THE AMERICA’S CUP : At Last, the Talk Ends and the Races Begin

“ This Cup is donated upon the condition that it shall be preserved as a perpetual Challenge Cup for friendly competition between foreign countries.”

--America’s Cup Deed of Gift, by George L. Schuyler, 1887

If George L. Schuyler could reach back from the grave, he might reclaim the America’s Cup for the family mantle and scuttle the racing.

Poor George, he was too naive. Friendly competition vanished a long time ago, and now the battle for the Cup has evolved into litigation. A best-of-three series scheduled to start at noon today may be only incidental.

Whose fault?

The Sail America Foundation, which is managing the event for the San Diego Yacht Club, blames New Zealand’s Michael Fay first for challenging with a “sneak attack”--poor U.S.A., ambushed by a country of 3 1/2 million--and then for the sacrilege of dragging the ugly mug through the courts for the first time in its 137 years. Poor Cup.

Fay, a merchant banker, says he had no other choice when the club ignored his surprising challenge of July 15, 1987.

And, after all, the court did say he was right, which brings them to this event that sailing experts prejudge as a fiasco.

Nobody can say for sure what Schuyler had in mind when he wrote the Deed of Gift in the ambiguous language of the 19th Century. New York Supreme Court Judge Carmen Ciparick has spent a lot of time mulling that over.

Certainly, Schuyler allowed for New Zealand’s 132.8-foot monohull, which conforms to the Deed with a 90-foot waterline. But did Schuyler envision it racing the likes of a 59.5-foot catamaran with an airplane wing for a sail that Dennis Conner will bring to the starting line three miles off Point Loma?

Fay says no, and that he intends to pursue the issue before Ciparick and, if necessary, to the point of legal exhaustion.

But to what end?

Fay also says he won’t accept the Cup by legal decree, only by fair sailing, and this sailing, he says, is definitely not fair.

Conner, ever the sportsman, says, hey, don’t blame him.

“I’m far less important in this event than I have been in the past,” the man who has won, lost and won the last three Cups said Tuesday. “The attorneys have taken the spotlight this time. I’m trying to do the best I can to sail this boat to victory, but I’m not really totally responsible for all the that’s happened.

“This is not my doing. Michael Fay did not consult with me before he entered his challenge.”

Conner’s counterpart is David Barnes, who will steer the massive KZ-1 with a crew of 39, including Fay himself, assisting as human ballast. Fay’s wallet alone should be worth 10 men.

Barnes, 30, is quiet and unassuming and cuts a much lower profile than his boss, Conner or Chris Dickson, the brash skipper of New Zealand’s previous challenge at Fremantle, Australia. Barnes, a former three-time world 470 dinghy champion, was alternate helmsman in that campaign.

Whether he is overmatched against Conner, the America’s Cup master, may not be relevant, considering the diversity of the boats.

“We have some tricks up our sleeve,” Barnes said, unconvincingly, at Tuesday’s press conference for the skippers. “But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow.”

By contrast, Conner was in full prerace mode, with his game face on. A couple of unfortunate journalists who asked the wrong questions got jolted for their efforts:

Question: Do you have any doubt at all that your boat will win these races and, secondly, do you think this is a fair race?

Answer: If you had ever sailed in a sailboat race, I don’t think you’d ask that question, sir, because there’s never been a sure thing in a sailboat race. No one here knows what’s going to happen out there tomorrow.

Q: If you decided you wanted to keep it close, what kind of a ballpark closeness are we talking about?

A: To the best of my knowledge, I’ve never said that I would keep it close. I’d like to win by as much as possible. I’ve never heard of a guy wanting to keep it close. Why would he want to keep it close? There’s no extra credit for keeping it close. That doesn’t sound very smart to me.

Conner ignored speculation that Stars & Stripes might try to make it look close to weaken Fay’s ensuing court action.

Conner alluded to a race against Rod Davis on Eagle in the previous America’s Cup regatta when, because of high winds and a comfortable lead, he decided not to use his spinnaker.

“No one asked me why I didn’t use my spinnaker,” Conner said. “No one wanted to show their ignorance by asking a question like that.”

But Conner may be asked similar questions after today’s race. If he wins big, doesn’t that prove the catamaran’s unfair advantage? If he wins close, was he sandbagging?

Conner protests that few have considered he might not win at all.

“Several hundred (reporters) here have already counted the chickens,” he said. “The race is already over. We’ve won the race.”

But, he says, he still can’t win.

“If for some reason we’re not successful, the only reason is Dennis hasn’t done his job right,” Conner said.

“If we win, the boat was faster, because you’ve all told me that. If we lose, then Dennis lost the America’s Cup again.”

America’s Cup Notes

Today’s race will be 20 miles to windward and back. Friday’s race will be 39 miles around a triangle, 13 miles each leg. Sunday’s race, if one is necessary, which few believe it will be, will be the same as today’s. . . . The wind was expected to be standard San Diego, 6 to 10 knots, although nobody seemed to be willing to guarantee it. . . . If the wind is too light and shifty, the start could be delayed to as late as 2:40 p.m. One boat must finish within the seven-hour time limit to make it official.

The race jury has said it will hear all protests at 9 a.m. the following morning, not the same night. . . . Race chairman Terry Harper said the Coast Guard is prepared to handle a spectator fleet of 3,000-4,000 boats, about four times as many as for any other America’s Cup race, but about half that number is expected.