Stars & Stripes Keeps Cup With Easy Victory

After a most unpredictable beginning in a dining room at the San Diego Yacht Club, America’s Cup XXVII ended in a most predictable manner Friday afternoon off Point Loma.

Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes, sailing under wraps to avoid possible breakdowns, still trounced Michael Fay’s New Zealand to retain the oldest trophy in sports.

Friday’s margin of victory was 21 minutes and 10 seconds, or about 4 1/2 miles.

Thus, Stars & Stripes took the best-of-three series with a sweep of the first two races. It won Wednesday over a differently configured course by 18 minutes, 15 seconds.

It Was a Breeze

A spectator fleet estimated by the Coast Guard at 1,200 watched Friday as Conner pulled away when the winds picked up about an hour into the race.

From then on, it was figuratively and literally a breeze.

By the time Stars & Stripes was well along on its homeward leg, television cameras showed the crew drinking soft drinks. The Americans were in such control that they popped champagne corks as they crossed the finish line.

That was the signal for the celebration to begin.

San Diego Harbor Police estimated that 200 boats escorted the two yachts through the harbor.

A crowd of about 35,000 awaited Stars & Stripes in the Seaport Village area. It was a mixture of sunbathers in bikinis or tank tops and business people in three-piece suits or high heels.

But Conner first took a detour to the San Diego Yacht Club, which will continue to be the caretaker of the 137-year-old mug.

This relatively private celebration began with Conner getting tossed into the water, followed quickly by his crew as well as a few onlookers from the dock. Faces already soaked with salt water and champagne were smeared with ice cream.

Ready to Celebrate

By the time Stars & Stripes reached Seaport Village, New Zealand had already passed en route to its compound, about a half mile down the harbor, and the celebrants were ready for the hometown winners.

“Everyone in San Diego should be down here supporting the yacht club,” said Eleanor Kramer, a former preschool teacher from San Carlos. “I made sure to come down here and back them. Everyone down here is showing they’re behind the city and what they’re trying to do with America’s Cup.”

Back at the SDYC, member Martin Dickinson was expressing the one fear that took just a little bit of luster off the successful defense.

“We just would like to have the real race in 1991,” he said, “and we hope Fay doesn’t screw it up.”

Fay has said all along that he will go to the New York Supreme Court, the trustee of the Deed of Gift governing America’s Cup racing, and protest the SDYC’s use of a catamaran. The New Zealand is a 133-foot monohull.

“Everyone’s aware of our position,” Fay said at a press conference Friday night. “We’re going to move as quickly as possible. I’m not going back to New Zealand until this is heard in the New York court, and I hope to be home for Christmas.”

Fay initiated this competition on July 17, 1987, when he submitted his challenge to then-commodore Fred Frye in the San Diego Yacht Club’s dining room. When the SDYC essentially ignored his challenge, he went to court and established his right to make such a challenge.

But when the defending yacht was identified as a catamaran, he went back to court and was told to reserve his protest until after the racing.

And so the racing began Wednesday--and ended Friday.

A Bit of Interest

Unlike Wednesday’s race, when Stars & Stripes took advantage of a favorable position on the starting line and methodically built an insurmountable lead, Friday’s race was actually interesting for a while.

In fact, New Zealand skipper David Barnes threw Conner off-guard with a false tack shortly after the start and put his boat into a 20-second lead.

This was not to last, however, because Conner “flew a hull” a few minutes later and accelerated into a lead he never lost.

The early part of the race was run in very light 4- to 6-knot breezes, and that helped New Zealand stay close through a tacking duel into the wind on the first 13-mile leg.

The Kiwis’ chances took a decided turn for the worse when the winds picked up to as high as 15 knots, about an hour into that first leg. By the time Stars & Stripes hit the first mark, it was ahead by 10 minutes.

After nudging 11:56 ahead on the second 13-mile leg of the triangular course, it was time to turn for home. Conner stayed conservative, electing not to go with a headsail, but still managed to increase the lead to the final 21 minutes and 10 seconds.

It was far from peaches and cream at the post-race press conference, which started almost mildly. It looked as if it might not degenerate into the vitriol that permeated the press conference Wednesday, when the Kiwis criticized Conner’s sailing and the Americans questioned New Zealand’s right to be there in the first place.

“The sailors have never shared in the controversy or bitterness,” Conner said. “I acknowledge how much respect we have for New Zealand’s sailors. They’re good sports, and they sailed their boat well.”

The Kiwis agreed that they did, indeed, sail their boat well.

“We did put out 100%,” Barnes said, “and that’s the most we can expect. It’s just disappointing to us that we couldn’t sail against a boat similar to us.”

Clash Over Boats

The issue of the differences between the boats would eventually cause harsh words to be exchanged between John Marshall, who designed Stars & Stripes, and Bruce Farr, who designed New Zealand. It ended with Farr challenging Marshall to design a boat like New Zealand, which brought the whole debate full circle once again.

After the formal conference ended, Farr called Marshall a liar, and Conner called Farr a loser. So everything was back to normal.

Pending the outcome of Fay’s legal challenge, San Diego can now look forward to a 1991 regatta that could attract 20 to 25 syndicates and bring a $1.2-billion windfall to the San Diego economy.

But, if Fay wins, the whole circus moves to Auckland.

Times staff writers Armando Acuna, Joseph Menn, Michael Granberry, Rich Roberts and Tom Krasovic contributed to this story.

More America’s Cup stories, photos in Part II and Sports.