Let me pose a discussion question for the metallurgists and engineers in our audience.

It has been often recounted that these big America’s Cup boats were subject to galvanic action. Indeed, DEFENDER, 1895 America’s Cup defender had aluminum deck frames and it was said that she was quickly corroding away under her paint!

Our RELIANCE had 102.5 tons of lead attached to steel frames, tobin bronze plates, iron boiler tubes for cross-bracing, and various nickel steel, cast iron, cast steel, Al Bz, and bronze fittings. She was unpainted below the waterline – just polished tobin bronze and lead.

So, how susceptible to galvanic action was RELIANCE?