July 22, 1974

Doug McKeish the boy who had been on the deck of Valiant

Valiant, july 22, 1974

Ted Turner and crew on Valiant

Jeff Neuberth, John Fisher, Richie Boyd

Valiant with a bone in her tail

In 1974, Valiant, which was Sparkman & Stephens mistake, too much bustle, too much displacement; was the only consolation for Mariner, designed by Britton Chance, as she was as slow.
   Courageous was the fastest boat but not as well sailed as Intrepid with Gerry Driscoll as the helm. The selection committee could not choose an old boat (Intrepid)
  The entire story made all the more fun by last weekend's festivities. We could all reminisce about the glorious past. We did have fun, not every day, but it was good.
    Doug McKeish, was a young boy, and when the travel lift strap broke, Valiant fell and that sent Doug flying. I believe the photo was taken by Norris D. Hoyt.
   Almost everyone in these photos came back in 1977 to finish what they could not in 1974.
   Jeff Neuberth was our starboard tailer on Independence, and the Project Manager for the Courageous/Independence Syndicate. He was forced to choose; he was burning the candle at both ends to keep up (despite being a brilliant organizer). One day he was quite literally asleep in the tailer's pit when we went to tack.
   Jeff did much of the organizing for the reunion event, keeping a low profile as usual.

MORE 1974 AMERICA'S CUP

The Bermuda Race is now history, prizes awarded, boats already on their way back. In 1970 when we won on "Carina" we arrived at Montauk the morning of the 4th of July, to the sight of a whale sounding. That night we were entertained by the fireworks at every club and town on each shore all the way to our destination, Greenwich, Ct.

"Courageous" was launched in May. History would show just how good she was. Still today a benchmark boat. The Australians arrived in Newport with "Southern Cross" a Bob Miller aka Ben Lexan design, full of progressive ideas. Her fatal flaw was probably too much wetted surface. She had long overhangs, the theory being that when heeled, waterline length increased. All the foreign boats suffered from inferior sails. It is one area where the United States excelled.

One of the stories that merits mention is the one of the helmsman of "Courageous". Bob Bavier the skipper of name, had replaced Eric Ridder as helmsman in 1964 and was credited with the remarkable turnaround in the success of "Constellation".  By 1974 he was no longer up to the task, "Courageous" the clearly faster boat was struggling to beat "Intrepid" a better sailed boat. Bob Bavier was replaced by Ted Hood and Dennis Connor came aboard from "Mariner" to start the boat.

Bob McCollough, close friend of Bob Bavier was the one who had to speak to his friend. This remained a bitter moment for Bob Bavier the rest of his life.