Kiwis Favored in Challengers’ Final

New Zealand handles the role of favorite like a piece of bruised fruit.

Delicately.

The red boats of the Kiwis and Il Moro di Venezia face off in Day 1 of the Louis Vuitton Cup finals today, with the winner of the best-of-nine series advancing to the America’s Cup finals beginning May 9. Among the front-runners ever since they set up shop in Coronado, the Kiwis fought their way through the early rounds off Point Loma to build their image as the likely winner.

New Zealand might operate under a guise of cool confidence behind closed doors, but publicly, the syndicate that Sir Michael Fay built will tell you it is simply happy to be here.

“The whole program is an excellent demonstration of what New Zealand can do in the yachting world,” skipper Rod Davis said. “New Zealand is such a small country. It’s a feat just to be in the America’s Cup, let alone the finals.”

Yet the sentiment back home is to come back with the Cup, or don’t bother coming back. Only in 1983, when Australia wrested it from Dennis Conner, has the Cup left American soil.

“We lost the rugby world championship and the cricket championship,” team business manager Ross Blackman said. “There are three major sporting events back home, and this is our last chance.”

With the honor of a nation in the balance, New Zealand must sustain its impressive run. In the opening three rounds of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the Kiwis earned a first, a second and a first-place tie. In the semifinals, with its sailing muscles flexed, New Zealand was a wisp away from an 8-1 record, were it not for the controversial loss to Il Moro, when New Zealand was disqualified for touching the buoy at the finish line.

All the sailing success came amid the distraction of conflicting jury rulings on the Kiwis’ use of their 39-inch bowsprit.

Should the symmetry continue, Davis said the Cup could runneth over to New Zealand.

“If we can do a good job out of the water, I think we can win the America’s Cup,” he said. “It will require a good job by the whole team, but I think we have all the ingredients.”

But Davis wouldn’t extend his guarded optimism past today’s race: “At the end you look back and say that was exciting. But at this point, it’s dangerous to look farther than the very next race.”

Or past San Francisco native Paul Cayard, Italy’s skipper. Although Il Moro was 5-4 in the semifinals with losses in its final three races and managed only two victories in six meetings with the Kiwis, Cayard poses a threat.

“We have very similar styles,” Davis said. “That’s why this week should be tight boat racing. We have two good teams, similar styles and the boats are pretty close.”

Cayard acknowledged the Italians, who a year ago defeated the Kiwis in the International America’s Cup Class World Championships here, weren’t as consistent as they should have been through three rounds.

“A lot of energy and resources have been dedicated toward learning the boat, under various conditions,” he said. “We didn’t spend enough time analyzing our opponents, the race course before the start, and basically getting our head into the game. That’s the price you pay to get the speed sometimes.”

And New Zealand seems to have the most of it. Dennis Conner said Friday he has a “visceral feeling,” the Kiwi boat is the fastest, and Cayard didn’t argue.

“In some conditions New Zealand is the fastest boat out there, but I think there are other conditions where Il Moro is faster and the boats are pretty competitive.”

What it will come down to is San Diego’s mystic wind conditions.

“The real deal here is the San Diego factor,” Cayard said. “It’s a tricky place to sail. When boat speed is down to a tenth of a knot of difference, the shifts can easily overcome that. From what I’ve seen so far, every race is winnable by either boat.”

That dubious San Diego factor would seem to favor native son Davis, who grew up in Coronado. But sailing the races on the backside of Point Loma rather than closer to the more familiar waters near the Hotel del Coronado, are of little advantage.

“Very strange things happen there,” Davis said. “Nothing prepares you. There are still a lot of surprises.”

For that reason, Davis said he has no preference of weather conditions for this final. Cayard said choppy waters might give Italy a slight advantage over New Zealand.

“If you sit around dreaming about 6 knots of wind and then you get 16 knots, you’re disappointed,” he said. “We believe both boats performance probably will be dependent on the job done on the water. So whatever weather comes, we’ll accept.”