Eye Opener
The Kennedys
An avid sailor, President John F Kennedy
boarded the destroyer USS Joseph P Kennedy
Jr with the First Lady in glorious sunshine to
watch the first race of the 1962 America’s Cup
in Newport. The occasion marked the first
challenge for the Auld Mug being mounted by
a country other than Great Britain or Canada
as the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron’s Gretel,
backed by media mogul Frank Packer, went up
against the New York Yacht Club’s Weatherly.
The President gave a speech at a lavish gala
dinner at The Breakers estate the night before,
famously declaring his love for the sea. “All of
us have in our veins the exact same percentage
of salt in our blood that exists in the ocean,
and, therefore, we have salt in our blood, in
our sweat, in our tears,” he said. “We are tied
to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea –
whether it is to sail or to watch it – we are
going back from whence we came.”
Weatherly was victorious in the first race in
front of her distinguished spectators but
three days later Gretel managed to level the
series – the first time an American team had
been beaten since the 1930s. However, this
was short-lived as the defenders fought back
to win the following three races, once again
securing the oldest trophy in sport for the US.
Despite defeat, Australian passion was sparked
and more than two decades later the nation
claimed victory on board Australia II, breaking
132 years of American domination.Image – Robert Leroy Knudsen/National
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