript would have been V.Q.P., for vincit qui patitur-he that can endure overcometh. In defeating Gretel II by 4-1 in the best-of-seven series, Intrepid had endured the longest (14 days) and strongest challenge in decades...
Indeed, in the first four races Gretel II had shown herself easily as swift a sloop-and perhaps even faster in light airs. What Aussie Skipper Jim Hardy could not prove was his crew's superiority over Intrepid's Bill Picker and his polished young sailors. Time after time, Gretel II grasped for the advantage, only to be frustrated by the seamen aboard Intrepid. The fifth race was more of the same. Gretel II jumped off to an early lead, footing smartly in the soft, fluky winds. In a series of aggressive tacks, Picker overhauled the Aussies...
Turnabout. That seemed to be the case when the two sloops squared off for the first race in a cold rain and stiff, 20-knot winds. Trailing by 200 yds. at the first mark on the triangular 24.3-mile course, Gretel II attempted to set her spinnaker, but it knotted into the dread hourglass shape that is the stuff of a racing skipper's nightmares, and stayed that way for five agonizing minutes. Barely had the crewmen cleared the headsail when Gretel II nosed into a heavy wave that bucked Crewman Paul Salmon off the slippery deck. While...
Angered and disheartened, the Australians lost the third race by 1 min. 18 sec. as Intrepid capitalized on two tactical blunders. The first occurred when Gretel II crossed the starting line 30 sec. before the gun; she had to turn back to cross again, allowing Intrepid to breeze off to a 100-yd. lead. The second goof came on the fifth leg when Gretel II, closing hard on the defender, failed to follow Picker's starboard jibe and went in search of a better breeze on a port jibe. She did not find it. The fourth race saw Intrepid...