AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : All Melges Needs Is San Diego

Dennis Conner has said the best sailors come from San Diego for two reasons: the weather conditions and the competition, including the Star class, a two-man Olympic boat.

Conner told Herb McCormick in an interview for Sailing World magazine that Buddy Melges, his America 3 rival, is an exception. Melges is a life-long lake sailor from Zenda, Wis., who also excels on the ocean.

“If he lived in San Diego he’d be the best sailor in the history of the planet,” Conner said.

Melges, like Conner, also has won two world Star championships, and after Saturday’s victory is 4-0 against Conner in this Cup, although Conner held the upper hand at Fremantle, when Melges sailed the Heart of America 12-meter.

But Conner most admires Bill Buchan, who was 49 when he won an Olympic gold medal in a Star at Long Beach in 1984 and holds three world Star titles.

“Melges is a hard-core professional,” Conner said. “Buchan . . . it’s his hobby.”

Conner also commented on the new International America’s Cup Class: “They’re nice boats, but we could have done just as well with a 12-meter and a 12-foot higher rig. It would have been fine in San Diego, and a lot less expensive. . . . But that’s all right. the America’s Cup has always been a little expensive.”

Tom Ehman, executive vice president/general manager of the America’s Cup Organizing Committee, was doing race commentary over marine radio Saturday when he noticed an old New York Yacht Club 12-meter sailing off Point Loma.

Ehman was an executive with that high-priced syndicate which failed to reach the semifinals at Fremantle in ’87.

“There’s America II sailing underneath the cemetery,” Ehman noted. “That’s fitting.”

The Italian magazine Mondo Barca (Boat World) polled the media on strengths of the 10 syndicates in four categories--organization, boat, helmsman and crew--on a scale of 1 to 10.

The results, averaged before the last race of the first round of challenger trials when France’s Ville de Paris defeated Italy’s Il Moro di Venezia:

1. Il Moro, 32.39 points; 2. New Zealand, 31.87; 3. Nippon, 27.86; 4. Team Dennis Conner, 27.74; 5. Le Defi Francais, 27.03; 6. America3, 26.04; 7. Spirit of Australia, 24.87; 8. Desafio Espana, 20.17; 9. Challenge Australia, 16.35; 10. Swedish Challenge, 16.13.

Conner and Il Moro’s Paul Cayard were co-rated as the best helmsmen at 8.43. The worst: Challenge Australia’s Phil Thompson, who may have trouble looking good because of his boat.

America 3 was rated seventh at 5.87 for helmsmen, but it wasn’t clear whether that meant Bill Koch or Melges.

Il Moro was rated the best organization, 8.35, just ahead of New Zealand, 8.04. The worst: Sweden, 3.65, nosing out Syd Fischer’s Challenge Australia, 3.70.

New Zealand’s boat, designed by Bruce Farr, was rated tops at 8.04, a shade above Il Moro’s, 8.00. The worst: A close nod to the Swedes over Syd again, 3.13 to 3.17.

New Zealand’s crew also got top marks, 8.13, ahead of Stars & Stripes, 7.65, and Il Moro, 7.61. The worst: ditto.