AMERICA’S CUP ’92 : Hardships Sink Slovenian Bid

SAN DIEGO —  Because of transportation problems that marooned its boat’s keel in Slovenia, the Transoceanic Racing Club YACOMa withdrew Friday from the America’s Cup.

In a letter faxed to the America’s Cup Organizing Committee Friday morning, the Slovenian syndicate’s chief, Bojan Butolen, said the Yacht Club of Maribor was withdrawing its challenge because it couldn’t get its boat to San Diego by Wednesday’s deadline, the day all challengers must have their boats measured.

The hull of Slovenia’s wooden International America’s Cup Class yacht made it over the Italian border and was undergoing finishing touches in a Venice shipyard late last year, but the keel wasn’t so lucky.

“Because of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the keel and the equipment which was produced in Slovenia couldn’t pass the Slovenian-Italian border for 20 days,” Butolen wrote.

ACOC General Manager Tom Ehman, said he was saddened but not surprised by the news.

“I’m amazed they got as far as they did,” he said in reference to war-torn Yugoslavia, Croatia and Slovenia. “It just shows you the attraction of the America’s Cup.”

YACOMa might have gotten further still. Under the rules of the Deed of Gift, each challenger is obligated to build its boat in the country it represents.

“They probably could have not followed the rules and not have the keel built in Slovenia, Croatia or Yugoslavia,” Ehman said. “The fact that YACOMa didn’t try to bend the rules, even in the face of enormous adversity, that’s pretty impressive.”

Slovenian spokesman Robert Ripli, who is in San Diego, said disappointment at the demise of the effort was tempered by encouragement for the future.

“We are disappointed on one hand after three years working for no pay and all our problems,” Ripli said. “But on the other, we are all young. I am 23, our chief (Butolen) is not yet 30. This has been a beautiful experience, something our people suffering from the war can look to with hope. We will certainly be competing in the next Cup.”

Ehman said the experience gained would be valuable for any future effort.

“Experience counts a lot in this game,” he said. “Sailing is big on the Dalmatian Coast (on the Adriatic Sea). Match racing is well established in Yugoslavia, more specifically in Croatia. It goes a long ways. Even though they didn’t make it, they’re way ahead of any other country that didn’t even try.”

In the letter, Butolen said YACOMa would try to arrive in San Diego sometime in February to compete in some exhibition races.

“In California we want to promote our work, the Yacht Club of Maribor, Slovenia, and for PEACE in Croatia,” he wrote.

Friday’s letter was the first contact the ACOC has had with YACOMa since early December, when Ripli and Marco Cantoni, an Italian shipbuilder who befriended the syndicate, met with ACOC representatives in San Diego.

The Yacht Club Galeb, located in Croatia, submitted Yugoslavia’s challenge May 24, 1990, before civil war broke out there. Galeb withdrew its sponsorship in the fall and the ACOC extended Croatia’s deadline to find a sponsoring yacht club. On Dec. 6, the ACOC recognized YACOMa as a valid challenger.