Quick Fix Is the Best Solution

Sailors can relate to the time-honored lament of the NASCAR driver who says, “The car was runnin’ real good till the wheels fell off.”

When something breaks during a sailboat race, there’s no way to make a pit stop, but it’s not the end of the road, either.

Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes, Dawn Riley’s America True and Japan’s Nippon Challenge all won races this week by making repairs while underway after high winds tried to blow their fragile boats apart.

But Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne was romping past America True when its headsail attachment foil disintegrated--the equivalent of a blown engine. All Cayard could do was pull it behind the wall.

It was an ominous overture to the challenger semifinals in the wind tunnel known as the inner Hauraki Gulf. This America’s Cup may be won with duct tape, daring and hacksaws.

Bowman Geordie Shaver used the latter in Stars & Stripes’ opening race against Nippon to cut away the broken end of the track slide on the front of the mast.

“We were worried that he would cut through the mast,” tactician Tom Whidden said.

The situation also was dicey at Whidden’s end of the 80-foot boat. Whenever the boat changed direction downwind, as the boom swung from one side to the other, it had a tendency to snag on the adjustable lines that support the mast from behind. Since all other hands were otherwise occupied, helmsman Ken Read took it upon himself to momentarily leave the wheel unattended to shake out the snags.

“I did that about five times,” Read said. “After awhile it became routine.”

Stars & Stripes won by 55 seconds.

Such improvisation is why some teams succeed and others fail, despite apparent disparities in resources.

The next day Stars & Stripes, representing San Diego’s little Cortez Racing Assn., upset Italy’s mighty Prada by 1:07 to stand as the only unbeaten team in the semis, with eight races remaining.

Also on that day, it was Nippon’s turn to show its character. The Japanese were leading France’s Le Defi when a halyard snapped and their genoa headsail fell to the deck. Suddenly, their 48-second lead shrank to about a boat length.

Bowman Toshiki Shibata was hauled up the 107-foot mast and rigged another halyard, saving the day.

In the all-San Francisco match, AmericaOne’s misfortune handed the victory to America True, but Riley’s coed crew had to overcome some adversity of its own to stay close enough to capitalize. Earlier, True broke its spinnaker pole. The boats carry spare spinnakers but not extra poles.

“We have a pretty effective repair system on board for situations like that,” crew member Lisa Charles-McDonald said. “We had good teamwork . . . to sort everything out and make the repairs necessary so we could have the pole for the next leg.”

The next day, when the wind raged as high as 35 knots--40 mph--four of the teams decided not to push it. America True and Nippon, then Stars & Stripes and France, were granted permission to delay their races a day. Finally, with AmericaOne and Prada still hanging around, regatta operations director Vince Cooke made the prudent decision for them.

*

Prada suffered a major blow Wednesday when its mast broke during a race against AmericaOne in the semifinals.

Prada, which led the teams into the semifinals, is 1-2 in the six-boat series to determine the two challenger finalists. The winner will face Team New Zealand for the America’s Cup.

Stars and Stripes won its third consecutive race, beating Le Defi Francais by 3:06. In the other race, Nippon beat America True by 1:31.

AmericaOne and Nippon are 2-1, America True is tied for fourth with Prada at 1-2, and Le Defi Francais is 0-3.

Prada and Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne were locked in a tacking duel halfway up the first beat in perfect conditions -- flat water and 14-knot winds. AmericaOne was protecting the right side of the beat, forcing Prada to tack each time they met.

At the second meeting, AmericaOne forced Prada back to starboard. As the Italians neared optimum speed, the carbon-fiber mast snapped between the third and fourth sets of spreaders.

*

The Associated Press contributed to this story.