Word: gretel
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...usual. But Warwick Hood, the Down Under architect who designed Australia's new America's Cup challenger Dame Pattie, insists that he actually has hit on something new. And maybe he has. So far in the shakedown trials off Sydney, Dame Pattie has trounced Gretel, the 1962 Aussie challenger-and the only foreign twelve-meter ever to beat a U.S. defender in an America's Cup race-so badly that onlookers have been wondering where Hood hid the engine...
Their first formal encounter came three weeks ago over a 24-mile Olympic-style course, in seas so heavy that spectator boats turned back. An old hand at match racing (he was Gretel's helmsman in 1962), Dame Pattie's Skipper Jock Sturrock caught Gretel going the wrong way at the start and gradually widened the gap to 1 min. 54 sec.-mostly during the beats to windward, in which Gretel hobbyhorsed badly while Dame Pattie slid smoothly through the crashing swells. It was the second race, in smooth seas and light winds, that certified Dame Pattie...
...that would probably have to wait until after next summer's America's Cup races off Rhode Island. In the meantime, Hood is concentrating on more current projects-like trying to figure out why Dame Pattie's mast keeps snapping off. In a race against Gretel two weeks ago, Dame Pattie was leading by 5 min., only 250 yds. from the finish line, when her mast collapsed. Maybe she is just too fast for her own good...
...Aussies actually have two boats: Sir Frank Packer's four-year-old Gretel and Dame Pattie, a new twelve that is owned by a Melbourne syndicate headed by Emil Christensen, 71, a food processor. Gretel is not the same boat that lost to the U.S.'s Weatherly in 1962. Three feet have been lopped off her stern; her cockpit, deck equipment and keel have all been greatly altered. To win the challenger's role, however, Gretel will have to beat Dame Pattie-and that may be quite a chore...
...Dame has a radical rudder (broad at the top, tapering sharply at the foot) and a 92-ft. aluminum mast that is built in sections for extra flexibility-to keep the mainsail flatter while beating to windward. She also has Jock Sturrock at the helm. In unofficial competition with Gretel, Dame Pattie has been spectacular. Last week Skipper Sturrock spotted Gretel a full minute, was ahead by 6 min. 45 sec. after 15 miles...