A Letter From the Publisher

By Robert L. Miller

Soon after Australia won the America's Cup in 1983, TIME Correspondent John Dunn, based in Melbourne, flew to Fremantle, where this year's competition was scheduled to be held. "I had not been there before because there had never been any reason to go," says Dunn. "Fremantle was a fading city, tired and tatty, with peeling paint and broken-down buildings."

During the next three years, Dunn made nine visits to Fremantle and watched the city, once a thriving colonial port, regain its past vibrancy as it played host to thousands of spectators. After deciding in December that the four-hour plane trip from Melbourne was too time consuming, Dunn and his assistant, Di Webster packed their files and computers onto the Indian-Pacific train and opened a new office 1,700 miles away, in a Fremantle town house a few hundred yards from the marinas.

Since then they have tracked the races in boats, from helicopters and even on bicycles. Dunn kept TIME readers posted on the trials and immersed himself in the slowly building drama. This week he contributed to both the profile of Dennis Conner and the accompanying piece, written by Associate Editor J.D. Reed, on the intricacies of 12-meter racing. "In almost 20 years with TIME, I have never covered a comparable event," he observes. "It seems to have gone on for so long that it is hard to believe there is life without a Cup story."

Photographers Leo Mason and Daniel Forster have become accomplished sailors during their stay in Fremantle. Mason, who compares coverage of the contest to "four months of living inside a washing machine and spin dryer," has hung out his cameras to dry after each day's work. Forster has 15 years of experience as a marine photographer, which helped him retain his composure when he and Mason were taking photos of Conner's Stars & Stripes last week and their motorboat began to sink. They quickly radioed for help.

Associate Editor Tom Callahan, who wrote this week's cover story on Skipper Dennis Conner, faced his own logistical complications. After a 14-hour flight from Los Angeles, Callahan arrived in Sydney and immediately caught a plane to Perth. From there he headed directly to Fremantle harbor for a training session aboard Stars & Stripes. That experience may sound almost as turbulent as a go-around in the washing machine, but it left Callahan feeling exhilarated. "Conner is so at one with his crew, he barely has to give orders. It's really stirring to be on board with the greatest sailor in the world."