Conner Finally Is Sunk : America’s Cup: Koch earns the right to defend sailing’s biggest prize.

Big Bad Dennis Conner is neither big nor bad anymore in the America’s Cup.

Bill Koch, backed by his multimillion-dollar, multimegabyte America3 Foundation, on Friday knocked Conner back to the docks for the first time in 12 years and earned the right to defend the America’s Cup for the San Diego Yacht Club.

Conner’s Stars & Stripes went meekly. The yacht America3, again sailing in a more favorable weather window, won its third straight race by a whopping 5 minutes, 8 seconds to clinch the best-of-13 defender finals with a 7-4 record.

Koch will face Italy’s Il Moro di Venezia and its American-born skipper, Paul Cayard, in the 28th America’s Cup match beginning May 9.

“We’ll get ‘em in ‘95,” Conner told his crew.

Conner got off to a bad start. He crossed the line about two seconds before the gun and had to turn back and restart. That put America3 ahead by 29 seconds, but Conner made up the deficit after initiating a tacking duel.

America3, however, caught a favorable puff on the right side. During a long starboard tack, America3 got the favorable position and pinned Stars & Stripes out on the left side of the course. When both yachts went onto port tack, America3 was ahead by about six lengths.

America3 led by 1:04 rounding the first windward buoy and increased its lead at every other mark on the eight-leg, 20.03-mile course. The elapsed time was 2 hours, 45 minutes, 40 seconds.

The westerly wind ranged from 6-9 knots, with a swell of 3 feet. The wind was more in Stars & Stripes’ window, but 9 knots is where America3 begins to kick in. The 3-foot swell favored America3 because the wider, year-old Stars & Stripes has trouble with seas above 1-2 feet.

America3 was in such a dominating position on the downwind run to the finish that Koch polled his crew whether to allow ESPN analyst Gary Jobson on board for a post-race interview. Jobson was a member of the America3 afterguard before quitting last summer in a dispute over naming a No. 1 crew.

Koch let Jobson aboard, then told him: “They seemed to be our conditions, although the wind was in (Conner’s) conditions. (Tactican) David Dellenbaugh picked a beautiful shift to the right, right off the start, then our boat speed just seemed to take over.”

Koch didn’t want to guess the outcome of the America’s Cup.

“I’ve learned not to (predict) out here. There’s too many things that go on. Before, when I said we were going to beat the socks off Conner, we had the socks handed to us.”

Koch has sailed against Cayard and Il Moro syndicate head Raul Gardini in Maxi-class races. Il Moro defeated New Zealand to clinch the challenger final 5-3.

“We’re looking forward to a lot of fun,” said Koch, who steered only on the three reaching legs. Buddy Melges steered the first three legs and the last two.

While the outgunned Conner spoke of the luck of the Irish in staying alive in this regatta, Koch, a native of Wichita, Kan., spoke of probability trees.

Koch, an America’s Cup rookie who holds a doctorate in chemical engineering from MIT, came armed with $65 million -- at least two-thirds of it his own -- and computer help from his alma mater. That was enough to build a four-yacht armada. America3 was Koch’s third boat, and was designed for light-moderate wind.

Conner raised only an estimated $15 million, not enough to pay for a second boat.

Koch’s goal was to get two yachts into the defender final. He nearly succeeded, but Stars & Stripes won a race-off over Kanza to advance. Stars & Stripes fell behind 3-0 before winning four of the next five races to even the finals.

Conner sailed in the last four America’s Cup finals dating to 1980, winning three times and losing once. His first victory as skipper came aboard Freedom in 1980.

Three years later, Conner became the first U.S. skipper to lose the America’s Cup when Australia II battled back from a 3-1 deficit to end the New York Yacht Club’s 132-year winning streak.

Conner came roaring back in 1986-87, this time as a challenger. In the last America’s Cup sailed in the 12-meter class, Conner had Stars & Stripes ahead at every turning mark to beat Australia’s Kookaburra III 4-0.

During that regatta, he earned his nickname of Big Bad Dennis by calling the New Zealanders cheaters for using a fiberglass boat. Kiwi Magic was 37-1 entering the challenger finals, but Conner dispatched it 4-1.

Conner sparred again with the Kiwis in 1987-88 after Sir Michael Fay issued a surprise challenge. Conner sailed a catamaran to victory over Fay’s 132-foot yacht, then waited a year and half for the courts to uphold his victory.

Before he headed his own campaigns, Conner was starting helmsman and tactician aboard Ted Hood’s victorious Courageous in 1974. Conner sat out the 1977 America’s Cup as he competed in the 1976 Olympics, winning a bronze medal in the Tempest Class, and the 1977 Star world championships, which he won.