Racers for Cup to Finally Cast Fate to the Wind

After months of legal hassling and public-relations posturing, America’s Cup XXVII will go to the waters today off Point Loma.

A maverick challenger will confront a maverick defending boat in a best-of-three series that will be short but not sweet. The regatta begins at noon today and continues Friday, and possibly Sunday, at the same time.

The challenger is New Zealand, skippered by David Barnes. The defender is Stars & Stripes, skippered by Dennis Conner.

Acrimony No Stranger

The acrimony surrounding this challenge and its timing have caused it to be a little less than the real thing, which had been expected to take place as a multinational event in 1991.

But the bottom line this week is that Stars & Stripes will have to win to retain the Cup and keep the next defense in San Diego.

Most experts consider a successful defense a foregone conclusion, with Conner racing a catamaran against New Zealand’s monohull.

Indeed, the fairness of this race has been a principal source of debate for weeks.

But debate has been the norm throughout the pre-race buildup.

It began July 17, 1987, when New Zealand merchant banker Michael Fay issued a 1988 challenge for the Cup. Since this was out of sync with normal Cup procedures, it was not taken seriously by most officials from Sail America, the defense manager, and the San Diego Yacht Club, the Cup’s custodian.

Fay chose to press the issue in the New York Supreme Court, trustee for a century-old Deed of Gift, which rather loosely regulates America’s Cup racing. Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick in November ruled in favor of New Zealand.

By that time, Fay was under way with the construction of the biggest yacht to compete for the America’s Cup in 50 years: 90 feet long at the waterline and 133 feet overall with a 153 1/2-foot mast.

Responding in Pairs

Rather than counter with a similar monohull, the Americans came back with two catamarans--one with a soft-rig conventional sail and the other with a revolutionary hard-rig sail similar to a Boeing 747’s wing. Though both catamarans are expected to be at the starting line, Stars & Stripes is expected to use the hard-rig, which is 55 feet at the waterline, 60 feet overall and with a mast varying between 90 and 108 feet according to weather conditions.

Fay does not care to encounter either catamaran. The Americans’ “catamaran defense” prompted him to go back to the New York Supreme Court. This time, Ciparick decided that she could not rule on the legality of a yacht that had not yet raced. She said racing should go on as scheduled but left the door open for further litigation.

Since then, the two sides have waged a war of words with dueling news releases.

New Zealand has attempted to build a case for this being so unfair as to be hopeless. Meanwhile, Stars & Stripes has continually suggested that New Zealand should be faster, implying that lack of preparation or perhaps design errors would be the more likely reasons for a poor showing by the Kiwis.

For example, at a Tuesday press conference that brought the skippers together for the first time, Barnes matter-of-factly stated that the catamaran figures to be an hour to an hour-and-a-half faster around today’s 40-mile course; Conner complained that the media had already decided the outcome.

“The race is over . . . we’ve won,” Conner said. “The only reason we won’t win is if Dennis doesn’t do his job right. If I lose, it’s ‘Dennis lost the Cup again.’ ”

Quest for Vindication

Conner, a successful defender in Freedom in 1980, was the first American skipper to lose the Cup, when Liberty was beaten by Australia II in 1983. That set up his almost obsessive campaign to win it back, which he accomplished in 1987 when Stars & Stripes defeated Australia’s Kookaburra III, 4-0, off Fremantle.

It was that campaign that thrust America’s Cup into the public conscience and made it a media event.

But this week’s defense has not attracted the anticipated media interest, mainly because it is a premature two-nation showdown rather than a multinational extravaganza.

Media credentials, for example, are in the neighborhood of 750 rather than the 3,000 expected for a 1991 event.

The time of year is also a factor because the media are also involved in baseball pennant races, football openers and Olympic preparations.

The public’s interest is a little hard to gauge, but an America’s Cup Village has sprouted behind Seaport Village in the Embarcadero Marina Park North. That is billed as a gathering place to watch the yachts depart and return, and view television coverage of the race itself.

4,000 Boats Anticipated

Watching the races on the water will be more difficult because of regulations inhibiting where spectator boats may position themselves in relation to the race course. A Coast Guard spokesman said preparations have been made for handling 4,000 spectator boats.

When it is all over, either Friday or Sunday, it still may not be over. Not with these antagonists.

Barring a major upset victory, Fay is prepared to press the legality of the Stars & Stripes’ defense.