Koch Has Been More Strategist Than Ballast : America’s Cup: Syndicate owner hasn’t hurt his team’s chances by being on board.

Why does Bill Koch’s America 3 boat have two steering wheels?

One is for his driving instructor, Buddy Melges.

Why does Koch’s crew wear white?

Because Koch thought they said he was going to play tennis, not Dennis.

Koch was the butt of more than a few jokes when he arrived at the America’s Cup, but most of those who were laughing now are on the outside looking in, with Koch leading, 2-1, in the best-of-seven final match against Il Moro di Venezia resuming off Point Loma today.

In the context of Cup history, Koch is a throwback to a lot of other rich men whose money-making ability exceeded their sailing skill. Some have seen him as a dilettante trying to buy the America’s Cup for his art collection, at the same time playing out a rich man’s Walter Mitty fantasy as skipper and alternate helmsman.

Even if he has spent about $65 million, that doesn’t make him a world-class sailor who has paid his dues.

Raul Gardini, his Il Moro counterpart, was quoted last year as calling Koch “a comic figure.” Gardini said the remark was confused in translation, but it rang true in the past few days when Koch, who is 6 feet 5, kept getting hit in the head with booms and backstays.

Gardini considers himself to be a more serious sailor than Koch, and yet it is Gardini who is only along for the ride, leaving a trail of tobacco smoke around the course.

Koch is the one full of nervous energy: recoiling lines, “shooting” Il Moro with the laser rangefinder every few seconds, making wind, weather and tactical observations to anybody who will listen and generally fussing over everything and everyone and trying to be useful.

“He’s less than a boat-length ahead now,” Koch announces.

“More pressure (stronger wind) on the right.”

Melges told Koch recently that Koch has come far enough to qualify for a new title: strategist.

“He is in that afterguard concept of adding something to the game plan. He keeps (tactician) David (Dellenbaugh) on his toes all the time, and he’s checking with (navigator) By Baldridge about our position and what By feels the wind and the current are doing. So certainly ‘the strategist’ is the perfect identification of Bill’s new role.”

Rick Burnham, a backup bowman who also has sailed with Koch on his maxi boats, Matador and Matador 2, said Koch’s style has changed recently.

“He’s gotten a little more assertive on the boat, with the added knowledge and experience he’s gained,” Burnham said. “He’s done so much sailing on these America’s Cup boats, standing next to Buddy and some of the best guys in the world, that it’s rubbed off. He seems to be much more aware of the wind and sea conditions.”

And he never stops talking about it. On most race boats, there is very little talking except for vital input and commands. His TV microphone has revealed that Koch chatters--or, as he said himself, “babbles”--constantly. Melges and Dellenbaugh sometimes nod in acknowledgment or glance at what Koch is indicating, but they seldom respond verbally. Once Koch was seen virtually forcing Melges to drink from a water bottle.

Burnham laughed. “I don’t know how much input they want. Some afterguards will want a continuous flow of information. Some won’t.”

Burnham said Koch also is devoting full-time attention to the Cup, while with the maxi boats he wouldn’t be around much between races.

“This project is certainly more consuming for him than the maxi-boat projects. He’s been here the whole time.”

However, Burnham added, Koch actually is steering America 3 less than he did the maxis, which sailed long-range races without as much close-quarter turning action involved.

For a long time it was hard to tell who was calling tactics aboard Koch’s boats--the professionals or the amateur. Every decision seemed to require a board meeting.

But now, the afterguard seems stable. America 3’s tactics in covering Il Moro to protect its leads have been flawless. Koch has conceded that, even with Melges on board, the team still is short on match-racing savvy, but he declared weeks ago that he wouldn’t be bringing in any new hands, including Dennis Conner.

When Paul Cayard’s aggressive tactics and close-quarter sailing talent exposed the weaknesses during the Italians’ three-second victory last Sunday, some thought it was time for second thoughts, for the sake of the defense.

Conner observed: “To read the newspapers, it doesn’t seem like anybody’s too keen on how Bill and Buddy have been sailing their boat. If they lose one more race, I’m sure you’ll hear the question: ‘Where’s Tom (Whidden) and Dennis, Bill?’ ”

But then it was Cayard who sailed himself out of a race for the second time in three starts, and no questions were asked.

What would Conner say if Koch invited him aboard?

“We don’t have to worry about it until they ask,” Conner said.

And that, it seems, is not about to happen.