To Win at All Costs

In the first 35 minutes we get a very comprehensive history of the Auld Mug, with some welcome achieve footage stretching back to the start of moving pictures interspersed with a few features on (then) modern 12 metre yacht technology. Oh, and Peter De Savry asking his employees how much money they've made today.

Although this was clearly released as if it were a review of the 1983 competition. Only the final 10 minutes focuses on that event. The story is told competently enough.

However this video leaves you cold, there is no excitement at any point. John Bertand (Aus II) skipper is barely mentioned. Dennis Conner appears only in incidental footage and I can imagine a casual viewer wondering what all the fuss is about.

Overall an empty production, as empty as the room the Cup used to stand in, inside the New York Yacht Club perhaps.

Note, the UK VHS cover I've uploaded states a running time of 55 mins. That is false the credits have rolled by 45 on my tape. But this was before any UK legislation on video tapes.