SAILING : Duker’s Evolution in Position to Win the Cal Cup Again

Evolution, with two victories Saturday, seems destined to win the Cal Cup again no matter who owns the boat.

Former owner Bob Doughty sailed the Santa Cruz 70 to the title a year ago, and Brack Duker has a hold on it with 6 1/2 points after four races and one race remaining today in the ULDB 70 Assn. event off Marina del Rey.

Barring a disqualification, the only boat among 10 rivals with a reasonable chance to overtake Evolution is Roy Disney’s Pyewacket, with 15 3/4 points. If Pyewacket wins today’s race, Evolution must finish at least third to claim the title. Otherwise, Evolution needs only to finish within three places of Pyewacket.

The winds were a light 8-9 knots Saturday, with large shifts that caught some boats out of phase on the wrong side of the course.

However, Evolution, with Dan Schiff at the helm most of the day and several of Doughty’s old crew on board, started with clear air in both races, picked the shifts well and rounded every mark first. Evolution won the first, 12 1/2-mile race by 4 minutes 51 seconds and the second, eight-mile race by 2:31.

Some of the favorites paid for aggressive starts in both races. Ed McDowell’s Grand Illusion, the 1990 season champion, crossed the line before the gun in one race and had to restart and scramble to salvage seventh. Taxi Dancer, Blondie and Ole were over early in the other race.

Pyewacket, with Robbie Haines steering, has won three of the previous four points events for the sleds this year and was second in Saturday’s first race. But in the next race Disney’s new SC 70 got stuck with other boats on the wrong side of the course at the start and managed only fifth in a four-boat overlap finish with Grand Illusion, Blondie and Silver Bullet.

That gave Evolution the lead in the regatta.

Some of the boats that have been modified for downwind performance in the biennial Transpac race to Honolulu starting June 29 are not sailing up to their usual standards in this bouy racing event that demands upwind performance, as well.

Cheval, a ’90 season title challenger owned by Hal Ward and steered by Olympic bronze medalist John Shadden of Long Beach, had 1,000 pounds trimmed off its keel and is eighth in the event.

John DeLaura’s Silver Bullet, the ’89 season champion, is out of the running in seventh.