AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Slow Start Holds True to Form for Fast-Improving Conner Crew
Was Dennis Conner sandbagging until the last couple of weeks?
No . . . and yes, in a way.
In races in the early rounds, Conner and the crew probably were trying as hard as they could, but their timing and skills were rusty for lack of racing time. They also had an inferior inventory of sails. And the boat wasn’t as good as it could be.
A lot of that was because of the lack of a trial horse with which to tune up. But, as Conner said, America 3 would give him four trial horses, and it has helped. The boat has been improved, it has new sails and the veteran crew is peaking for crunch time.
The pattern has been similar to Conner’s program when he brought the Cup back from Australia five years ago.
Tactician Tom Whidden said, “It’s not the first time we’ve started off a little slow out of the blocks. We are a one-boat program, and we didn’t have a lot of opportunities to try things without actually using the races. We’ve saved a few things for the end here, and they seem to be working out pretty well.
“It does seem like we have a little momentum now, and the guys are feeling more confident that we’re not quite as far over the hill as (people) thought we were in the bad days.”
This must be the week to bash Bill Koch. The French say the main advantage of America 3’s liquid crystal sails is psychological.
Le Defi Francais released a statement quoting Philippe Paquien of the Textile Institut of France: “Concerning the materials of America 3 containing ‘high density polymeric molecular, and liquid crystal structure,’ our research shows that this is no more than a type of fiber whose chemical elaboration is similar to that of Kevlar, and this for a performance which is inferior to that of Kevlar 49.”
Paquien added that he sees “no interest in it other than creating doubt in the other competitors’ minds regarding their own material.”
The statement continued that “Kevlar 49 has been used with great success by the ’87 French campaign even before others had adopted it. . . . in 1992, Ville de Paris with its sails made of Aramide and Polyethylene DYNEEMA from (Holland) could also easily be saying that it has sails made of ‘liquid crystal structure’ . . . but these have nothing to do with the ones we find in the quartz watches of calculating machines.”
Le Defi also said it had developed its own material, Ariane 2, for downwind and reaching sails.
How do the sailors know where to find the best wind?
They look for dark areas on the horizon where the water is more disturbed by wind. They watch distant sailboats to see how they’re sailing. They watch clouds, smoke on shore. They watch other races--even on other courses.
Il Moro di Venezia skipper Paul Cayard said after Tuesday’s races that he spent the postponement time of his race against Nippon watching Stars & Stripes race against America 3on the adjacent defenders’ course.
“We saw Dennis Conner sail right over Bill Koch after Koch gave it to him, so we knew the right (side) was pretty good,” Cayard said.
Il Moro di Venezia I, the first of the Italians’ five boats, was moved Wednesday to the International America’s Cup Center for display through May 31.
It will not have a mast, but the public will be able to see the hull and deck layout up close. The center is on Pacific Highway between Broadway and C Street.