Chicago Wakes Up a Winner : Heart of America and Melges Upset NYYC’s America II
For Buddy Melges, it was one to call home about. He could even reverse the charges.
It was after 2 a.m. in the Midwest Tuesday when Melges sailed Heart of America across the finish line in a shocking 56-second victory over the New York Yacht Club’s America II to open the third round of America’s Cup challenger trials.
“We awakened our directors in Chicago,” Melges said. “I think they’ll be up all night.”
Melges, 56, is the most popular skipper in Fremantle but had won only 5 of 23 previous races, so his win was well-received on both sides of the globe. Spectator boats blasted their horns, the media center erupted in cheers and applause, and Dennis Conner sent over four cases of beer, all celebrating victory for the corn belt campaign over the powerhouse from Madison Avenue.
Conner’s gesture was partly self-serving. America II’s defeat, coupled with Conner’s win over Canada II by 3:46, hiked San Diego’s Stars & Stripes into second place behind once-beaten New Zealand, which wiped out last-place Challenge France by 7:29.
Newport Beach’s Eagle hadn’t yet got the hang of its new surfboard-shaped keel and lost to Britain’s rebuilt White Crusader by 5:14.
San Francisco’s USA dumped its jib and spinnaker while trailing Italia around the last mark by 1:36 and loafed the last upwind leg without a headsail, losing by 12:39.
As America II slipped to fourth, French Kiss moved into third by drubbing Azzurra by 3:42.
Although summer arrived Monday in Australia, the wind was chilly as it built from 14 knots at the start to as strong as 26--Conner’s conditions. But it’s still too soon to tell whether the pattern will prevail.
Nearly every syndicate tinkered with its boats between rounds, some with more success than others. Britain put a new upturned bow on White Crusader, and Melges added tiplets to the wings on his keel.
What are tiplets?
“Tiplets are what you put on the end of winglets,” Melges explained.
Actually, they are wafer-thin extensions meant to give the 12-meter more stability in a straight line.
“We hope the tiplets have been the equalizer,” said Melges, who has run a wide-open compound in a sea of secrecy.
He teased photographers, saying: “Please turn in all your photos of the Heart of America wings. We aren’t going public anymore.”
The only doubt was whether Heart was beating faster or America II had suddenly gotten slower.
“God, I hope not,” Melges said.
Melges passed America II, skippered by John Kolius, by slipping into the inside position four boat lengths before they rounded the first leeward mark, but he never led by more than 45 seconds until the finish.
“I gotta give him credit,” Melges said as tactician Dave Dellenbaugh joined him for the post-race press conference. “I just steer.”
Dellenbaugh said: “You’ve gotta keep Buddy from getting too distracted out there.”
Melges agreed. “I have a tendency to look around and enjoy the other races,” he said.
Kolius said: “I would assume that Heart of America is going better than she was, but, by and large, we weren’t achieving our optimum speed.”
Asked if he had selected the wrong mainsail in anticipation of lighter wind, Kolius looked at tactician John Bertrand, who nodded his head.
“But our mainsail didn’t have anything to do with the way Heart of America sailed,” Kolius added. “We didn’t do a very good job of protecting the little lead that we had.”
Kolius’ loss set up a critical race today against Conner.
“It should be a lot of fun,” Kolius said.
Considering that third-round wins are worth 12 points each, up from 1 in the first round and 5 in the second, Melges was asked if he was starting a roll that would carry him into the semifinals.
“Because we won one race against America II?” he replied. “I don’t think so. Maybe if we win 10 more.”
America’s Cup Notes Kookaburra III came from behind to defeat stablemate Kookaburra II by 32 seconds as the defenders also started third-round competition. For a time, with the boats virtually side by side, it seemed K-III was going to let K-II win to pick up points on rival Australia IV that could lead to an all-Kookaburra semifinal. . . . The biggest surprise was a 5:54 win by Steak ‘n Kidney over South Australia. Syndicate chairman Syd Fischer took over as tactician. . . . Eagle still doesn’t have the new mast it ordered after the first round, but skipper Rod Davis said they had about 90% of the 18 new sails expected. A new problem may be a change in handling characteristics created by the boat’s new keel, especially in tacking. “It’ll be different,” Davis said. “We’ll have to use a different style.” . . . USA’s Tom Blackaller says steering problems on the double-ruddered boat have been worked out. “We’ve spent about $5,600,000 on the boat and we do have everything we need,” he said. “There are no excuses along that line.” . . . Dennis Conner indicated that the main reason he went home between the second and third rounds was to see about building permits for the expansion of his drapery business in San Diego. . . . The top six boats had keel samples taken between rounds to check for depleted uranium, an illegal material, but there are still no plans to take core samples of hulls--specifically, New Zealand’s fiberglass KZ7. . . . On suggestions by an Australian syndicate that one or more challengers were illegally receiving weather information after the 10-minute warning and during races, Kiwi skipper Chris Dickson said: “We have not received any information and have no intentions of receiving any. We do not have any equipment capable of receiving any. The rules are very specific.”