One of the most famous, controversial incidents in America's Cup history took place as the result of a collision at the start of the second race in the 1970 match between Gretel II (Australia) and Intrepid (US). This is the largely untold story by New York Yacht Club race committee chairman Dev Barker, then age 31, of how his committee dealt with the impossible situation, not of their own making, in which they found themselves.