Victory Puts Wind Back in Cubens’ Sails : Defender finals: America 3 erases disappointment of Saturday’s postponement, but the crew’s optimism is still guarded.
SAN DIEGO — It’s nice and all, but only a drop in the bucket. Let’s talk after six more.
That was the general feeling among the America 3 crew after the Cubens sailed off in a blaze of glory in Sunday’s opening race of the defender finals.
A3 ‘s 2-minute, 9-second victory over Dennis Conner was a bit of pay-back for Saturday’s non-race, which was postponed because of lack of wind after A3 was in clear control.
Sunday’s escapades gave Bill Koch’s syndicate a 1-0 lead in this best-of-13 series, and reduced the magic number of victories toward a spot in the regatta’s grand finale to six.
A3 is glad, but guarded in the aftermath.
“Winning the first in a series like this gives you confidence,” said sail trimmer Mike Toppa. “When you win the first one, it gives you a much more positive outlook, but it’s just one of seven that we need.”
Bowman Jerry Kirby, who was the sailing equivalent to a bat boy in his first America’s Cup when he was 12, has enough experience to know that Conner’s reputation does precede him, and is planning accordingly.
“We could win six in a row, but Dennis could win seven and (advance),” Kirby said. “Until he’s over and out, it doesn’t mean a thing. You could give Dennis a rowboat, and you still can’t count him out until he’s gone.”
Which was what happened Saturday to A3 ‘s apparent victory against Stars & Stripes. It disappeared after the wind did.
As Conner’s crew celebrated, the faces on Koch’s crew looked crestfallen. Wrong, crew members said. That was what boredom looks like.
“If you compare our reactions, they look like they won the World Series,” Toppa said. “They got out of a loss. Our (reaction) was ‘Shoot, too bad we couldn’t get around the course.’ It’s easy to say if (Saturday) counted, we’d be two up, but we’re very confident. We know we have the tools. We didn’t get a win (Saturday), but we got it (Sunday).”
Kirby said the mood on A3 was “totally upbeat. . . . . . . Dennis is a good sailor, but everyone gets their share of luck.”
So Stars & Stripes gets lucky and the Cubens get abused. Because Koch and Company are relative strangers to these parts, local loyalties to Conner run high.
That means that being taunted is as much a part of A3 ‘s daily routine as team meetings, and the heckling begins as the crew is towed out of the harbor.
“They’re Dennis fans, they say all sorts of things,” Kirby said. “The abuse is beautiful. It’s fun to get it.”
This is one feeding frenzy A3 thrives on. In fact, the more trash that’s talked--or written--the better.
“We’re a lot more motivated by negativity,” Kirby said. “The more (the press) bears down on the us, the better we get. We enjoy bad press. I know that sounds funny, but all the bad stuff about us is pinned to the wall. You can’t let that stuff get you down. Even if we do something great, we get slammed.”
Kirby pointed to the resurrection of America 3 in the semifinal round. Koch’s third boat lost three races before it won its final five.
“Everyone talks about the comebacks Dennis has had. Well, A3 ‘s comeback was pretty good in the semifinals, but you don’t hear about it. It’s always what Dennis did or didn’t do.”
For America 3 , playing this sailing game on the West Coast is “like playing the Lakers or the Celtics on their home court every night of the season. No one wants you to win. We know we’re not the home team,” Kirby said. “But you can’t race in the America’s Cup and not have leather skin. Basically, we really don’t care if we’re perceived as bad. If they like us, they like us, but no one around here will ever like us.”
Kirby said that before Conner started his long-standing Cup affiliation, Ted Turner was the name most associated with the world’s premier regatta.
“Dennis definitely has taken up a chunk of recognition with the America’s Cup, but those of us who have sailed a long time, there were a lot of names before Turner and there will be a lot of names after Dennis.”