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"Dennis, I do not know what to say," mumbled Australian (Skipper and victor) John Bertrand on the evening of September 25, 1983 when Dennis Conner came to join him after Australia II's historic victory.

"I did my best, John," he replied.

Bertrand answered him: "But it was some kind of boat race, wasn't it?" Drying his tears with a big red handkerchief, Conner could only repeat: "I did my best. I could not do any more than that."

After 132 years of American supremacy and 25 challenges, Conner was the first skipper to lose the America's Cup. - From americascup.com.

Peter Costello was there. ATTLEBORO -

Elbow to elbow with skipper Bertrand, tactician Hugh Treharne, navigator Grant Simmer, grinder John Longley, grinder Brian Richardson, mast man Phil Skidmore, mainsheet trimmer Colin Beashel, trimmer Ken Judge, trimmer Skip Lissam, and bowman Damien Fewster (who replaced injured Scott McAllister), Costello, 62, was one of 11 Australians to defeat the bloated Dennis Conner and take the America's Cup away from the U.S. and the pompous New York Yacht Club.

It was a wild scene in Newport, R.I., that crazy summer a quarter century ago. Australia II had introduced the famous (or infamous) winged keel design which created a furor, an uproar and a controversy. Divers were arrested off Newport docks trying to photograph it underwater.

Down three races to one, Australia II had come back to win the next two races. In the seventh grueling contest on Sept. 25, the yacht passed Conner's Liberty on the final downwind leg of a nip and tuck contest and won the Cup by 41 seconds.

Some vanquished Americans cried 'Foul!' But foul was fair and the Aussies sprayed Foster's and foam in Conner's bleary eyes.

Costello actually was part of two Australian Cup crews - both in 1980 and the glorious races of 1983. The Royal Military College Duntroon, the equivalent of West Point, and Office Cadet School Portsea graduate served 20 years in the Australian Army and did two tours of Vietnam.

For the past 22 years, he has worked for Bain and Company Inc., and is now Director of Global Real Estate. Costello met the former Sheila Lees, native of Pascoag, R.I., in Newport and never left the area, settling in Attleboro for two decades.

SUN CHRONICLE: You were a member of two Australian America's Cup crews, Australia I in 1980 and Austalia II in 1983. Tell me about the first race loss.

PETER COSTELLO: I was actually crewing on a Sydney-based 12 Meter named Gretel 2, whose owner had aspirations of challenging for the Cup in 1980. In order to get his yacht club's support, he was required to compete against the Western Australian syndicate of Alan Bond, who was again challenging with the same yacht he challenged with in 1977, the 12 Meter Australia, which had been modified.

Gretel was soundly beaten in the racing. At the end of the series, I was asked to join the Bond syndicate, which I did. Australia I was very competitive against the other challengers, but no match for Dennis Conner in his yacht, Freedom. We did win one race, but ours was a case of a fast boat and a slow crew. We learned a lot which would help in the 1983 challenge. I met my wife in Newport, so it wasn't all bad.

SC: How did you feel when that ended? Did you want to get right back and try to win again?

COSTELLO: We felt pretty drained at the end; a huge effort and commitment with the usual result in the America's Cup competition: a sound beating by the New York Yacht Club. A bunch of lambs to the slaughter, so to speak. Of course, everyone wants to get straight back into the next competition.

SC: Tell me about Australia II which stunningly captured the Cup back in 1983 and the famous winged keel boat. Was it a big secret before the race?

COSTELLO: I was asked in 1982 to try our for the crew for the 1983 challenge. On my first sail aboard the new yacht Australia 2, I was told to look over the weather rail. What I saw was a blue form under the boat. It was one of the wings on the keel. Normally, you cannot see a conventional keel. This was a new concept in 12 Meters and one that the computer models told the designers would make the boat several minutes faster around the course than anything the New York Yacht Club would put up against us.

The keel need not have been a secret from the New York Yacht Club. Before the trials, each 12 Meter has to be measured to ensure it conforms to the rules. Other syndicates can attend the measurement process. The New York Yacht choose not to attend the Australia 2 measurement and missed the opportunity to see what was under the curtain.

They only became interested in the keel - "Keelgate" - after Australia 2 began to blow away the challenger competition.

SC: Did you get any flack afterwards after you won? Any accusations? I mean, it had been 132 years since America had lost the Cup.

COSTELLO: Not really. Many, if not most, Americans were not great fans of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC) and their 'win at all costs' tactics.

Actually, the NYYC was very gracious in defeat and displayed a lot of class at the handing over ceremony of the Cup at Marble House.

SC: At the time, did you feel that the NYYC was changing the rules as they went along in order to deter your great foreign challenge?

COSTELLO: In the past, the NYYC was both judge and jury when it came to interpreting the rules; for this competition, there was an international jury to arbitrate sailing protests.

The advantage they did have was access to a lot of smart and savvy rules experts. The area that they pushed hard on was the legality of the keel, suggesting it was the invention of Dutch engineers, not Ben Lexcen, the Australia II designer.

All of our tank testing had been done in Holland, and one of Ben's colleagues, Peter Van Oossanen, had a Dutch name, but was Australian.

SC: So, how did it feel to arrive at the Newport docks drinking champagne? Can you describe the atmosphere as you came ashore?

COSTELLO: Actually, it was a pretty dry argument, one can of beer and a sip of champagne until the party later that night. The team management was trying to keep everyone sober until after the press conference.

SC: So, the obvious question, how did it feel to defeat the arrogant Dennis Conner, the defending champ?

COSTELLO: We had very little sympathy for Dennis and his boat 'Liberty,' which we had dubbed the 'Rusty Dutch Barge,' in reference to its Dutch designer Johan Valentijn. Some pretty choice words were exchanged between crews during racing, particularly during the 7th race, I think, when Dennis threatened a collision while we were on different legs of the course.

I was talking to Dennis in Cowes at the 150th Anniversary Regatta of the first America's Cup race and suggested to him that the loss was the best thing that could have happened to him, given his ongoing success after 1983. (Editor's note: Conner went on to win or defend the Cup four times.)

SC: Were there any urges to return to sail in Cup races after 1983?

COSTELLO: I returned to the team for a short time in 1985 to help them train the crew for the 1987 defense, but the fire had gone out and I chose not to try out for that campaign.

SC: What in your personal history or experience in Australia prepared you to be a crew member for a world-class sailing race team?

COSTELLO: I was a rugby player, and had only done a little bit of sailing before getting mixed up with Gretel 2 in Sydney. In certain positions on a 12 Meter or an America's Cup Class boat, it is easier to get an athlete and teach him the position, than get a sailor and try and make an athlete out of him.

For example, on Australia II, the grinders were world-class Olympic rowers.

SC: You are the director of global real estate for Bain and Company Inc. You just came back from Russia and are off to India. Please briefly describe your working life now.

COSTELLO: My company is a top tier management consulting company with 40 offices in 25 countries and continuing to grow. I help the local management teams work through their real estate issues, expand in existing locations and open offices in new locations.

My most recent project was in Moscow, and now I am off to Mumbai, to help our Delhi office move into that market. In any one day or week, I am in e-mail and phone contact with with at least seven of our international locations.

SC: How does it compare to being a world's champion? Do you ever use that resume tidbit in making a sale?

COSTELLO: No, but I did use my America's Cup experience, including some quote about me in a book on the Cup win, in my resume.

Shortly after I joined my present firm over 22 years ago, at an office meeting involving about 500 people, the office head liberally quoted from the resume, much to my embarrassment. So much for trying to fly under the radar.

SC: After Australia, the Cup, Russia, India and world travel, how does living in Attleboro compare?

COSTELLO: I have lived in Attleboro for 18 years and I love the city. Now, if we could only get resident preferred parking at the train station.

JAMES A. MEROLLA can be reached at 508-236-0431 or at jmerolla@thesunchronicle.com.