AMERICA’S CUP NOTEBOOK : Even Some of the Best Sailors At Times Have to Hitch a Ride

One nice thing about owning your own boat is you get to steer, a privilege even world-class sailors don’t always enjoy.

Take the America’s Cup (please). While every big-time skipper from the Seven Seas will be descending on San Diego in the next several months, there just aren’t enough boats to go around. It’s like a game of musical helms.

Only 10 days ago it was announced that John Bertrand was joining Dennis Conner’s team. Bertrand is a classy sailor. Silver medal in the ’84 Olympics. Lots of success in big boats around the world. Almost won the ANZ 12-Meter Challenge at Sydney in a field that included Chris Dickson, Rod Davis and Peter Gilmour--the winner--at Sydney a few weeks ago.

Stars & Stripes, like the other big boats, does have two steering wheels. Does that mean Bertrand has his own wheel?

Wrong. That’s just so the main guy can steer from either side.

John Kostecki has joined Bill Koch’s America-3 team. Despite his 26 years, Kostecki’s credentials include an ’88 Olympic silver medal, some Soling and J-24 world titles, match-racing experience and considerable success on big boats.

But Koch already had Gary Jobson and Buddy Melges, who usually manage to keep the pointy end going in the right direction--and, besides, Koch likes to steer. A lot.

Down the bay and across the bridge at Kiwinado, where New Zealand hangs out, nobody knows who’ll wind up driving for Mercury Bay. Rod Davis, who grew up in Coronado, has lived down under long enough and, with his Kiwi wife Liz, contributed enough additions to the population that he certainly is eligible. But so are David Barnes and Russell Coutts, capable native sons.

Back up on Mission Bay, at Little Gamagori, it’s clear that Chris Dickson will steer for the Nippon Challenge, with Makoto Namba in reserve should Dickson be run over by a sailboard one day.

On Shelter Island, at Little Italy, there isn’t any doubt that Paul Cayard will steer for Il Moro, despite the recent presence of Cup veteran John Kolius, also an American. Kolius is sailing the “trial horse” second boat and serving as Cayard’s “consultant,” but he isn’t eligible for the Cup because he hasn’t lived in Italy for two years, as Cayard has.

Kolius couldn’t even ride on the boat in the Cup next year. Besides, Cayard’s afterguard already is filled with the brothers Chieffi, Tomasso and Enrico, tactician and navigator, respectively.

But Kolius could steer Il Moro’s second entry in the IACC World Championships next month, if Il Moro decides to sail a second boat.

Bertrand? Conner already has the world’s most famous tactician, Tom Whidden. Bertrand might find a slot as alternate helmsman or navigator, a role Peter Isler abandoned to become a television star.

Kostecki’s ultimate role with America-3 will bear watching. They’re all good sailors, but Kostecki may be the best. Signing him, when Conner also was courting him, was a coup for the syndicate.

Gary Jobson says he received roughly 500 applications for the America-3 crew and 100 were invited to try out. He had to narrow it down to 32, plus six alternates.

He said the hardest part was telling the others they’d missed the cut. Jobson phoned all of those that didn’t make it.

The most interesting selection was Dawn Riley, 26, who could become the only woman to sail in an America’s Cup race since long skirts. Riley, from Detroit, was the only American member of Britain’s all-woman Maiden crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race in ‘89-90.

Her position is not a token. She is assigned to the pit, handling headsails and spinnakers.

“She’s terrific,” said Bob Billingham, another crew member, “capable of competing with any of the guys. She’s won equal acceptance on the crew. I’d go sailing with her on anything any time.”

America-3’s own first boat, built secretly at the Hercules Aerospace factory in Utah, is scheduled to leave today by truck and arrive in San Diego at the team’s new compound Thursday night.

The team has been practicing with the boat they bought from the French syndicate and plans to sail both in the IACC World Championships next month.

The new French boat arrived by Soviet transport last weekend. With those arrivals, there will be a dozen of the new boats in port, including the third New Zealand boat that will be chartered by the Spanish team for the worlds.

The deal, still not announced officially, was delayed when U.S. Customs told New Zealand it couldn’t charter the boat because it was in the country on a business waiver, without paying duty. Tom Ehman’s America’s Cup Organizing Committee apparently resolved the problem through the State Department.

Sight to behold: Dennis Conner, on his hands and knees, polishing his new Stars & Stripes after a practice sail.

Some of the VIP and media guests aboard the Berkeley at the christening of Conner’s boat suspected they were flirting with disaster.

The Berkeley is a ferry built in 1898 to run on San Francisco Bay. Upon its retirement, it was brought to San Diego as part of the Maritime Museum along the Embarcadero, next to the 1863 bark Star of India.

When the new Stars & Stripes was brought in alongside the Berkeley’s port side for its christening, guests, including a swarm of photographers on the top deck, jammed the port rails for the best view, causing the old ship to list significantly.

Artifacts skidded off shelves. Starboard-side drawers slid open. Bets were taken how far the ship could list before it did a death roll.

The maximum list was recorded unofficially as 7 1/2 degrees.

Less than 24 hours before the christening, a Soviet cargo plane had landed the Italian Il Moro syndicate’s third boat on Lindbergh Field.

Witnesses said that on his first approach the pilot of the giant plane overshot the field and had to abort his landing from about 30 feet off the ground. He then came around and landed uneventfully.

Dennis Conner has had 11 America’s Cup boats christened in his career. He was asked how he selected his youngest daughter Shanna, 19, to bash the the latest one with the bottle.

“She hadn’t done one yet,” he said.