Sailors Call Talk of Wind Just Hot Air
Those who think San Diego’s notoriously light wind means a dull America’s Cup do not include the men who will sail the boats.
“The buttonhook turn at the leeward mark may be some of the greatest moments we’ve seen in sailing--both good and bad,” Gary Jobson of America-3 said Thursday.
Paul Cayard of Italy’s Il Moro di Venezia team: “When you have to go buttonhook to the left and the boat’s approaching that with a full-size gennaker up on starboard tack, and you can’t see anything at all to leeward, and the boats in front will be going around the mark and going upwind right at those starboard tack boats . . . it’s unquestionably the scariest and most ridiculous point of the race.”
The new America’s Cup course to be used in the 1992 trial rounds and defense includes a zig-zag leg on the second lap leading to a quick, 180-degree turn that will send the leaders right back into the teeth of the stragglers.
Worse, with their billowing gennaker headsails up, the downwind helmsmen won’t be able to see the boats coming back upwind--although they will have the right of way by being on starboard tack.
Worse yet, for the World Championships starting next week, Tom Ehman, executive director of the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, said he had moved the zig-zag leg to the first lap so the fleet will be bunched closer together when it rounds the critical mark.
Hearing some of the skippers’ concerns at Thursday’s public press conference attended by 600 people at the Sheraton Harbor Island Hotel, Ehman said, “I think it’s a little bit of hype on their part. These guys are world-class sailors. I can’t see it being that much of a problem.”
But if there are collisions, they could be catastrophic. The boats’ rigging already has been proven fragile with broken masts suffered by New Zealand and Il Moro.
America-3 syndicate chief Bill Koch said, “The new boats are a dream for designers and boat builders and a nightmare for sailors and owners.
“They’re a nightmare for the owners because the cost a bloody fortune. They’re a nightmare for the sailors because they break. They’re a dream for the designers and boat builders because because they cost (a fortune).”
Koch also sank a small fortune into the long-term development of his larger Matador-2 maxi boat that dominated the world maxi circuit last year.
“We think the maxis are faster and much more exciting, and we’d rather see the America’s Cup in maxis,” Koch said.
Designed for San Diego’s zephyrs, the new 75-foot International America’s Cup Class is smaller than the maxis, larger than 12-meters and, in at least one respect, isn’t performing as well as either.
The tacking angles appear to be mediocre. No sailboat can sail directly into the wind, but the IACCs are no better than production boats in their tacking angles--i.e., the gap between port and starboard tacks when sailing upwind.
“They’re really wide,” Jobson said. “I don’t think the boats are as close-winded as they should be. The 12s tack through 70 to 75 degrees. The maxis go 65 to 70 degrees, and these boats do 85 to 95. (Maybe it’s because) they’re really light boats. I don’t know. We’re trying to figure that out.”
If Dennis Conner decides to compete with the new Stars & Stripes--and it appears he will--there probably will be nine entries from six countries. The others: America-3 (two boats), Il Moro (two boats), New Zealand, Spain, France and Nippon.
There will be two “tuneup” fleet races Wednesday and one Thursday before the worlds start five consecutive days of single fleet races Saturday.
The top four boats after the five fleet races will meet in semifinal match races Friday, May 10, and the winners meet Saturday for the title.
What does it all mean in relation to the real America’s Cup competition, which will be all match racing, starting next January?
Nippon challenge skipper Chris Dickson said, “The America’s Cup next year is the goal. The world championships is a great opportunity to race these boats for the first time . . . the only time we’ll see these boats in a fleet race.”
New Zealand’s David Barnes said his crew has been concentrating more on boat development than crew work, so it might not be as sharp as it should be in getting sails up and down.
France’s Marc Pajot, who sailed the new Ville de Paris for the first time Thursday, said, “It might not be ready for good sailing, but our goal is the America’s Cup.”
America-3’s new boat might not sail until Saturday, and Il Moro’s newest boat started sailing only Tuesday. It will probably sail in the worlds alongside the syndicate’s first boat and the second Il Moro--the one that lost its mast last week--will be retired.
That boat has been put away on a cradle in the Il Moro compound, and the development of the Italians’ third boat, delivered this month, has started.
Cayard sailed it for the first time Tuesday. Kolius sailed it Wednesday while Cayard sailed the yearold first Il Moro in a series of four short match races against New Zealand with windward and leeward marks. The Spanish crew, in only their second day out, watched on their borrowed Kiwi boat.
New Zealand won all four matches.
There are two reasons the skippers might not be trying as hard as they will next year: They don’t want to push their boats to destruction for something that is relatively meaningless, and they don’t want to show their best performances . . . yet. Ehman refuted that.
Recalling the 1986 12-meter worlds at Fremantle, a prelude to the America’s Cup in ‘86-87, he said, “Everybody said the same thing then, but as soon as they got on the water everyone was trying to win.
“It’s important to morale on the boats and to fund-raising at home. The Kiwis put themselves on the map by finishing second (in the ’86 12-meter worlds).”
Australia won the event but ultimately lost the defense finals to Iain Murray’s Kookaburra boat, which didn’t compete in the worlds. Murray then lost to Dennis Conner, who didn’t compete in the worlds, either.