To Race--Or Not to Race? : Sailing: Dennis Conner hasn’t decided whether to enter Stars & Stripes in the IACC semifinals.

SAN DIEGO —  Awaiting Dennis Conner’s decision, the sailing community twists in this seaport’s fickle winds--winds that Conner sometimes seems to generate himself.

Will he or won’t he?

Conner qualified for the semifinals of the first International America’s Cup Class World Championship by finishing third in the fleet-racing phase Wednesday but indicated afterward that he might not compete.

Conner must announce his decision by 9 this morning.

The match racing starts Friday with two semifinal races. Italy’s two Il Moro di Venezia boats will meet in one; New Zealand will race Conner or the fifth-place Nippon Challenge in the other. The winners will meet Saturday for the title.

Conner said, “At this point our indication is that we set out to learn a lot about the competition and how our boat fit in with the fleet.

“We feel we’ve accomplished our major goal of sorting that out, and I’d say at this point we’re leaning to passing on the final competition. As most of you know, we have some limited resources, primarily in the area of sails.”

With those limited resources--including a new, untested boat--Conner was reluctant even to sail in the event but finished sixth, fourth, fourth and second (Wednesday) among nine boats and was leading Tuesday by three-quarters of a mile when the time-limit ran out.

“If we had to make the decision right now we’d pass and wish the Japanese good luck with our spot,” Conner said.

Nippon skipper Chris Dickson said, “We’d certainly welcome the opportunity. One thing that does concern me is that there’s a party tonight and my crew was on an alcohol ban--so, D.C., let’s not take too long on the decision.”

The Worlds Ball--black tie at $225 a head--was Wednesday night. There seemed a better chance Conner would be there than on the race course Friday.

“He’s not gonna sail,” Dickson said. “He’s learned all he’s needed to know . . . (and) he doesn’t want a Kiwi showdown right now.”

Because the two Il Moros--one driven by Paul Cayard, the other by sparring partner John Kolius--are compelled to sail against each other in the semifinals, Conner would have to meet New Zealand.

Wounds from that bitter, litigious matchup in 1988 pitting Conner’s catamaran against the Kiwis’ big monohull are barely scabbed over Down Under. If they must be re-opened, the real America’s Cup in ’92 may be a better time.

But another consideration is that if Conner pulls out, there will be no American boat competing--and Conner said a few days ago that he considered himself to be the “host” skipper for the event.

“I’d like to do everything I can to support the event,” he said.

“But my first consideration and our mission all along is to have the overall picture in mind, and I don’t want to do anything silly at this point to jeopardize what few assets I have left.”

Cayard beat Conner by 2 minutes, 14 seconds in Wednesday’s last fleet race, which was sailed in winds of 13 to 20 knots.

David Barnes sailed New Zealand to third place, and the Kiwis’ consistent 3-1-2-3 series put them first in the standings with 8 3/4 points, two ahead of Cayard, who won two races. Conner had 16 points, Kolius 17.

Generally, the teams that had been sailing longest and spending the most money did best.

One exception was Nippon, whose boat wasn’t the same after it lost its mast and had to replace it with an older, heavier spar.

Another was Conner, whose performance with a new boat and makeshift sails but a savvy crew must have sobered his skeptics.

Although the wind returned Wednesday, nobody’s mast fell down and only two spinnakers blew out--one each for the America-3 boats, the first that team had lost.

Although Cayard and Conner finished one-two, they had the worst starts. Cayard was caught smothered in a group of boats going to the left side of the course and soon had to bail out by tacking right to get clear wind.

Conner also wanted to start at the left end of the line and go left, but was crowded out by John Kostecki sailing America-3’s older boat, had to circle around, pass everyone’s sterns and go to the right, with Cayard.

Voila! When they crossed tacks with the other boats halfway up the first windward leg, they were leading the race and congratulating themselves on their brilliant tactics.

Cayard steadily stretched his lead, as Conner fought for second with Chris Dickson’s Nippon Challenge and, at the end, New Zealand. Spinnakers billowing, those three flew down to the finish almost abreast, with Dickson in position to control when they would jibe toward the finish line.

Conner finally got far enough ahead to pass in front of the other two, and Barnes nipped Dickson by a half-second--six or eight feet--for third.

In the battle for last place, Koch’s troubled Jayhawk seemed to have a slight lead over Marc Pajot’s Ville de Paris near the line until the latch on his spinnaker pole opened for the fourth time on the last leg, spilling air. By the time he got it under control, Pajot was gone.

Without that mishap, Koch’s boat would have been in fifth place this morning, anxiously awaiting Conner’s whim.

Jayhawk helmsman Buddy Melges said it was “just a great day for Jayhawk. Each day we go out, if we come back with most of the boat we’re thrilled.”

But they have about a year to get it all sorted out.

IACC Worlds Notes

The sailoff match races Friday and Saturday will be telecast live on UHF Channel 63, but only to ships at sea. The signal will be directed away from land. . . . Friday’s two semifinal races will start at 12:30 and 1:45. Saturday’s championship race will start at 1:15 and will be telecast live everywhere by ESPN at 1 p.m. . . . Dennis Conner flew a new blue spinnaker for a new sponsor, Stolichnaya Cristall vodka. It didn’t blow out. . . . America-3 syndicate boss Bill Koch bought tickets for those 140 members of his team that didn’t receive complimentary invitations to Wednesday night’s Worlds Ball at Coronado Tidelands Park. Tickets were $225 each, so the gesture cost Koch $31,500. . . . The San Diego Chapter of the American Cestacean Society is fearful that the America’s Cup races will interfere with the migration of the endangered gray whales in 1992. It will present an illustrated program Friday night, 7:30, in the Otto Center Auditorium, north of the main entrance to the San Diego Zoo. Seth Schulberg, a marine biologist with an environmental consulting firm, will be the main speaker. Admission is free. Details: (619) 482-1518.