Nitty-Gritty at Sea

There is more to 12-meter yacht racing than providing a means for the imperious rich to amuse themselves and spend their money. Americans who are viewing the America’s Cup races from start to finish on ESPN, the cable-television sports network, are discovering that this can be exciting stuff. The drama is heightened by the innovation of on-board cameras that give the fan a crew member’s view of the races as they unfold over the eight-leg Indian Ocean course run around marker buoys 3.5 nautical miles apart.

Ever since the Australians employed the radical winged keel to win the trophy four years ago, interest has centered on technical innovations. Freemantle was abuzz this week over the new plastic covering on the hull of the remaining U.S. entry, Stars & Stripes, the San Diego boat skippered by Dennis Conner. Earlier it was USA’s twin rudders and New Zealand’s experiment with a fiberglass hull (the other boats are aluminium).

But now, in the semifinal round, the cup races are down to the nitty-gritty of sailing tactics and strategy, crew teamwork and discipline, and some measure of luck. The sleek 65-foot craft may be aided by computers and sophisticated weather and navigation gear, but the basics are the same as they have been on the sea for centuries, or for youngsters in 7-foot 11-inch Naples Sabots racing on Alamitos Bay on any given Sunday.

A 12-meter or a Sabot, any boat is at the mercy of the wind. A narrow technical advantage can be blown if a skipper fails to anticipate a wind shift or orders a change in sails a few seconds too early or too late. And the race course may be changing constantly as the wind backs or veers. Imagine playing football on a field where the sidelines unexpectedly move 20 or 30 yards in one direction or another, or the goal posts shift just as a kicker puts his foot into a field-goal attempt.

All these factors became evident as Conner skippered Stars & Stripes to a stunning 2-0 advantage in the first two races of the best-of-seven challenge final against New Zealand, which had lost only once in 38 previous races. A victory in today’s race (Australian time), which was run as this edition of The Times went to press, would make the U.S. boat a prohibitive favorite to make the finals.

Conner is consumed with overcoming the ignominy of being the first American skipper in 132 years to allow the cup to slip from the Yankee grasp. In the finals starting Jan. 31, the cup will be defended by either Australia IV or Kookaburra III, now engaged in their own runoff series.

The Australians are pulling for Conner, for they would love to prove that their 1983 victory was no fluke. An Australia-New Zealand final for the America’s Cup would be like kissing your cousin, or having a Superbowl between the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills. A wild and wooly rematch between the Yanks and the Aussies seems only appropriate. The Kiwis can get another shot at the cup in four years, preferably in Pacific Ocean waters off the coast of California.