Little America's Cup gallery - 2

Christian Fevrier's amazing images from the final battle between the US and Australia

Below: photo by Annie Fyot/Bluegreen

Steve Clark is the Chairman of Vanguard Racing Boats, in Warren, Rhode Island. He led the Cogito Project as owner and project manager since since work started on it in 1993. His boatyard has produced several hundred racing dinghies (Finns, etc) including the 45 Finns for the Barcelona Olympic Games.

He is a certified speed-sailing addict, having been raised on his father's C-Class cats in the early 1960s. His father, Van Alan Clark, was the first US challenger in 1962 with Beverly, but was beaten by the British Hellcat. He followed that with his own passion for the very swift 10-square-meter International sailing Canoes, where he was once world champion and thrice runner-up.

He built the Duncan MacLane-skippered C-Class Patient Lady VI, which lost the Trophy in 1985 to Victoria 150, the Australian Challenger designed by Lindsay Cunningham. He was alternate helmsman for this defence.

When Tony DiMauro, who had backed all the Patient Lady challenges and defences, died in 1993, Steve Clark and Duncan MacLane, the helmsman and wing designer, decided to challenge the Australians.

With his wife Kim often crewing with him, Steve Clark steered the revamped Patient Lady VI ( + 15% in sail area) for the two-boat tuning against Cogito from July 1995 onwards and then in Australia for two months prior to the Cup.



Duncan MacLane (right), designer, skipper and helmsman of Cogito, seen here on the McCrae beach after his 1996 victory against The Edge. A well known American naval architect Duncan MacLane has won the Little America's Cup four times : in 1977,1978,1980 and 1982. He was co-designer of the wings for these challengers with Dave Hubbard, one of the leading aerodynanmicists, since 1971.

He lost the Little America's Cup Trophy in 1985, beaten by Victoria 150, powered by a new two-slot wing which was faster downwind.

With Dave Hubbard, MacLane designed the wingmast for Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes America's Cup catamaran. Always seated besides Dennis Conner, to teach him (Dennis had no experience at all of C-Class cats), Duncan was in fact the secret skipper of the boat.

Dave Hubbard (left) is one of the big brains of the Little America's Cup family. He was part of the design team for Cogito, alongside Alex Brincko and Duncan MacLane.