1990 Cup Defense Off San Diego? : SDYC Commodore Says He Would Welcome the Challenge

Look for the next America’s Cup defense to be in San Diego in the winter of 1990-91. At least, that’s what they are saying around the San Diego Yacht Club.

Dr. Fred Frye, the tall San Diego pediatrician who doubles as commodore of the San Diego Yacht Club, is already set to accept the sport’s oldest trophy from the Royal Perth Yacht Club, which has held it since Alan Bond brought it here from Newport, R.I., in 1983.

Frye has been nervous just thinking about it.

“Being custodian of this Cup is an awesome responsibility,” he said Tuesday. “One hundred and thirty-six years of tradition tends to put a lump in your throat.

“To think that I might be only the second American to be presented this in 136 years is awesome. I’ve been thinking about what I should say.”

Frye is aware that whatever he says, it will be recorded around the world.

“It’s a piece of history,” Frye said. “I can’t joke it off. You have to consider your words very carefully.”

The site of the defense is still to be determined by a committee to be appointed by the Sail America Foundation and the San Diego Yacht Club. Frye, Stars & Stripes skipper Dennis Conner and Sail America president Malin Burnham will have a hand in selecting the committee but won’t be on it, nor will any director of the SDYC, although the club will have a majority representation.

“The America’s Cup is a contest among yacht clubs, not syndicates or countries,” Frye said.

“I would love to have the regatta in San Diego. I can’t see any reason why it shouldn’t be. The city’s behind it, the county’s behind it and the port is in favor of it. They will all work to make it happen.”

Burnham had indicated earlier that the next defense might be held elsewhere even if Conner won, but San Diego interest and support has increased significantly, Frye said.

The committee will be formed within 30 days, Frye said, and the decision “will be made within 90 days.”

Frye refuted suspicions that Conner and Burnham would profit personally from the next defense, possibly opening it up to bids from potential sites.

“That could never happen,” he said. “That’s not part of the deed of gift.”

Also, steps have been taken to ensure tight control over the marketing, sponsorships and licensing of future defenses. A corporation has been formed in the state of New York joining the Royal Perth, New York and Costa Smeralda yacht clubs, the latter being the current challenger of record for purposes of running the challenge eliminations.

Shares in the corporation will automatically be sold “for a nominal amount” to the San Diego club.

Frye favors a winter regatta starting in December of 1990 because “that’s when the winds are good off San Diego.”

The competition would run through March, 1991.

The Cup will be flown home in the 50-kilogram box that was built by Australia to bring it home in ’83.

Dick Knoth, staff commodore of the SDYC, said: “You buy three first-class seats and hire two gorillas to sit on both sides of it.”

According to Frye, the Cup has cost the SDYC’s 1,700 members a total of only $12,140 to submit the challenge. The money came from the club’s competition syndicate fund.

The remainder of the $15-million budget--currently about $2.7 million short--is the responsibility of the Sail America Foundation, the fund-raising arm of the effort led by Burnham.

Frye wants to send the Cup on a whistle-stop tour of the country, especially to the other American yacht clubs that competed for it here or strongly supported the San Diego effort. Even the New York Yacht Club, which held it for 132 years, may get a brief look.

Frye said more Australians than Americans have actually seen the Cup.

“Over 3 million Australians saw the Cup in its first 48 hours down here,” he said. “If 50 million Americans could see it, that would be great.

“Our slogan will be, ‘Bring the Cup home to America.’ I strongly believe that the Cup belongs to America and shouldn’t be hidden in the back room of the San Diego Yacht Club. This has captured the imagination of Americans and they have a right to see what they’ve been cheering for, at no charge.”