Word: murrayism
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Boat design has been critical in Fremantle. Murray and his co-designer, John Swarbrick, relied on hours of tank-testing models with Dutch Wizard Peter van Oossanen, who helped develop Australia II. As for Conner, he and his syndicate president, San Diego Businessman Malin Burnham, put together what Burnham calls a "mini-NASA" of more than 20, including aerospace scientists and hydrodynamics researchers. "Having the wrong fit between boat and local weather would have been fatal," explains Design Manager John Marshall. In search of the ideal hull, the team used a computer analysis of wind and wave conditions...
...delegate," says Whidden. "This is a team sport and not a single man's quest for victory." He believes Conner's greatest growth since 1983 has been in his ability to get good people and allow himself to rely on them. Will his team win? Or will Parry and Murray's Kookaburra mates refuse to yield the Cup? As the racing began, most experts favored Conner, but Australian Skipper John Bertrand, who won the Cup in 1983, loyally picked Kookaburra, 4-3. Ronald Reagan and Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke could not stay out of the guessing game...
...From what we saw of his clash with the Kiwis," said Iain Murray, 28, the Kookaburra helmsman, "Conner had no great speed advantage. He won because he was always in the right spot." Another well-fed skipper -- "Lard" to his mates -- Murray cuts a Dennis figure in several ways. As New York had shunned Conner, Murray was passed over by Perth Millionaire Alan Bond, the Cup's Australian guardian. Sailing for Business Rival Kevin Parry, Murray whacked Bond's Australia IV 5-0. "He even looks a little like me," says Conner. "He lost at the America's Cup last...
Their first confrontation was less conclusive than it appeared, though in Murray's opinion Conner went too far in his gracious references to luck. "I'm not a great believer in luck in sailing," he said. "The shifting winds favored the boat in front, but Dennis made the most of his opportunities to get there. We got to where we thought we wanted to be on the start; we thought wrong. What Dennis left us was pretty much zilch...
Among the alibis Conner offered and Murray declined were the narrowness of the starting line and the nearness of the spectator fleet. A ragtag armada, 800 remarkable vessels ranging from the Achille Lauro to the Love Boat, tails along in a boiling wash. "They were a factor," insisted Conner, who called for more elbow room. In the second race the wind came up, and while tight quarters prompted a momentary Kookabura protest, Stars & Stripes ran away again and plainly seemed capable of doing it in any conditions...