Stars & Stripes, Ville de Paris Seize the Moment : Sailing: Bold decisions, mistakes give the underdogs victories in the fourth round of racing.

SAN DIEGO —  Vive la France . . . and Dennis and Paolo, too.

The underdogs had their day in the America’s Cup Tuesday. Dennis Conner sailed Stars & Stripes to its fourth straight win against the America 3 titanic tandem, while on the challengers’ course a resilient Ville de Paris crew stunned New Zealand by 1 minute, 46 seconds and Paul Cayard’s Il Moro di Venezia cruised out of lethargy in dunking Nippon by 2:04.

That trifecta would have paid for a new spinnaker. If this keeps up, Conner may suggest that Bill Koch fix his boats so they’ll be more competitive. Or at least quit trying to steer the boats himself, as he did on the critical first leg Tuesday when Conner came from behind to stay.

Brunco Trouble, the Louis Vuitton media director and a former Cup campaigner for France, said: “Koch’s steering is a joke. He’s a businessman, not a sailor. He reminds me of Baron Bich in the old days.”

Said another longtime Cup observer, “That’s a bad rap . . . on Baron Bich.”

Baron Marcel Bich, the French founder of the Bic pen, was another wealthy syndicate boss who in the 1970s once insisted on steering his boat. It was a disaster.

Whatever the factors, the situation is reversed from the second round when Koch gave Conner the opportunity to discard his “goal post” keel because his crews were getting complacent beating up on Stars & Stripes. A month ago Conner was trussed in the colors and buried at sea.

Now he needs only to win two of his next six races to clinch a spot in the defender finals starting April 18. Koch’s dream of a monopoly is fading.

Tuesday’s win over America 3, the boat, was Conner’s third in the fourth round, including the bonus win he got for finishing second in the three points rounds. Kanza, Koch’s newest boat, has two wins, but both are bonuses. America 3 is winless.

In light winds of 5 to 7 knots steadily swinging from south to southwest, Stars & Stripes won by 45 seconds.

Conner was quick to say afterward, “(America 3) is a very, very, very good boat. Don’t be deceived by what happened today.

“They still have an edge downwind, but we hung in there. We didn’t panic--and, doggone it, we’re getting closer!”

Despite a poor start, Conner sailed a first, windward leg right out of the sailing textbook to take the lead he never relinquished, while America 3 suffered considerable second-guessing for some questionable moves. Foremost among them: Why Koch took over from starting helmsman Dave Dellenbaugh immediately after the start?

In previous important races, the veteran Buddy Melges had steered the boat until well into the race. This time, Melges didn’t take over from the less experienced owner until after the first mark, when America 3 was already 25 seconds behind.

Dellenbaugh and Conner chose to go in opposite directions at the start, and Stars & Stripes tactician Tom Whidden blamed himself for a bad call that left Stars & Stripes 10 seconds late crossing the line and four boat lengths behind as Dellenbaugh handed Koch the helm.

Partway up the leg, Conner was heard over ESPN’s on-board microphone saying, “It’s starting to go right”--meaning the wind was shifting. But Koch was staying between Conner and the favored side through a series of 10 challenging tacks as Conner, looking for every bit of speed, was telling his mid-ship crew to “get in the center, down low” to trim the boat.

Then, as he sailed off alone to the left, the wind briefly strengthened there, just long enough for Conner to grab a gain that he quickly consolidated. He tacked back toward Koch and, although it appeared he would be unable to cross America 3 on port (without right of way), Koch tacked away before Conner could tack on his leeward bow and slow him down with his backwind.

When Conner tried again, Koch did a strange thing. He forced Conner to duck behind him but then let him continue to the right, unmolested, without tacking to cover, surrendering not only the better wind but starboard rights. Conner, then in control, soon tacked back to sail on top of Koch, carrying his rival all the way to the layline, from where all Koch could do was follow in Stars & Stripes’ disturbed air all the way to the mark.

Stars & Stripes stretched its lead to 1:28 at the second windward mark, saw it shrink to 21 seconds at the last mark, but doggedly fought off America 3 on the downwind finish.

Koch said, “Dennis has humbled us a bit. (He) sails very scientifically and intuitively. He’s a marvelous sailor. I wish I had some of his skill.

“My thinking is that Buddy is a very fine downwind sailor. I make a few mistakes jibing. Buddy rarely makes a mistake jibing.

“(Upwind) I made three lousy tacks . . . did a fairly good job on straight-line speed. What allowed Dennis to get ahead was our letting him go to the right. He got a 20-degree wind shift.

“But the law of averages will work out over the long run. The fastest boat will win, whether that’s Dennis’ boat or ours.”

Koch added, smiling, “Since you guys are always criticizing me about my helmsmanship, I took over the helm (again) at the start of the reaches and reduced the lead from a minute and a half to 20 seconds. How’s that?”

Besides, Koch said, “I don’t like to be compared to anybody . . . and I don’t know Baron Bich.”

Ville de Paris needed a win even more than Conner. Two days earlier the French not only lost grinder Thierry Chappet with three broken ribs in a defeat by Il Moro but were embarrassed when a syndicate employee was caught diving under the Japanese boat on a prank.

New Zealand also was trying to start to the right, but Ville de Paris starting helmsman Marc Bouet boldly jibed away full circle from the Kiwis’ control 45 seconds before the gun and stole the spot, with speed on.

“They caught us by surprise, no question,” Kiwi tactician David Barnes said.

From there, the French sailed into an insurmountable lead.

Watching that, Cayard, preparing to meet Nippon in the following match, decided, “I wanted to get to the right at any cost.”

He did so, with a similar final outcome. The Italians, disappointing in the third round, lead the semifinals at 2-0, with today’s opponent, New Zealand, and Ville de Paris at 1-1 and Nippon--winner of the points rounds--at 0-2.

Standings

Defender Selection Series

Fourth Round

Slot Boats W-L Wins A Stars & Stripes 3-0 3 B Kanza 2-1 2 C America3 0-1 0