SAILING CONGRESSIONAL CUP : Dickson Beats Coutts at Ramming Speed

How good a sailor is Chris Dickson? Saturday he won his second consecutive Congressional Cup by sailing backward.

Dickson pulled a trick from his sleeve to defeat Russell Coutts in the deciding race of a best-of-three sailoff in the 27th edition of the match-racing event at Long Beach Saturday.

Saturday’s breezes held at only six to 10 knots, swinging from southeast to south through the day.

The two New Zealanders were dueling for the advantage in pre-start maneuvers when Dickson turned into the wind to stop his boat. As Dickson started to drift backward, Coutts, sailing his seventh race of the day, pulled alongside to windward.

Dickson spun his wheel sharply, causing his boat’s stern to swing into the side of Coutts’ boat--a foul by Coutts.

Umpires Pete Ives and Cy Gillette ordered Coutts to perform a 270-degree reverse penalty turn after the start for failing to keep clear of a leeward boat.

Then, 2 1/2 minutes later as they were about to cross the starting line, Dickson slipped into the same position and smacked Coutts again--resulting in another foul on Coutts.

By the time Coutts did two 270s after the start, Dickson was sailing into a sunset and dying breeze.

Coutts, who won the Finn class gold medal in the ’84 Olympics at Long Beach, had no complaints about the calls.

“Absolutely,” Coutts said. “He caught us out a couple of times.”

Said Dickson: “Yacht racing throughout history has been talked about as the gentlemen’s sport. But in the rule book there are a few rules that are put there for aggressive moves. Yacht racing is not a croquet match, but it’s also not a boxing match. It’s somewhere in between.”

Coutts had done the same thing to Rod Davis, the event’s only three-time winner, when they luffed head-to-wind at the windward mark in single semifinal race. By the time Davis turned his 270, Coutts was away to a 28-second victory.

It was the sixth consecutive year a foreigner has won the Congressional. New Zealanders have won the last three and took the top three places this time--perhaps ominous with the America’s Cup ahead. Dickson will return to San Diego next week to continue preparing Japan’s Nippon Challenge for the ’92 America’s Cup, Davis reports to New Zealand’s camp at Coronado and Coutts also will call on the Kiwis.

A year ago, skeptics wondered if Dickson could win with a Japanese crew, considering that country’s lack of world-class sailing experience. Since then the team has won eight of 10 match-racing events.

“They’re a year more experienced,” Dickson said. “The crew work was a big plus all week. We had the confidence tactically to do whatever we wanted to do, knowing the crew was going to be one step ahead of the opposition.”