Conner One Victory From Bringing It Back

Take one last look at the America’s Cup, Australia.

Alan Bond’s words--”We won it, Kevin; don’t you lose it”--must have been pounding on Parry’s brain today as he watched Dennis Conner sail Stars & Stripes ’87 to another easy win over his Kookaburra III.

The result put the San Diego crew up 3-0 and within one win--24.1 nautical miles--of returning the cup to the United States, where Bond seized it three years and four months ago.

There were no protests. For the first time, KIII managed to make it a race for 20 minutes, but then Conner breezed away to such a lead that he was merely sailing to complete the race course, sparing his men and his boat.

Stars & Stripes, the product of a three-boat, ongoing development program, peaked perfectly. A modest 27-7 during the three trial rounds before Christmas, it is now 11-1 in the “playoffs” after dusting off Tom Blackaller’s USA, 4-0, and New Zealand’s KZ7, 4-1.

The depressing part for the Kookaburras is that they have hardly any straws left to grasp. Unlike 1983, when Australia II’s breakdowns in two races let Conner out to a 3-1 lead before he lost it, there are no excuses. The tactics of Murray and Gilmour have been sound and they have suffered no breakdowns or significant bad luck.

Stars & Stripes has simply been superior in all-round performance, and there isn’t much the Kookaburras can do about that.

As Stars & Stripes’ young weatherman, Chris Bedford, called it, the strong morning offshore land breeze shifted to a southwest sea breeze a few minutes before the start. Bedford said two days earlier it would be 10 to 14 knots. It was 12 to 14.

At the 10-minute warning, Conner led Kookaburra III by about six lengths on a weaving chase through the spectator fleet.

KIII starting helmsman Peter Gilmour fell onto Conner’s stern, a length in between, and with 2:45 remaining was controlling Stars & Stripes from leeward.

A few seconds later, Conner made his move. He jibed away to the right and circled below KIII, grabbed the leeward position and was then able to peel off to start at the left end of the line next to the America’s Cup buoy, where he likes to be.

This time it was a mistake. The wind was still moving to the right. KIII started at the committee boat end on the opposite tack, with bowman Don McCracken halfway up the mast working on a faulty zipper in the mainsail.

When the boats met on opposite tacks five minutes later--McCracken still up the mast--Conner was unable to cross on port and KIII skipper Iain Murray hit him with a slam-dunk tack, forcing Conner to tack away for clear air--the first time in the three races that KIII had been clearly in front.

British skipper Harold Cudmore commented on Conner’s starting tactics: “A big error by Stars & Stripes . . . quite in trouble.”

But not for long.

Five minutes later Conner felt he was gaining.

“Can we cross now?” he asked navigator Peter Isler.

Then he tacked back toward KIII. When they met he was able to tack on KIII’s lee bow, forcing Murray to tack away for clear air.

The next time Conner had moved up another half-length, and again Murray had to bail out.

The third time, Murray probably expected Conner to tack on his lee bow again or even try to cross on port (starboard tack has right of way). Instead, Conner pulled a surprise.

As the boats approach on a collision course, Conner suddenly wheeled his 25-ton 12-meter sharply to the right and dove behind KIII’s stern, like Bobby Rahal passing on the outside next to the wall.

Before Murray could respond, Conner had powered through to gain clear air and the critical starboard rights position for any future crossings.

Conner rounded the first windward mark 15 seconds in front. The wind increased to 18 knots on the downwind leg and Stars & Stripes increased its lead to a whopping 57 seconds.

From there, Stars & Stripes’ speed and flawless crew work led by 1:21, 1:31, 1:29, 1:49 and 1:41 at successive roundings.

There was a possibility that either or both could call for a lay day Tuesday--Kookaburra to collect itself for a final stab at averting a shutout, Stars & Stripes to avoid the weak mid-afternoon sea breeze of 14 knots tops that is forecast and could be to KIII’s only remaining advantage.

But the winds are expected to be a healthy 12 to 18 knots on Wednesday, leaving the Kookaburras in a hopeless situation.