AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Australian Syndicates Closing in on Agreement to Settle Feud

There may be a peace settlement in the Australian feud.

At the rate they’re going, neither boat will reach the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals, but Challenge Australia syndicate boss Syd Fischer has extended an olive branch to Spirit of Australia’s Iain Murray.

“He indicated at a press conference that he’d welcome any help,” Fischer said. “I just rang him last night and said, ‘If there’s anything we have that’s useful to you we’re quite happy to let you have it.’ He’s coming back to me.”

Spirit of Australia spokesman David Kellett said, “We’re looking into it.”

The most help might be use of Fischer’s sail loft. Murray doesn’t have one.

“We have a laser cutter and everything,” Fischer said. “It cost a fair bit of money, and the Swedes are using it at the moment. They’re paying for it . . . commercial rate.”

It wasn’t clear whether Fischer also would charge his countrymen, but he said the offer was not a step toward merging the syndicates.

“No, we’re both individual competitors,” Fischer said. “We’ve treated each other the same as we would any other opposition camp. It’s individual yacht clubs challenging the San Diego Yacht Club.”

Alberto Tomba’s first stop on his post-Winter Olympics celebrity tour may be San Diego.

“Tomba follows us very much,” Il Moro di Venezia spokeswoman Monica Paolazzi said. “He was here during the (International America’s Cup Class) World Championships (last May). “He wanted to win the two golds again and them come here to see us win the America’s Cup.”

Doug Smith, the Point Loma marine insurance agent who was the Russians’ original U.S. representative, has been issued credentials as a coach of the Russian Olympic sailing team.

Smith and skipper Guram Biganishvili resigned when the America’s Cup effort split into two groups, which eventually self-destructed.

“The Russian Sailing Federation is upset at both the groups for their conduct,” Smith said, “and I guess this is their way of thanking me for the help I gave them in getting as far as they did.”

Biganishvili will compete in the Star class.

“I’d be egotistical to think I could teach them anything about sailing, but it’s a real nice gesture,” Smith said.

Juri Georgian is manager of the team. His son Nikolai, now 4, had kidney surgery at Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles last year. the surgeon was Brian Hardy, a cousin of Michael Fay, head of the New Zealand Cup syndicate.

Nippon lost to New Zealand on a day when three Japanese journalists won the daily media contest for picking winners of the races this week.

“ Former Japanese journalists,” Nippon skipper Chris Dickson said.

Wind shifts have played such a large part in many races that some skippers were asked if they’d like to start the races about 30 minutes later, when the wind has settled down more.

Sweden’s Gunnar Krantz and Spain’s Pedro Campos thought that would be a good idea, while New Zealand tactician David Barnes said it should depend on what forecasts indicated.

Nippon’s Chris Dickson had a racer’s opinion: “We’ve always planned on racing at about this time of the day. The wind at the end of the day goes a little crazy, as well.”

Nippon suffered from two early, adverse wind shifts in its loss to New Zealand Tuesday, but Dickson wasn’t whining.

“The light sea breeze at San Diego is part of San Diego,” he said. “It’s pot luck. You have to start sooner or later, and the wind shifts, the puffs, the holes--all that is yacht racing.”

Ville de Paris and Tre Kronor have broken spinnaker poles this week. Neither was carrying a spare because, they said, the poles weigh 77 pounds and the extra weight would cost some speed.

Sweden’s Gunnar Krantz had a different reason: “We checked the bank account last week.”