Now, French Kiss Skipper Says He Plans to Protest

A day before the America’s Cup challenger semifinals are to begin, the French already have their protest flag flying.

In one moment this morning, French Kiss syndicate chief Admiral Rene Marqueze indicated that his group was postponing court action against the fiberglass New Zealand boat it will meet in a best-of-seven series.

“Just to avoid any disturbance prior to the racing tomorrow, we decided not to lodge any action for the time being,” Marqueze said at a press conference.

But a minute later skipper Marc Pajot said: “Yes, we will protest with a red flag . . . about the measurement . . . on the first race.”

New Zealand syndicate chairman Michael Fay, also present, seemed flabbergasted.

“We were going to court this morning,” Fay said. “Now, we’re going to a protest room. I think there could be perhaps some confusion in the French camp. Possibly, we might try to clarify things.”

Fay proposed a meeting with Marqueze to settle the issue between themselves.

Marqueze said: “I’ll wait and see.”

Somewhere down the line, it seems inevitable that Fay will have to submit KZ7 to public core sample tests that will determine once and for all whether the boat has proper weight distribution or is illegally light in the ends. In the meantime, all anyone can do is take the word of Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, which certifies the America’s Cup 12-meters.

USA skipper Tom Blackaller, who meets Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes in the other semifinal, has an opinion about that.

“The Lloyd’s Registry of Shipping certifying these America’s Cup racers,” Blackaller said, “is a little bit like having the Royal English Trucking Assn. certify a Formula One race car.”

Blackaller was asked: “If not Lloyd’s, who?”

Blackaller: “I didn’t say Lloyd’s shouldn’t.”

Conner, seated three feet away, pointed gleefully at his archrival and said: “Yes, you did.”

Blackaller: “The hard technology of the America’s Cup does not lend itself to having a shipping company certify the boats. It would be better if (we) were allowed to build the boats like they want to. We’d have much faster boats, stronger boats, lighter boats and boats that didn’t cost as much.”

Asked if USA intended to pursue the New Zealand issue should they meet, Blackaller said: “We don’t have a legal department.”

Conner: “You could borrow Harold’s legal department. I understand they’re available.”

The reference was to Britain’s Harold Cudmore, who filed three futile protests against USA over their race in the last round and was eliminated.

Lloyd’s recertified KZ7 a week ago, even before Fay requested that several small holes be drilled to check the thickness of the hull, not to be confused with removing core samples to examine density and composition. To some, it seemed an exercise in judging one’s own judgment.

Fay said: “I’d point out to Tom the truck driver that Lloyd’s was not sitting in judgment of themselves, that Yacht Club Costa Smeralda did appoint an independent representative to check on Lloyd’s measurements.”

Costa Smeralda, as the challenger of record, is running the challenger trials, although Commodore Gianfranco Alberini has maintained an almost invisible profile throughout the “glassgate” dispute. His involvement has been to issue short, bland, written statements that are distributed at the media center.

He may not be able to avoid the cross-fire much longer. The KZ7 issue won’t go away as long as rivals believe the only way to beat the Kiwis is in litigation.

Unless they get lucky, the French (20-14) figure to go down in four straight. They were 0-3 against New Zealand in the trial rounds, losing by 40 seconds, 2:23 and 4:43.

The other series stands to be more competitive. Conner’s record of 27-7 is second only to the Kiwis’ 33-1, but he lost two races to Blackaller (23-11) by 39 and 42 seconds after beating the San Francisco boat by six seconds.

Plus, Blackaller has been gaining better control of his cantankerous double-ruddered boat all the time until in certain conditions of smooth water and medium winds it’s the fastest 12-meter in the world.

Plus, there’s a good, healthy, good-natured grudge between the two skippers. Blackaller commonly refers to Conner as “Big Dennis” or “Fatso.” Conner has no pet names for Blackaller but picks his spots to slip in a sharp needle when he can.

“It’s always fun to race Tom because we know how bad he’d like to beat us,” Conner said. “It’s fun to beat him when we have the chance. I think it’s going to be an advantage for both of us to have that type of atmosphere out on the water, because we’re gonna need that to be ready to take on the winner of the French Kiss-Kiwi match.”

Blackaller: “We’re enthusiastic about meeting Stars & Stripes right off the bat. We’ve been more successful against them than we have against anybody else.

“You can do all the tuning and testing in the world, but there’s no substitute for getting out against a tough opponent that you really want to beat. Things come out of the people and the boat that were never there before.”

It’s a better way to compete than, say, the French have found.

Fay said with a sigh: “We’ll probably have to take the boat into the protest room.”

America’s Cup Notes

Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes was significantly faster than Australia IV in informal, straight-line trial sailing Friday. Both were testing new keels. Stripes tactician Tom Whidden said: “It looked as if we were a fair amount faster upwind and, for the first time, we had a slight edge downwind.” Australia IV, running second to Kookaburra III in points, was to open the defender semifinals against Steak’n Kidney today. “If they’re going to be the defender,” Whidden said, “they’ve got a bit more work to do.” . . . A footnote to the French Kiss effort to force a core-sample check of New Zealand’s KZ7 is that the La Rochelaises syndicate originally planned to build a second boat in fiberglass and laid some of the groundwork for approval by Lloyd’s Register of Shipping to use that material. Then the budget started to squeak, and Kiss President Serge Crasniansky stopped the project. . . . In competition among themselves, New Zealand is 8-1 against the other semifinalists, losing only to Conner, who is 5-4. Blackaller is 4-5 and French Kiss 1-8, beating only USA. . . . American Express Company has awarded $460,000 to the five American syndicates that went all the way through the three trial rounds.