Sailing: The Knife & the Scow

Still wearing his racing dungarees, Peter Scott, helmsman of Britain's Sovereign, sat in Newport's Ann Street Armory answering reporters' questions. Why was Sovereign's mainsail flapping like a sheet on a clothesline? "I'm afraid," smiled Scott, "that's its normal behavior." Well, what was the most encouraging thing about Sovereign's initial performance? Scott sighed. "The most encouraging thing was that Constellation didn't beat us by more."

If ever a stiff upper lip was called for, this was it. In the first test of the best of-seven series, Constellation had trounced Sovereign by 5 min. 34 sec., leading every foot of the way...

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