Potential Cup Defenders Are Already in a Race : Yachting: The America’s Cup just got out of court, but U.S. syndicates are already well behind some foreign counterparts.

A few hours after the New York State Court of Appeals announced its 5-2 decision to give the America’s Cup to the San Diego Yacht Club, a T-shirt had already commemorated the occasion.

The shirt, a product of some calculating entrepreneurs and 2 1/2 years of legal battles, was hanging near the SDYC’s front desk. It featured a sketch of the America’s Cup on the front and lettering that read: “I’m Back--for Good!”

The question now is how long “for good” might be? After the lengthy legal entanglement, the race is on to get in the water.

Last one in is . . . a loser?

“We’re at a significant disadvantage, I think,” said Peter Isler, who plans to skipper a potential defense boat. “I’m very concerned over our ability to compete evenly with foreigners. People now will be hard-pressed to do it.”

Isler and Larry Klein are two potential defense skippers who attended Thursday’s news conference at the SDYC. Isler estimated that the earliest an American boat could be in the water would be early next year. Klein, only slightly more optimistic, said sometime after October.

Three foreign syndicates--from Japan, Italy and France--already have boats in the water, and several others have a head start in planning and design. That would seem to give them an advantage heading into America’s Cup XXVIII. The defender and challenger eliminations are scheduled to begin in January, 1992, followed by the best-of-seven finals in May.

A total of about 10 defense syndicates and 14 challengers from a record 11 nations are already in line to compete. Seven other potential challengers have until May 26 to make up their minds.

Isler seems to be the furthest along among Americans. With his syndicate, Isler Sailing International, he started planning last February and has been working on the design for the past seven months with Bruce Nelson, who was on the design team for the past two Stars & Stripes boats.

“The fact that we have been delving into design is one reason I’m standing here saying, ‘Sure, we can win,’ ” Isler said. “Otherwise, I’d say the foreigners are too far ahead.”

Undoubtedly, the scramble is on . . . to raise money, to plan and build. But Isler said potential defenders still must proceed cautiously.

“We’re not rushing into it,” he said, “because the frame consideration and the whole design has changed in the last two Cups. Boats used to be drawn longhand. Now, they’re done by computers. You have a lot more to choose from. You don’t just design a boat and go with it.”

Isler said he hopes to be the one who sails the first American boat early next year.

“The problem is, we know when the race is,” Isler said. “If you’re on a three-boat program, what kind of spacing are you going to have? You want to be sailing your first boat before you commit to the design of the second boat. If you start a boat today, you might find out in a month that you need a better boat. You better make your first guess a good one.”

But the first step is raising funds. Klein will put his Triumph America syndicate to work in that area.

“It’s been very, very difficult until a court decision has been reached,” he said. “(Corporations) wanted to know what the marketplace was. . . . Everything has been in limbo.”

But Klein says things will change now.

“We know they will, from people we’ve talked to,” he said. “We feel things will start to move forward now. It’s a race for everybody.”

Isler will attempt to “creatively convince” corporate America to help him, because he said he will need to come up with $22 million.

“That’s being serious,” he said. “I could do it on a $10 million effort, or I could do it on a $6 million effort. But that’s not for Peter Isler. The goal here is to win. Unfortunately, our esteemed competitors overseas have raised the ante to the point where we’re going to have to get serious ourselves.”