America’s Cup Trials : Lack of Wind Is Blowing Away Conner’s Hopes
As helpless as a beached whale, Dennis Conner’s heavy weather 12-meter wallowed back to fourth place in the America’s Cup challenger trials after a light-air, 29-second loss to Canada II Wednesday.
Conner remains convinced that if the wind blows, Stars & Stripes will win back the America’s Cup for the United States.
“I believe we have a heck of a chance to win if the winds are between 15 to 30 knots,” he said. “If the winds continue at 9 knots, then we’re dead. The boat was designed for the historically heavy winds that hit Fremantle.”
Conner pointed out that when the wind has been heavy, Stars & Stripes has defeated its opponents by big margins.
With flat seas and winds rarely surpassing 10 knots Wednesday, Stars & Stripes trailed for six of the eight legs but led Canada II around the last leeward mark by eight seconds.
But then Conner broke a basic racing rule in the final 100 yards of the 24.5-mile race when he failed to cover Terry Neilson’s last tack and the Canadian skipper found a favoring wind shift that took him across the line first.
The Canadian crew has won only two races in the second round-robin series with its modified 12-meter from the 1983 campaign.
“If there is one person everyone would like to beat, it’s Dennis,” said Neilson. “He has the most experience.”
In the previous two days of light wind, Stars & Stripes lost to White Crusader and had to come from behind to edge Azzurra, which has won only two races.
Front-running New Zealand, which seems to find any kind of conditions agreeable, easily beat Italia by 5:47 to remain unbeaten in the second round.
The second round will end today, with Conner racing second-place America II. The third round will begin Dec. 2.
America II, the New York Yacht Club’s entry, remained five points behind New Zealand by whipping Chicago’s Heart of America by 4:18.
Britain’s White Crusader defeated Eagle, the Newport Beach entry, by 3:18 to move past Stars & Stripes into third place with 43 points. Stars & Stripes is one point ahead of French Kiss, which beat Italy’s Azzurra by 4:12.
In Wednesday’s other race, San Francisco’s USA defeated hapless Challenge France by 8:04 after skipper Tom Blackaller turned over the helm to tactician Paul Cayard and spent the day ashore with his bride-to-be, Christine Gummersbach. They are scheduled to be married next month.
America’s Cup Notes In the defenders’ series, Kookaburra III dealt another blow to Alan Bond’s syndicate by beating Australia IV by 3:18. . . . Each victory in the second round is worth five points. First-round wins were worth one point, and third-round victories will be worth 12 points. The top four boats will make the challenger semifinals after Christmas. . . . Off the race course, the British White Horse Syndicate, sponsor of White Crusader, has fueled a smoldering issue with confirmation that it has had another new keel molded in Australia. The Royal Perth Yacht Club, holder of the cup, has said it believes having a foreign challenger use a keel poured in Australia would be in violation of the rules, which states that all major components must be products of the country the boat represents. White Crusader’s keel was changed between the first and second rounds, but that new keel was shipped from England. . . . As the second round neared its end, Eagle was still awaiting a new mast and planned more modifications to the boat before the third round.