Little changes – Part I

Following the New York Yacht Club’s loss of the America’s Cup in 1983, to Alan Bond’s Australia II syndicate, the late Tom Blackaller, skipper of US Defence candidate Defender, wrote a remarkably dispassionate review of that year’s failure to defend the Auld Mug. Many of Blackaller’s post-Cup conclusions retain relevance during the build-up to the 34th America’s Cup in Barcelona (though the yachts of 1983 were a tad slower). His report, reproduced in two parts, also reminds us of what was lost when Blackaller passed away testing his racing car in the autumn of 1989, just weeks after winning the Fastnet Race on Great News. A mercurial and outspoken giant of grand prix yachting, America’s Cup sailor, sailmaker, motorsport competitor, two-time Star and multiple 6-Metre World Champion and a force of nature in mentoring younger talent, Blackaller’s influence is still felt in the sport, especially in the San Francisco Bay Area which he made his own

Alameda, California, Christmas 1983
I didn’t get involved in last year’s defence of the America’s Cup out of some longstanding desire to be a Cup skipper or out of patriotism or anything like that. I did it because Dennis Conner was apparently going to sail unopposed straight into the 25th defence.