| Americas Cup 1977 | |
|---|---|
| Country | USA |
| Club | New York Yacht Club |
Americas Cup 1977
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 1977 America's Cup was held in September 1977 at Newport, Rhode Island. The US defender, Courageous, skippered by Ted Turner, defeated the Australian challenger, Australia, skippered by Noel Robins, in a four-race sweep.[2] Courageous' greatest winning margin out of all four races was 2 minutes and 23 seconds.[2] It was the second unsuccessful challenge by Alan Bond
Courageous had beaten Lowell North's Enterprise and Ted Hood's Independence to become the defender. Australia had beaten France, Gretel II and Sverige to become the challenger.[4]
The Australian Challengers | Gretel II Challenge Gretel II 1977 America's Cup Challenge  Our Big Hope for the Americas Cup The following articles and Pictures are from the Rob Olgilvie Collection Our Big Hope for the America's Cup by Bruce Stannard (The Sun) THIS is Gretel II, the boat that came so close to winning the America's Cup in 1970 - the second-hand rose no one wanted in 1974, and the boat that may just win the cup in 1977. GII may be seven years old, but she's no has-been. After months of exhaustive trials on Sydney Harbour, even the most cynical armchair sailors concede this extraordinary boat has a magic quality - a rare combination of speed and grace that mark a great yacht. In 1970, Gretel II became the first modern challenger to rock the 128-year-old cup on its pedestal in the New York Yacht Club when she won a race, came within an ace of winning another and was the victim of a sensational disqualification in a third. Although she was then rated the fastest 12-metre yacht in the world, designer Alan Payne has now made her even faster by streamlining her wooden hull and giving her much more sail area than any of her rivals. Her skipper, veteran international ocean racing helmsman Gordon Ingate, wants to retain the psychological ad-vantage of the under-dog. But already cup defence camps on both the east and west coasts of America are talking about Gretel II as the boat to beat. Rating The most valuable guide so far to the boat's ability has come from Peter Cole, the quiet bearded, cigar smoking sailmaker who has been involved in each of Australia's five America's Cup bids. He rates her "super competitive". "I've never seen an America's Cup boat accelerate as fast as Gretel II," he said. "There's no doubt about it. We've got a really hot machine here." Gretel II will be shipped from Sydney to New York on May 14 aboard the Farrell Lines containership Austral Endurance. On the same ship will be the other Australian challenger, Australia, from the Sun City Yacht Club, just north of Perth. Australia has sailed particularly fast in her Indian Ocean trials against the 1974 challenger Southern Cross. The smart money is already starting to drift toward an all-Australian final in the challenge elimination races at the end of August. The Australian yachts will face two other newly built challenge contenders -from France and Sweden. Named All four will come together in Newport in July for what promises to be the toughest, most intensive build up to any 'challenge in the cup's history. When the challenger is finally named - probably in the first week in September - the stage will be set for one of the world's great yachting duels. The crew on Gretel II were: Gordon Ingate (skipper) Graeme Brown Jack Christofferson Peter Cole Joe Cooper, Leone Cremer Bill Dewar Graeme Ewing John Freedman Geoff Gale Bruce Gould David Kellett Dick Lawson Gordon Marshall Peter Nicholson Robert Olgivie Mark Ross Other Pictures Gretel II Crew  Gretel II Sydney 1977  Gretel II America's Cup Badge  Gretel II Crew Training  Crew for August 11 1977  Gretel II Surfs down the face of a big Pacific roller off Sydney Heads  Gretel II aluminium mast soars 90ft above the water  Gretel II about to pass through the shadow of the Harbour Bridge  The Cup challenger has amazed the experts by sailing at eight knots in a mere eight knot breeze Invitations to events 23rd February 1977  12th August 1977  Social events at the Cup  September 16th 1977  20 Year Reunion  Challenger Series ResultsYC d'Hyeres was the COR. A total of five challenges were submitted; four clubs raced in the selection series. The Challenger of Record's yacht, Baron Bich's France, was eliminated in the semi-finals. Attached are the results of the races.
 America's Cup Round Robin Races - Challenger Series  Race 1 Div 1: Sverige Vs Australia  Race 1 Div II: France Vs Gretel II  Race 2 Div 1 Sverige Vs Gretel II  Race 2 Div 2: Australia Vs France  Race 3 Div 1: Sverige Vs France  Race 3 Div II: Australia VS Gretel II  Race 4 Div 1: Gretel II Vs France  Race 4 Div 2: Australia Vs Sverige  Race 5 Div 1: Australia Vs France  Race 5 Div II: Gretel II Vs Serige  Race 6 Div 1: Australia Vs Gretel II  Race 6 Div 2: Sverige Vs France 1  Race 7 Div 1: France I Vs France II  Race 7 Div 2: Sverige Vs Australia  Race 8 Div 1: Australia Vs France 1  Semi Finals Race 2 Div 1: Australia Vs France I  Semi Finals Race 2 Div 2: Sverige Vs Gretel II  Semi Finals Race 3 Div 1: Sverige Vs Gretel II  Semi Finals Race 3 Div 2: Australia Vs France  Semi Finals Race 4 Div 1: Australia Vs France 1  Semi Finals Race 4 Div 2: Sverige Vs Gretel II  Gretel II Schedule  Gretel II Schedule |