America 3 Tries New Sail in Victory over Defiant

Her new gown was a stunner. It made you wonder what additional creations Bill Koch might unveil in his new spring line.

Earlier in the week, the America 3 syndicate head described America 3, his third in a series of four boats, as feeling like “a beautiful lady.”

She proved she’s a sharp dresser, too. She came to the third day of Round 3 of the defender trials off Point Loma Thursday decked out in a new headsail that couldn’t be described as less than elegant.

The silvery white sail, made up of a combination of liquid crystal, polymer and carbon fiber, has been dubbed “Cubenfiber” for lack of another name. This was the first time it was used in competition, and it is a far departure from the more common yellow-gold Kevlar sails.

“Get your gamma-ray sunglasses out,” said Andreas Josenhans, the tactician on board America 3 on this day.

About the only harmful rays America 3 had to block out Thursday were those of boredom. The intramural race between sorority sisters America 3 and Defiant ended after the first leeward mark, with America 3 holding a 2-minute, 31-second lead.

When Defiant’s crew noticed the mainsail drop during the second run, it elected to bail out of the race and return to the compound for overnight repairs on the halyard. In order to pick up the four points it would normally earn in victory, all America 3 had to do was finish the 20 nautical-mile course.

“At that point, we were already a couple of minutes ahead,” Josenhans said. “The best of the race is over. We just have to complete the course.”

Even if Defiant could have fixed the problem, Josenhans said America 3 had no choice but to continue on its course.

“In the interest of good sportsmanship, we couldn’t do a whole lot,” he said. “We could have eased the sail and beat up on them later, but the problem with that is, it can be construed as trying to give them another chance.”

Defiant had its chance in the beginning, when Dave Dellenbaugh, who was at the helm of Defiant for the first time, steered the yacht to the left side of the start line, forced America 3 to the right, and immediately had a six-second lead. Koch was the skipper on America 3.

“(Koch) was doing fine,” Josenhans said. “We were locked on the starboard side when we wanted port. It’s tricky with the long bow and tail on (Defiant). Rather than dip down, he opted to bail out of it.”

But America 3 found better wind all the way up to the first windward mark, where it took a 1:48 lead, which it extended to 2:31 on leg two, before Defiant discovered its mast problem.