Reprinted with permission from Sailing World
October 2007

Following on the heels of the 32nd America's Cup, our winning crew aboard Courageous in 1977 reunited for our 30th anniversary in August. A three day weekend in Newport, RI was a chance to renew our strong bonds, visit Newport, the one time home of the America's Cup, and sail our old 12 meter, Courageous. In my long sailing career I've never been with a tighter group of people. I took a few minutes to sit down with every member of the crew to reflect on the past and comment on the current America's Cup.

          The nature of Cup campaigns have changed dramatically over the past 30 years.  Today, big salaries and international free agency dominate professional sailor’s lives as they look for a berth.  In contrast in 1977 there were no tryouts, or salaries.  Everyone grew up hoping to one day take part in the Cup.   Thanks to Ted Turner we were all asked to be on the crew.  Even though families and careers have separated us we are still a team.  In 2003 I was inducted into the America's Cup Hall of Fame.  At the time I was going through chemo treatments.  In a show of support every member of the crew showed for the dinner. I wonder if present day Cup teams would ever get a 100% turnout for a re union?

          I suppose every sport will have comparisons of athletes from different eras. In 1977 a film was made by Dick Enersen and he labeled our campaign "The Best Defense."  Just last year Ted Hood remarked in a speech he gave at the New York Yacht Club that he thought that the Courageous crew was the best America's Cup team he had ever seen. It was a nice compliment. But bringing us back down to earth was a clever slogan that Robbie Doyle's wife, Janet, came up with, "The older they get…the better they were." The phrase was printed on a set of T shirts for our team and families.  We wore the shirts with pride.

          The '77 campaign lasted 10 months with weekend sailing in the fall and spring and full time practice and racing starting on June 1. By September Skipper Ted Turner was leading a highly efficient team. Courageous won the final trials with a 10-1 record and swept Alan Bond and Australia 4-0.

          When we went sailing on Courageous last month, I was nervous that everyone would jump into the tactician's spot. After all the crew had all gone on to successful careers and many were now boat owners.  Each was used to being in charge.  Lucky for me, the entire crew gravitated to their old positions.  Returning to the cockpit of Courageous felt very familiar. It was a happy feeling.

           On the first day most of our children (now in their 20s) were sailing aboard Intrepid. It was a friendly outing until Intrepid came across our bow and tacked right on our wind. With that, a tacking duel ensued. As fortune would have it, we found a very nice wind shift to turn the tables and take the lead.  It might have been our last hurrah.  But we took it.

          The synergy of the Courageous crew started with a clear vision and strong leadership.  All of us had such a strong passion to participate that the individual gave way to the team.  It is a lesson that can apply to crews on all boats.  Here are the thoughts of each member of the crew:

Ted Turner (Skipper), "I think the '77 Cup Race was a high point of our lives. We had such a great time together. We were the underdogs going into that summer. We were going to have to perform at an absolutely superlative level. It was a crew of 100% winners"

Bill Jorch (Navigator), "What I remember most clearly is that the crew never got down. We had a positive attitude. I always felt I wanted to give my absolute best because I didn't want to let Ted down."

Robbie Doyle (Main Trimmer), "You learned a lot about leadership the way Ted directed people. He gave everybody a little compartment to do their thing."

Bunky Helfrich (Sail Trimmer), "We were able to form a bond that will never be surpassed. We were all amateurs. We sanded the bottom of the boat and did all the work ourselves. There was never any individual blame. If somebody messed up there was always somebody there to pick up the slack. It is one of the finest things that happened to me."

Richie Boyd (Sail Trimmer), "Everybody was critically important in both sailing and maintaining the boat. We worked together, we slept together, ate together. All the pieces fit."

Paul Fuchs (Grinder), "You could see the way Ted was thinking. Everything worked. There wasn't yelling. Everybody knew what they had to do. Things went smoothly. We were a family."

Dick Sadler (Grinder), "I never felt any overwhelming pressure or strains because I knew everyone else was going to be able to handle their job."

Stretch Ryder (Pitman), "With Ted he had this aura around him. His 'can do' attitude was inspirational. He just let us do our jobs. You could rely on the guy behind you and the guy in front of you. Conn Findlay was a stabilizing factor. He never got flustered."

Conn Findlay (Sewer Man), "I think one time we had a problem. It involved the front end of the boat. After it was all over, Ted came forward and asked, 'Do you know what you did wrong?' And the answer was, 'yes'. End of conversation."

LJ Edgcomb (Bowman),  "We jelled as a team because people found their roles and their jobs. We had to figure out how to keep the boat in one piece. If you do the little things you can win the big things. We kept checking and double checking."

Marty O'Meara (Crew Boss), "The crew was extremely dedicated and very knowledgeable. If you had to sum it up in one word which became a key word in the Turner campaigns, it would be tenacious."

Jeff Neuberth (Project Manager), "It was a tight unit. Ted always had the theory that the sum of the whole is greater than the parts. It was a no rock star deal, everybody pulled together."

          In addition to sailing our group had dinner at the famous Clarke Cooke House, visited the Herreshoff Marine Museum and the International Yacht Restoration School, and enjoyed John Biddle’s lecture which he performed live.  John is now 82 and has long retired from giving film lectures around the country.  For our re-union John spliced together 24 minutes of brilliantly shot clips and added his dry humor.  At the end we gave John a sustained standing ovation. 

          Dick Enersen and his entire production team surprised us with a visit too.  Dick presented the crew with a copy of The Best Defense, now available on DVD.  It is a shame on board cameras and microphones did not record Ted for live TV.  It would have made for great theater. 

          As for Courageous, the boat has never looked better.  Craig Millard made a long term charter with the Museum of Yachting and brought the boat up to speed.  With several modifications the boat may be faster than she was during her cup days.  Jimmy Gubleman and a team of American sailors are currently campaigning Courageous in Europe.  I’m going on a hunch that the boat will do well, just as she did for us.

          Today’s cup sailors might have trouble relating to the attitude of 30 years ago.  But our crew also looks sideways at the current status.  Bill Jorch notes, "The Cup has lost its nationality.  It has lost its national pride."  Robbie Doyle has a different take, "you look at all the money spent and how little real development there was in sailboats.  They’re still sailing around with big lead keels, and the sails all look the same.  It would be nice to find a whole new avenue of speed.

          There were some other America's Cup milestones this year.  Stars and Stripes won back the Cup from Australia twenty years ago, and Intrepid won four straight 40 years ago.  Both crews marked the occasion with events.  Perhaps Olin Stephens should have a special toast to his team on Ranger that won 70 years ago.  At 99 years old he is the last surviving member of that team.  It makes me wonder what there will be to celebrate in 20, 30, 40 or 70 years from now.  I bet the same thing:  good friendship, a sense of accomplishment, and a healthy concern for the future.