America’s Cup Notebook : Aussies Briefly Raise Hull in Questioning Legality of Winner

The only flurry of excitement during Wednesday’s decisive America’s Cup race occurred after an unnamed informant told the Kookaburra syndicate that Dennis Conner’s boat was illegal.

Syndicate head Kevin Parry, viewing the race from the Kookaburra tender, said by radio that he had received a tip that the aluminum hull of Stars & Stripes ’87 also contained lithium, which is classified as an exotic material and is prohibited in America’s Cup 12-meters.

Parry said he was told “that they were given some material that was supplied to NASA and Boeing, and apparently it has a high lithium content.”

John Marshall, Stars & Stripes’ design team coordinator, said the hull material was “just standard old alloy. No lithium. Don’t worry about it.”

Parry said later that the allegations had come from a normally reliable source.

“We got one report that the hull was too light and another that it was too heavy,” Parry said. “We’re not going to pursue it.”

As the Stars & Stripes people celebrated on their dock, Kookaburra grinder Rick Goodrich came in to congratulate them, then walked over to the boat, which had been hauled out in a cradle.

Goodrich rubbed one hand over the bottom, feeling the plastic “riblets” that had been put on before the challenge semifinals.

“It’s faster than ours,” he said. “It’s a better boat than ours. It’s frustrating. Everyone’s frustrated for Australia.”

Another grinder, Greg Marr, said: “We were as good as Dennis’ crew. (The difference) was purely boat speed.”

Stars & Stripes had unveiled its keel, except for the wings, which were wrapped heavily in a tarpaulin.

“Our wings are much wider,” Marr said. “And we don’t have as big a bulb. It doesn’t have any riblets on it, either.”

The upside-down keel is shaped like the silhouette of a large Volkswagen bug, with stubby wings swept back from the rear.

“The bottom two feet of the keel is entirely different,” Marshall said. “That includes the wings.”

The reverse keel, he said, could not be used off San Diego.

“No doubt, it’s a kelp catcher of the first sort,” he said.

Conner is scheduled to return home to a triumphant San Diego welcome sometime between noon and 6 p.m. Saturday, Mayor Maureen O’Connor said.

Native son Conner’s decision to bring the Cup to San Diego, before heading on to celebrations in New York and at the White House, “says a lot about San Diegans commitment to San Diego,” the mayor added.

The Cup’s new home, meanwhile, for some six months will be a vault at Home Federal Savings and Loan, said Kim Fletcher, Home Federal’s chairman.

After Stars & Stripes had won, ESPN asked if it could send John Bertrand over to interview Conner. Bertrand, a TV commentator for the cup, sailed Australia II against Conner in ’83.

“Send (Gary) Jobson,” Conner said.

Stars & Stripes grinder Jim Kavle hasn’t seen his girlfriend, Amy Bennett, since last July.

“She didn’t come down here,” Kavle said. “I told her it would be too much of a zoo.”

Kavle, who has an honors degree in economics and finance, said he asked himself “two or three times” during the long campaign if it was worth it.

“You say, ‘What am I doing this for?’ Everybody goes through a phase when you get a little bummed out,” he said.

“But when one guy’s a little down, two other guys are there talking him back into shape.”

Kavle had a special word for the “mushrooms,” the crew of the backup boat.

“Those guys deserve more credit than anyone for making us good,” he said.

And how does the crew feel about Conner?

“Respect,” Kavle said.

Love?

“I don’t know,” Kavle said, thoughtfully. “It’s possible.”

Kavle may campaign a star-class boat for the ’88 Olympics, or he may return to the America’s Cup. He hasn’t decided.

“They say it’s going professional next time and people will be making big money, but there’s no guarantee of that. I’ve gotta go get a job.”

Conner said he was pleased that the United States might have demonstrated some technological superiority with Stars & Stripes’ victory, after being out-designed with Australia II against Liberty in ’83.

“This is the first time we’ve ever designed boats using the modern methods of technology,” he said. “Before, it was just an art.”

Everybody used computers and test tanks, but the difference was that Stars & Stripes kept improving through the final series, while others flattened out.

“We didn’t show all of our cards from the beginning, but that’s part of the game,” Conner said. “You do what you have to do to win the events as you go along. We had a little tiger left in the tank.”

America’s Cup Notes Divers were seen rubbing a speed-producing compound onto Kookaburra III’s hull in the starting area before Wednesday’s race. “It’s a detergent polymer,” crewman Greg Marr said. “We had the support crew putting it on. We also put it on before the boat goes into the water, but we always lose a little being towed out to the course.” . . . Stars & Stripes’ total record was 39 wins and 8 losses, 12-1 in the “playoffs” after the three trial rounds. . . . Stars & Stripes publicist Lesleigh Greene is on a winning streak. An Australian, she represented Australia II at Newport, R.I., in 1983. . . . As usual, Stars & Stripes made most its best time on the four upwind legs, where it gained 1 minute 56 seconds of its final 1:59 winning margin.