Cup’s Financial Hierarchy Might Not Be Fit for Kings

America’s Cup economics of the ‘90s dictate that the monarchs of the world will have to be content with horse racing as the sport of kings. At this level, sailing is too rich for their royal blood.

The stakes are now too high except for those whose personal resources outstrip the GNPs of some smaller nations. That would include a notable New Zealand knight, and they all must make room for a poor sailor named Dennis Conner who wrote the rules for winning.

It’s no coincidence that, 11 months ahead of the start of the trials for the defense, the four teams already up and sailing in San Diego are the only ones with healthy cash flows. It’s a good bet that the ultimate winner in May of ’92 will emerge from the camps of Conner, New Zealand’s Sir Michael Fay, Italy’s Raul Gardini, Japan’s Tatsumitsu Yamasaki and American industrialist Bill Koch, with roots in Wichita, Kan.

Australia’s Iain Murray and Peter Gilmour are dollar short but could contend on skill. Conner isn’t sailing because he doesn’t have a boat yet, but Conner doesn’t need a boat yet.

History likely will record that any others who show up now will have lost already. All of the above, including Conner, are developing shore compounds in San Diego and Mission bays, where they will service their boats, cut their sails and plot their campaigns.

Most of the others will take pot luck for whatever they can afford, sharing boat lifts, working space and hard-luck stories.

Japan is new, too, but its technological and financial resources and the hiring of New Zealand skipper Chris Dickson close the gap significantly.

Otherwise, it has been left to the kings--Juan Carlos of Spain and Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden--to boost their campaigns as much as their influence and treasuries allow.

The City of Paris is contributing to France’s effort but all of the others are privately funded--including the Soviet Union’s Red Star program from Leningrad.