Vindt Qui Patitur

By Bill Picker.

No 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 and rounded the first mark with Intrepid 44 sec. ahead. It was a lead he never relinquished--though by the fifth mark the desperate Aussies had shaved the advantage to 20 sec., or barely two boat lengths. Then Picker, reading the shifting wind perfectly, put Intrepid on a starboard tack while Hardy held Gretel II on port in hope of finding a more favorable breeze. He failed. Deftly covering Gretel H's attempts to recover, Intrepid sailed home on a close reach to win by 1 min. 44 sec.

Afterward, while the spectator fleet blared horns and shot flares into the darkening sky, the Intrepid crew gleefully doused Picker's bald head with champagne. Tradition also dictated that they heave him in the drink--which they did with dispatch, thus producing the memorable sight of the two skippers treading water and shaking hands. Yet the end of the 21st cup defense was only a beginning. What used to be a private competition between the U.S. and its English-speaking cousins (Canada, Britain, Australia) is becoming an event of Olympian proportions. As of last week, a tentative line-up for the 1973 race included two challengers from France, Australia and Britain, and one each from West Germany, Canada and Italy. And who will sail for the defense? The victorious Intrepid syndicate lost no time announcing that it will make its bid with a brand-new 12-meter to be sailed by Bill Picker.

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