The Kiwi Team’s Yankee Wizard : Yachting: Doug Peterson was turned down by U.S. syndicates in the America’s Cup race. He offered his design skills and knowledge of local waters to New Zealand crew, which won.

SAN DIEGO —  Under a sunlit sky, amid caviar, the tinkling of wineglasses and the blare of trumpets, Doug Peterson stood surrounded Monday by members of the San Diego Yacht Club, who might be wise to give him a second look.

An American citizen--a Vietnam veteran even--and a 37-year resident of San Diego, this lifelong sailing enthusiast who was born in Los Angeles could have--and many say should have--helped the yacht club successfully defend the America’s Cup.

As it is, a foreign country seized the cup for only the second time in 144 years. No one put it better than Peterson, who, in the glow of Saturday’s final race, said, “Did we slaughter these guys or what?”

In this case, the “we” is New Zealand, and “these guys” are from the U.S.A.

No story from this event offered a stranger twist than that of Peterson, 49, who, rebuffed by the three American racing syndicates--Stars & Stripes, America3 and PACT 95’s Young America--went to work for New Zealand, which swept the best-of-nine series in superpower fashion.

Considered a pioneer in the high-priced, highbrow world of yacht racing, the professorial, red-bearded Peterson reacted with wry bemusement Monday to the oft-repeated question of how he ended up on “the other side.”

“I guess the Americans didn’t want me,” he said with a laugh.

In truth, the answer had more to do with timing, resources and luck--on the part of New Zealand. Peterson helped design the America3 boat that won the 1992 event, thus keeping the cup in the trophy chest of the San Diego Yacht Club until 1995.

But when he approached syndicate chief Bill Koch about working for America3 in preparation for its ’95 defense, Koch had not yet committed to even racing. Peterson got the same response--”Sorry, too early to say”--from PACT 95’s Young America.

He then approached Team Dennis Conner, otherwise known as Stars & Stripes, and got his first outright rejection.

“Dennis just wasn’t interested,” Peterson said with a shrug, a sly smile crossing his lips.

So, in desperation, Peterson began to approach foreign syndicates. Italy expressed interest, as did New Zealand. He liked Kiwi syndicate chief Peter Blake and the sense of camaraderie and esprit de corps he communicated, so Peterson went with him. He also liked Blake’s humor and New Zealand’s Super Bowl-like enchantment with yachting itself.

Blake is known for wearing what he calls his lucky red socks. The only time the Kiwis finished second in the regatta, he and his socks were off the boat. Since then, most of the 3.5 million people in New Zealand have been wearing red socks. The official issue sold out 100,000 pairs.

After he chose to go with New Zealand, timing became even more of a factor for Peterson. The rules required that he establish residency in New Zealand for two years before the start of the finals, so in early 1993, he set up a second home in Auckland, keeping his more familiar place on San Diego’s Point Loma.

Peterson’s teammates seem to appreciate him for the one thing no other member of the organization could come close to matching: His knowledge of the San Diego coastline.

“It’s a tricky place to design a boat for,” he said, although he has designed “hundreds, I have no idea how many” for precisely these waters, in a career dating to the 1970s. “The sea changes are quite unpredictable. The condition of the waves and the wave patterns are quite rough for the amount of wind you get. You can have very confused seas and very light air, all at the same time.”

David Egan, known as the CFD, or computational fluid dynamics, analyst for Team New Zealand--meaning he performs computer simulations that aid in design and later in racing--said Peterson’s contributions were invaluable, particularly his “almost mystical” knowledge of the San Diego seas.

“He brought us that thing we needed most--a huge knowledge of the local coastal area,” Egan said. “He knows what goes fast and what doesn’t go fast and why. He has a huge talent for designing a boat that can go through waves--any kind of waves. Plus, his knowledge of yachting is second to none. He revolutionized international ocean racing in the 1970s.”

It was that knowledge that helped Team New Zealand, an enterprise with limited resources when compared to its counterparts, defeat the Americans, Egan said. For instance, La Jolla’s Science Applications International Corp. supported the design program at PACT 95, which also used the resources of the Ford Motor Co. in building its Young America fleet.

It was that fleet that Team New Zealand eventually defeated. After winning the defenders’ trials, Conner abandoned his Stars & Stripes boat for what he perceived as a faster Young America yacht.

For his part, Conner said of the Kiwis, “A lot of credit [goes] to the whole team. . . . No weaknesses.”

Indeed, Peterson has spent years working out any possible weaknesses. The divorced father of four children, he spent two years at Pasadena City College, which constitutes the sum total of his academic background, despite his extensive knowledge of aerospace engineering--his father’s profession.

As a designer, he has evolved “into an artist,” Egan said, whose specialty is his sense of innovation when it comes to hulls.

“He changed the shape of the yachting world overnight,” Egan said, by showing in the 1970s that hull design could affect the speed of a boat and how it performs in unpredictable waves--like those near San Diego.

Along with Laurie Davidson, Peterson was one of the principal hull designers of both New Zealand boats, Black Magic 1 and 2.

The result, as many of the Kiwis said Monday, was “smashing, simply smashing.”

“Those guys are going to have a hard time figuring out what happened,” Peterson said, casting a glance at those guys--all of whom, like him, are Americans.

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