SAILING : Conner’s Last Look Mirrors Year’s First

Dennis Conner finished the year’s sailing Sunday the way he started it: looking at the stern of a sailboat full of America 3sailors.

John Bertrand, tactical strategist for Conner aboard Stars & Stripes last spring, recruited six of his nine crewmen from Bill Koch’s victorious America’s Cup team and won all three races of the U.S. Formula One Grand Prix on San Diego Bay.

His former skipper came from last place to finish second in Sunday’s race, followed by San Diego’s J.J. Isler, the first woman to skipper a boat in the event.

Bertrand, from Newport Beach, won $40,000, which he will share with a crew that included bowman Jerry Kirby, sewerman Wally Henry, mastman John Hufnagel, grinder Rick Brent, mainsail trimmer Kimo Worthington and trimmer Stu Argo from America 3,along with trimmer Lexi Gahagan, pitman Hartwell Jordan and tactician Jim Pugh.

Marc Pajot, France’s America’s Cup skipper, was the only rival who could have overtaken Bertrand on Sunday but, sailing aggressively, handicapped himself with fouls that required three penalty turns.

That also cost him $2,500. Instead of $20,000 for second, he had to split $35,000 with Conner in a second-place tie created by Conner’s protest that Pajot executed his penalty turns improperly.

Conner started prematurely Sunday, but after restarting steadily ground down everyone but Bertrand to finish 47 seconds behind.

The wind, directly opposing the current, was light, in contrast to Saturday’s brisk 20-plus knots.