And Then There Was One

At least one expert was already satisfied. "I'd have to go with Weatherly--she's the all-round boat," said Briggs Cunningham, who skippered Columbia to victory over Britain's Sceptre in the 1958 America's Cup. "It's hard to think that the cup committee would go for a boat as weak as Nefertiti has proved in light air."

The record of Henry Mercer's 12-meter Weatherly spoke for itself. Three times off Newport last week, Weatherly trounced Ross Anderson's Nefertiti to make a runaway of their climactic duel for the right to defend the America's Cup next month against Australia's Gretel. In each of the three races, the boat skippered by Bus Mosbacher won by a bigger margin.

The end had already come for two of the four yachts battling for the defender's job. After six races of the final trials last week, cup officials eliminated Chandler Hovey's Easterner (record: no wins, six losses) and Paul Shields's Columbia (3-3), leaving Weatherly (5-1) and Nefertiti (4-2) to race on alone.

More than 100 spectator boats were on hand two days later as Nefertiti and Weatherly jockeyed for the start of their own elimination race. A balmy 12-knot breeze riffled the Atlantic. Aboard a tender, members of the Race Committee, which had laid out a 24-mile windward-leeward course, checked their chronometers and studied the 12-meters through binoculars. A superb boat in light air, Weatherly was already the commanding favorite. Deftly, Mosbacher beat Ted Hood to the start, had a three-length lead crossing the line. He increased the margin until at the finish Weatherly was 13 boat lengths and 1 min. 26 sec. in front.

Next day was a repeat performance, only on a far grander scale. This time the Race Committee decreed a triangular course with equal eight-mile legs. And in another afternoon of light breezes (5-8 knots), Mosbacher clearly had the better boat. On the first leg, Weatherly opened up a lead of more than six minutes, and Hood was only able to nibble at it the rest of the way. At the finish line, Weatherly was a crushing 4 min. 41 sec. ahead.

The third race was even more devastating. This time Weatherly won by 5 min. 39 sec., and that was it. Though America's Cup officials had until Sept. 8 to decide, there was little use waiting any longer. They announced that Weatherly and Bus Mosbacher had been chosen as the U.S. defender. Said Mosbacher: "I'm delighted, simply delighted."

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