BACK TO THE STATES

Dennis Conner, basking in presidential welcomes and ticker-tape parades through New York was in no rush to settle the details of the next event, and New Zealand, exploiting a loophole in the century old Deed of Gift, demanded an immediate challenge in 1988.

The event descended into a farce, with the Kiwis in a giant 134-foot waterline boat against Conner in a much smaller but faster hard-winged catamaran. The best of three series went to the Americans and after numerous court challenges - the teams spent far more time battling in a courtroom than they did on the water - the result stood.