AMERICA’S CUP DAILY REPORT : DEFENDER TRIALS : Melges Sails Past Conner a 3rd Time

Buddy Melges and Defiant blew past Dennis Conner and Stars & Stripes midway through their defender trials race Wednesday and won by 50 seconds--closest race of the first round.

Defiant (5-0) can complete a perfect round by beating America 3stablemate Jayhawk (0-4) Saturday. Stars & Stripes (2-3) meets Jayhawk today.

In winds of 9-11 knots, Stars & Stripes tactician Tom Whidden, calculating a wind shift, picked the right side of the race course. Conner nailed the start at that end of the line, with Melges satisfied to go the other way.

Stars & Stripes held a 35-second lead at the first, windward mark, but America 3used its inventory of more than 100 sails to beat Conner’s boat for the third consecutive time.

Conner tried to keep Defiant from passing by luffing his boat into the wind.

Defiant protested that Conner wasn’t far enough ahead to do it, and Conner also protested. The umpires nullified both protests, creating a historical footnote: the first ruling by on-the-water umpires in the America’s Cup.