It had to be one of the most entertaining America’s Cup campaigns in history, if for no other reason than the style of its prime personality: Ted Turner. Ted took the ’74 winner Courageous back on the water against newly-designed competition and won it all. Throughout the challenges and Cup races, Dick Enersen was there with a film crew, often with the camera on his shoulder himself, and turned out a documentary that still holds up well today, nearly 40 years later.
Tuesday night (11/10) Dick showed the film and talked about how it was made and what it was like to be so close to something so momentous. He had an advantage as the director and producer of the film because he was an experienced sailor who had actually crewed on a winning AC boat himself, the 1964 champ Constellation. That made it possible to convince sailors to let him aboard with his camera and he came away with some great footage. “I knew where to shoot because I knew where people would move on a tack,” he says.
Now working in philanthropy and still sailing for the fun of it, Dick recounted that 1977 action to a crowded Caddy Shack monthly meeting.
For December: the Buccaneer Gift Exchange on December 8.
