AMERICA’S CUP DAILY REPORT : DEFENDER TRIALS : Stars & Stripes Loses by 6 Minutes

Another day, another drubbing for Dennis Conner, but is Alberto Calderon concerned?

“I’m quite pleased with the results, actually,” Calderon said Tuesday before Stars & Stripes lost to America 33 by six minutes, after losses to America 33 by 6:23 and Defiant by 4:16 earlier in this second round of the America’s Cup defender trials.

Stars & Stripes is believed to have been refitted with a radical, fore-and-aft-rudder steering system similar to what Calderon designed for the late Tom Blackaller’s 12-meter USA in 1986.

Blackaller likened the system to learning how to steer a hook-and-ladder fire truck from the rear end: tricky at best, terrifying at worst.

For Conner, the only problem has been upwind, at least in the last two races. Off the wind, he actually has sailed slightly faster than his rivals.

America 33, with owner Bill Koch and helmsman Buddy Melges aboard Tuesday, outsailed Conner on the three windward legs by a total of 6:28. Conner made up 49 seconds on three of the four off-wind legs.

The problem, Calderon said, is not what’s under the boat but what’s above it: the 110-foot mast, which was repositioned during the modifications and can’t be changed until after this round--unless the America 3team agrees.

“Once you (officially) weigh the boat, you cannot move the mast,” Calderon said. “The configuration is a very lovely one. If we optimize the mast, the problems disappear.”

Calderon gives Conner and the crew high marks, considering they had practice-sailed the boat two days before racing it.

“(Blackaller) had a month and a half,” Calderon said. “This time we had two days. Dennis has done a tremendous job adapting as well as he has.”