America 3 Again Sails Past Conner : Saling: Stars & Stripes falters on final leg.
SAN DIEGO — Give the guy some credit. He may not be winning many races, but Dennis Conner never promised daily parades through the garden of victory.
He hasn’t disappointed.
America 3 dispensed with Stars & Stripes for the fifth consecutive time in a third-round defenders’ race Friday off Point Loma. The margin of victory was 5 minutes 33 seconds. Conner hasn’t managed two victories in a row in the defender selection series, which began Jan. 14.
In Tuesday’s opening race of this round, Conner’s boat again lost to Bill Koch’s America 3but shaved considerable time off Koch’s previous margin of victories. Stars & Stripes’ healthy victory Wednesday against Defiant was additional encouragement.
But Conner’s clan was visibly disappointed when Stars & Stripes lost 4 minutes 26 seconds on the final leg of the race.
“We all like to win, it would have been a fun race to win today,” said Stars & Stripes tactician Tom Whidden. “I think we got close, but they kept closing the door on us. But as far as the total picture, we need to do a good job in the semifinals and the finals.”
No one in Conner’s camp seems to think that they won’t make it to the finals, although there always is that possibility.
It was fairly early in the defender series that Conner so pointedly brought home the math of the America’s Cup. In his equation, Stars & Stripes isn’t in trouble until it falls short of winning five races in Round 4 of the trials.
And until then, the team insists that progress is enough. Whidden repeated the baby-steps theme Friday after Stars & Stripes won the start and gained 2 minutes on the third windward leg in winds that had been steadily decreasing--from 9 knots in the beginning to 3 knots at the finish--all day.
“As far as morale is concerned, there in the end you probably saw, we were on port jibe, there was little wind and it was a little frustrating,” Whidden said. “But I think the morale is fine.
“There have been some good improvements, our crew work’s good and everyone can look in the mirror and say that we’ve made some meaningful gains. Yeah, we were a little disappointed to lose the race, but in the grand scheme, I think we’re on schedule.”
Stars & Stripes had a disastrous experiment with a complex keel and rudder system in the beginning of last round. After the crew dismantled it, the boat was promptly back to its competitive self.
Whidden said the crew is encouraged by the fact that it came back for this round with a variation of what it sailed in January, and is nearer to closing the speed gap between itself and whatever the America 3 syndicate throws at it next.
“We feel we’ve closed th gap,” he said. “We know that Bill has a fourth boat coming, but we like to think it’s not a whole lot faster than (Stars & Stripes). If it’s not, I think we’re on schedule to have some pretty good racing in the semifinals.”
Friday’s race seesawed with the fickle winds. Just when Conner looked like he had fallen helplessly behind, Mother Nature threw a puff or shift of wind to change the game. After staying within 1:35 of America 3, with Koch and Buddy Melges alternating at the helm, for the first five legs, Conner fell behind 3:07 on the sixth.
But Stars & Stripes gained two minutes back on the third upwind leg, which set up the downwind run for the finish, in wind that had died down to 1-2 knots. That’s when Conner’s crew made the decision to go with a smaller headsail than a gennaker, a decision it later regretted when it almost stopped dead in the water.
“We made some gains with it early, but it ultimately was a loss,” Whidden said. “It was the only chance we felt we had to try to make some significant gains. It was probably a big loss, but at some point in the race you have to decide that you’re behind and you’ll stay behind unless you do something out of the ordinary.”
Winds were forcast to be from 8 to 14 knots for the day, and neither syndicate had its lighter air sails on board.
* CHALLENGERS BACK
The Challenger Trials get under way again today. C11B
