AMERICA’S CUP : After Near-Collision, Mighty Mary Wins
America’s Cup racing is getting rough, and Mighty Mary got into a game of bumper boats, or maybe chicken, with Team Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes on Monday.
America 3’s Mighty Mary was en route to a 41-second victory that left the defender series in a three-way tie when a near-collision at the first windward mark caused a broken spinnaker pole and felled bow person Susie Nairn, leaving her with a concussion.
“We feel strongly that Stars & Stripes hunted us on a part of the course where they’re not allowed to do that,” said Leslie Egnot, the skipper. “Maybe. . . . we’re going to have to start doing things like that as well.”
Mighty Mary had rounded that first mark and hoisted her spinnaker when Egnot had to make a drastic course change to avoid collision with Stars & Stripes as it approached the mark on starboard. A boat “hunts” when it aims at another boat while it has the starboard tack right-of-way. However, such a tactic is not applicable when the other boat is on a different leg of the race course, which Mighty Mary was.
Egnot argued that Stars & Stripes did, in fact, alter course to attack her boat, but Team Conner skipper Paul Cayard disagreed.
“I was always on the proper course,” he said. “I was never steering above the mark. I thought what I did was right. I try to be as aggressive as I can, and maybe I was wrong. I am sorry that anyone got hurt.”
PACT 95’s Young America had been fair game when Cayard went hunting Saturday, forcing two course changes that undoubtedly contributed to Stars & Stripes one-second victory.
Mighty Mary’s crew quickly replaced the broken spinnaker with a spare and Nairn finished the race with a headache.
“She just didn’t know her name,” Egnot said.
The intensity level figures to increase in the next few days. Stars & Stripes, Mighty Mary and Young America have three points each halfway through the defender finals. Each boat has four races remaining, beginning with Mighty Mary vs. Young America today.
Among the challengers, one Australia is at an even more critical stage. Monday’s victory by 3 minutes and 54 seconds moved Team New Zealand to within one victory of the finals, which begin May 6.
Victorious Saturday because of a great start, oneAustralia was the loser Monday because of a disastrous one. Team New Zealand, 4-1 in the best-of-nine challenger finals, was 35-0 on the water before Saturday’s loss.
Rod Davis, the skipper who got oneAustralia over the starting line 12 seconds ahead of the Kiwis on Saturday, was over the line ahead of the gun Monday. By the time the Aussies circled back and got started again, they trailed by 32 seconds and the race was as good as over. They lost ground on all six legs.
To earn its victory, Mighty Mary had to overcome a slow start to deal Conner his first defeat in the finals. Stars & Stripes, seemingly penned in behind the committee boat, escaped to get over the starting line first and appeared to be in position to pin Mighty Mary on its left for as long as it cared on a starboard tack. However, the America 3boat, racing with a shortened rudder, ran out from under cover, executing a great escape of its own.
Eight minutes into the race, after Stars & Stripes had tacked away on its own, the two boats neared a crossing and Mighty Mary tactician Dave Dellenbaugh, the lone male on the crew, had encouraging words.
“We’re going to cross,” he said. “By a lot.”
On Stars & Stripes, tactician Tom Whidden seemed perplexed as the same crossing neared.
“They’ve got a big lead. . . . unfortunately,” he said. “And I don’t know why.”
That “crossing” at that first windward mark was not nearly so comfortable, and the comfort zone figures to get smaller as the competition enters its last six days.