New Zealand in Deep Water? : America’s Cup Skipper Realizes He Has Tough Task Next Month

The skipper of the New Zealand is a reserved man who, because of what he calls the off-the-water campaign, probably has spoken more this summer than the previous 10. But David Barnes says he never grows tired of saying that next month’s America’s Cup races are a mismatch.

In comparison to his Kiwi brethren, however, Barnes sounds tired.

And who wouldn’t be?

Why, mate, the other Kiwis have said, this so-called race is like a pistol vs. a machine gun.

Why, it’s like David (Barnes) vs. Goliath.

Maybe the Kiwis can enliven Barnes’ speech with something a little spicier than, “We all know that the catamaran ( Stars & Stripes ) is an inherently faster boat than the monohull ( New Zealand .) “

But Barnes unfurling similes would be like Dennis Conner saying, “Care for a Steinlager, mate?”

Barnes, 30, has calm, quick blue eyes and a matter-of-fact delivery that bespeaks years of sailing. He has a pedigree that makes him more substantial at assessing sailing races than Michael Fay, the voluble investment banker and Kiwi chairman. Barnes has the air of someone who finally got the job he had worked years to obtain.

At the age of 9, while other fires were being lit in the boys in Wellington, New Zealand, David Barnes spent his days sailing.

He also spent his nights sailing. Sometimes, neighbors would spot him guiding his snub-nosed boat across the moonlit water. The neighbors would sound the alarm, only to be calmed by David’s father, who oversaw harbor safety.

America’s Cup XXVII involves no sailing in the dark. It involves sailing a ballasted boat vs. a catamaran; sailing vs. Dennis Conner; sailing vs. the country that has 25-1 record in the event.

But Barnes, who became skipper of New Zealand by proving himself on the ship’s afterguard this summer, has been on the short side before.

--David vs. the Cleated Jib Sheet. Earlier this year, Barnes and teammate Bruce Deegan seemed destined to win the Flying Dutchman class in the New Zealand Olympic trials. They were in first place with 150 yards and a zig-zag to go. But a cleat had been left in the jib sheet, causing the boat to capsize. Murray Jones, Barnes’ former sailing partner, qualified.

--David vs. the Spinnaker. The year was 1982, and Barnes seemed ready to win the 470 class world championship in Portugal, which he had reached by driving 54 consecutive hours after winning the Kiel Week Regatta in West Germany. But a gear malfunction prevented him from raising his spinnaker. He finished third. “I still can’t figure out what happened,” he said.

--David vs. the Judges. At the 1982 pre-Olympic trials for the Los Angeles Games, Barnes, sailing a 470, was disqualified after winning five of seven races.

--David vs. Tragedy. In 1983, Kevin Barnes, David’s oldest brother and his earliest sailing mentor, died in a boating accident. And last September, David’s mother was diagnosed as having cancer. Five weeks later, she died.

Kevin and Mrs. Barnes, along with David’s father and other brother, Alan, had taught David to sail. His father designed navigation lights for ports. His mother was a hair dresser who also helped her husband run the family’s business.

“Because our family has always been involved in boats, I just picked it up,” Barnes said. “I just knew how to sail. I was probably way ahead of my time, because I had two older brothers who knew how to sail reasonably well.

“Even before I started racing yachts, I sort of had a pretty good idea of what was going on.”

In 1973, he won two of New Zealand’s esteemed yachting races, the Tanner Cup and the Tauranga Cup, as a 13-year-old competing in the 14-and-under category.

That was the beginning of a string of victories that included three 470 dinghy world titles, the last on Kiwi Magic in 1987 with Rod Davis, the American-born sail coach.

Part of his success stemmed from his technical and innovative skills. After studying electrical engineering for three years--”I didn’t graduate; I decided to make money”--Barnes moved to Auckland and worked as a sailmaker.

His ability to innovate separates Barnes from others, Davis said, who divided sailors into two general categories: “refiners” and “innovators.”

By moving the centerboards forward, Barnes discovered the 470 would have more sail lift--with no appreciable drag--a move that revolutionized that class. He also adeptly lightened his Olympic trials boat this year.

Barnes argued against the innovator label.

“I’d say that’s far from accurate. It’s a blend of three things. You can design the fastest boat in the world very well, yet someone has to build it, sail it. The fact that I managed to do all of the aspects and still go out and win three world championships is a fairly good reflection of being able to do all three.”

So he is a consummate sailor. But if you are one of the 39 Kiwis about to sail for the Auld Mug, do you want him in charge?

“I’ve been on the boat two times--and I could see they all respect him,” said race analyst Gary Jobson, who is in San Diego for the ESPN telecast. “He says, ‘OK guys, let’s have a meeting.’ Everybody shuts up.”

Davis, who likened Barnes’ demeanor to that of a professional golfer, emphasized that Barnes is merely the head of a team and that responsibility is delegated liberally. And Peter Lester, the tactician whom Barnes beat for the skipper position, said the crew has yet to see Barnes perform during a crisis.

But Davis has seen Barnes under fire.

“David is very calm and cool on the water, almost to the point that he’s too calm and cool sometimes,” said Davis, who well could battle Barnes for the right to skipper New Zealand’s 1991 cup entry. “I think David has the right temperment, but you would not want a whole boatload of Davids. He can take advice in. He’s just kind of the same all the time.”

It was suggested to Barnes that the American press has become wary of being manipulated come America’s Cup time. In 1983, when the Australians became the first non-American winner, the challengers were depicted as brash but lovable blokes competing against the highly organized and stuffy Americans.

Such coverage made the New York Yacht Club look pompous--no real chore--and perhaps helped keep Australia II’s controversial winged keel from being declared illegal.

Likewise, perhaps the Kiwis would benefit from being portrayed as extreme underdogs.

“Well, anything we say, we believe in,” Barnes replied. “It’s not a matter of sort of, trying to spin a story for history’s sake.”

To be sure, the New Zealanders face a monumental task.

This will be Conner’s fifth Cup match and fourth as a skipper. Barnes will be a Cup skipper for the first time. He was at the helm of KZ-7 during four races in the Cup challenges in 1986-87. But for the most part, he was backup helmsman to Chris Dickson, who, after winning 40 of 41 races in KZ-7, lost to Conner, 4-1, and seemed overmatched.

Barnes’ lack of experience is not his only handicap. Unlike the Americans, who built two 60-foot catamarans and work them out together often, there is only one New Zealand, forcing the crew to work out problems in somewhat of a vacuum. Cup experts say this is a huge disadvantage.

The catamarans have proved to be 20-30% faster downwind than the ballasted New Zealand. Further, the Americans’ new, larger hard-wing sail reportedly allows them to sail within 2 degrees of New Zealand’s tack to windward. That would greatly diminish the Kiwis’ chances for gaining upwind, an advantage many originally thought they had.

But while Barnes rarely fails to mention that he, too, thinks the event is a mismatch, he has also called it a win-win opportunity.

He will be skipper of the biggest boat in the last 50 years of the Cup.

He will learn about handling the pressures of competing for the Cup.

He will have a chance to establish himself as New Zealand’s top skipper for the 1991 Cup.

Or David John Barnes could win.

Then what?

“Well, we’d take the Cup back to New Zealand. We have thought about how we would go about defending it.”

But would really happen if you won?

“It would probably turn the country upside down.”