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Where the contrast is sharp is in the crews. Sovereign Owner Tony Boyden, 36, a multimillionaire industrialist who is pouring $300,000 into his Cup project, believes previous British challengers have foundered on lack of disciplined training. Boyden included a couple of rugby players on his eleven-man crew for added muscle, gets everyone up at 6 a.m. every day for calisthenics, insists on "the finest, fittest crew that ever put to sea in a twelve-meter.'' His skipper is Peter Scott, 54, a balding, stocky jack-of-all-outdoors, who is one of Britain's leading ornithologists as well as one of its top glider pilots and sailors. Calm and analytical, he is known as a sharp tactician and a man who brooks no nonsense from his crew.
Kurrewa, on the other hand, is a much more relaxed venture. The boat is jointly owned by Australian Stockbreeders Frank and John Livingston and English Tile Manufacturer Owen Aisher, 64, who manages the crew. Aisher scoffs at organized physical training, believes in a bare minimum of ordering about. At the helm, he has Colonel R.S.G. (Slug) Perry, 55, a career army officer with a long record of blue-water sailing in Britain. His forte is getting the start, and his tactics are more aggressive than Scott's.
Both men handle their twelves well by U.S. or any other standards. But last week Sovereign's crew was the quicker in bringing their boat about, averaging seven seconds to Kurrewa's ten. Sovereign's royal blue also sparkled on several shipshape jibs. If Sovereign does have an edge—and there are likely a dozen trial races to go—it may lie in Helmsman Scott's more studious temperament, which seems to lead him to a better choice of sails, as well as less reluctance to change them if the winds prove him wrong.