SAILING : Jayhawk Pulls Surprise Victory

Bill Koch’s boat is one he loves to hate. He has described all of the new America’s Cup boats as “incredibly dangerous,” but he also dubbed his new boat “Jayhawk,” for his native Kansas.

“A Jayhawk is a mythical bird that’s very fast,” Koch said.

The boat, built secretly at Hercules Aerospace in Utah, had only five days of shakedown sailing. But the way it struggled in its first competitive tests left some wondering whether it was a mythical bird or a mythical boat.

Then, in tricky 7-to-11 knot winds Monday, Koch came from nowhere to pass Chris Dickson’s Nippon Challenge and Rod Davis’ New Zealand on the last two legs to win the third race of the International America’s Cup Class World Championship by 51.9 seconds.

That lifted Koch to fifth place behind Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes in the competition for the four semifinal berths. New Zealand leads, with two fleet races remaining.

Tom Whidden, Conner’s tactician, said: “The way the Kiwis are looking, it’s lucky we had a catamaran last time.”

Koch, a multimillionaire industrialist, was among the first to complain about the flimsy construction of the new boats. He predicted masts would fall down. Masts fell down.

Last weekend, after a series of breakdowns in Race 1, Koch reiterated his point, but Dickson suggested that perhaps an “average” sailor couldn’t handle an IACC boat, no more than Dickson could a Formula One race car.

Koch responded, “I hope I get a chance to compete with Chris Dickson. It’d be fun.”

Koch had an ace to play: John Kostecki.

Kostecki, an Olympic silver medalist, was on board Koch’s boat Monday, sharing the helm, after sailing the team’s slower USA-2 with Buddy Melges the first few days. Tactician Gary Jobson has been steering Jayhawk for the starts, then turning the helm over to Koch. Kostecki steered for the two downwind legs Monday. Jayhawk passed Dickson on the last upwind leg and New Zealand on the downwind finishing leg.