Yachting: For Country & for Mug

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Monopolies tend to dull with age, and sporting monopolies are hardly sport at all. The Yankees, for all their skills, team" are with the now fans. New But York's there is "second one ancient monopoly that only grows more exciting with the years. That is the U.S. hold on the America's Cup — symbol of international supremacy in yachting. By the end of this summer, a doughty group of British yachtsmen will have spent close to $600,000 in an attempt to remove the ungainly, Victorian cup from its accustomed place of honor in the New York Yacht Club.

And an equally determined and even more affluent collection of U.S. yachtsmen will have spent at least twice as much to keep the coveted trophy right where it is.

All told, foreign sailors have traveled across the oceans to compete 18 times since 1851, when the schooner America started it all by trouncing a fleet of the fastest boats Britain could muster. Every challenger has returned home emptyhanded. In 1958 Britain's Sceptre went down to a humiliating four straight defeats by the U.S.'s Columbia; two years ago, Australia's Gretel lost 4-1 to Weatherly and its master tactician Bus Mosbacher. Now it is Britain's turn again, and the Royal Thames Yacht Club means to make a sterner test of it. Off Newport, R.I., this summer, two new British twelves will fight it out for the right to challenge the U.S. in the best-of-seven series. They are Sovereign, owned by London Financier Anthony Boy den, 36, and Kurrewa V (pronounced Coo-roo-aa),* jointly financed by British and Australian money and skippered by British Yachtsman Owen Parker, 31.

Made-in-U.S. Look. Both boats were designed by Britain's David Boyd, whose first twelve was Sceptre. But Boyd thinks he has learned about blue-water sailing since then. Gone are Sceptre's tubby lines; the new boats have a swift, made-in-U.S. look with sharp, clean bows, narrow hulls and wide sterns. They could be twins except for the keels: Sovereign's is V-shaped and knife sharp, while Kurrewa's is heavier and rounded.

The two met for the first time three weeks ago off the Isle of Wight, and have been going at it in all weather ever since. So far there is little to choose between them. In eight races, Sovereign has won five times, Kurrewa three. Old Sceptre was there too—as a trial horse, and a mighty worrisome one at that. One day she beat Sovereign, and on another day showed her stern to Kurrewa, leading the Times of London to grumble: "We have heard a great deal about experimenting with different sails and techniques, but the awful suspicion grows that neither Sovereign nor her sister, Kurrewa, may be as good as people hoped." But the Royal Thames sailors put it all down to green crews and believe that the new boats will be far superior to Sceptre after the shakedown sessions are over.

Says Kenneth Poland, vice commodore of the Royal Thames: "We are already talking about where we will defend the Cup after we've won it."