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Pat did have a little competition from Susan. She was an International-class sloop that Bus sailed in 1950—thereby launching one of the most phenomenal winning streaks in U.S. yachting history. The International skippers whom Bus took on that summer were the elite of U.S. racing: Arthur Knapp, regarded as the best sailor to windward in the business; Bill Luders, a topnotch helmsman and naval architect; and Shields—the very man who had introduced the International to the U.S. 14 years before.-Bus beat them all—that year, the next, the next, the next, the next, the next, the next, and the next. Since the Internationals are one-design boats, each presumably like all the others, the most distinctive thing about Susan was her skipper, as Mosbacher proved in 1957, when—after clinching his eighth straight championship—he took on Bermuda's best in a two-out-of-three match series for the Prince of Wales Trophy. Rules of the match specified that neither crew could sail its own boat. Given their pick of U.S. boats, they unhesitatingly chose Susan, hoping to annoy Bus. He merely shrugged, closed his eyes, pointed—and sailed whatever boat it was (he does not even remember) to two straight victories.
Find the Heel. By Bus Mosbacher's standards, that match was a mild, gentlemanly affair. Not that Bus isn't a gentleman—which he most certainly is, on land at least. He is an attentive hus band, a deeply affectionate father (he usually greets his three boys, who range in age from eleven to 15 with a kiss on the cheek), a loyal friend, a delightful conversationalist. He is the kind of fellow who might take a milkshake instead of a martini, never smokes a cigarette, and always squeezes the toothpaste from the bottom. The worst anybody can say about him is that maybe he isn't quite sloppy enough. Even his smile is nice, a big, shiny perpetual grin. But on a boat, with an opponent to devastate, the smile has a saber-toothed quality about it. "In match racing," says Mosbacher, "the idea is to find your opponent's Achilles' heel—and sink your teeth into it."