A classic.

Kevlar sails went on to become the standard for competitive racing.

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Ted Turner sealed the Defence nomination for Courageous the following day on Tuesday 30th August 1977 with a resounding, tactically brilliant race against Enterprise that saw Courageous on the right side of two shifts on the first leg and, never headed, sailed off to a 1 minute 26 second victory.

There was no other choice, Courageous with Ted Turner, the ‘Mouth from the South’ was the nominated Defender for the America’s Cup having lost just one race from 11 in the trials. Devastating performance and right when it mattered.

After being informed of his nomination to defend the America’s Cup by the NYYC Committee, Turner had commented: “There will never be a time in my life as good as this time. I can’t believe all this is really happening to me.” So, with confidence high, the crew of Courageous, led by a skipper very much at his prime – Turner was 38 years old – the Americans faced a familiar foe, one they had encountered many times on the global grand prix yachting circuit, in Alan Bond.

I know he was a competitive sailor. He may have backed and commercialized the America's Cup yacht racing series.

https://www.americascup.com/history/63_TURNERS-1977-TRIUMPH

Ted Hood meanwhile went a very different way in the overall design approach, eschewing tank-testing and backing his own eye and feel for the lines of what would become ‘Independence’ allied for tax purposes with the Merchant Marine Academy. Also, within the Independence syndicate was Courageous, the 1974 Cup winner that was still eyed as an ultimate 12 Metre design of the era, that was bought predominantly as a benchmark for the newer vessel. Ted Turner, having seen the might of Courageous in the Defender trials in 1974, contacted Hood and offered his services so long as he could campaign Courageous with a chance of securing the defence slot. Hood agreed. The New York Yacht Club weren’t so sure, but Turner had a keen and competitive eye on collating the best sails from both the Hood and North lofts, knowing that neither would sail with cloth of the other.

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Much has been written about the immediate aftermath of the 1977 contest and in particular an unfortunate, rather intoxicated, press conference that occurred immediately after the racing. However, some 32 years later, Gary Jobson, tactician for Courageous caught up with his old crew and asked for recollections of the 1977 Cup to place in an American journal (Sailing World) and Ted Turner offered a snapshot that summed up that summer beautifully: “I think the ’77 Cup race was a high point of our lives. We were the underdogs going into that summer. We were going to have to perform at an absolutely superlative level. It was a crew of 100-percent winners.”

However, when the Defence trials started and after a stellar showing from Courageous who led, Turner was rebuffed in his attempts to buy North Sails with the Enterprise syndicate hiding behind an agreement they had struck in May 1977 with the New York Yacht Club that only sail designs from 1974 could be purchased by any other syndicate. Turner was apoplectic – it was the start of a summer long feud between Lowell North and Turner - but stuck at the task before him, churning out close-fought wins through the observation trials that started in July. With Enterprise tinkering with new cloth patterns, cord depths and highly innovative Kevlar and mylar mix materials, and Independence seemingly always coming off tactically second best, Turner was on a roll and as he described: “The boat speed of all three boats is so close it's frightening, but there is one area that we are strongest – tactics.” And it was Turner’s intense and flourishing relationship with tactician Gary Jobson that proved key that summer.