Go-Ahead for A Strange Duel

By J.D. Reed

Since 1851, when the schooner America took a sudden shortcut to the finish line, yachting's most prestigious prize has been a salty affair. For a whole year, the current contestants for the America's Cup have been huffing, bluffing and litigating over what kinds of craft they should sail. Last week they were finally nudged toward the starting line by a ruling in the New York State Supreme Court, which oversees the competition's rules. Justice Carmen Ciparick directed the feuding San Diego Yacht Club and the Mercury Bay Boating Club of New Zealand to begin racing on Sept. 19, saying "The time has come for the sailors to be permitted to participate in the America's Cup."

For months that conclusion had seemed in doubt. Since San Diego's Dennis Conner won the Cup last year, the U.S. club had been planning a lavish regatta for 1991, one that would include challengers from many nations. But Michael Fay, an Auckland banker, pulled the plug on that dream. After reading the fine print in the Cup rules, Fay challenged San Diego to a race with his boat as the only challenger. Instead of competing in the accepted craft of choice, a so-called 12-meter boat that is about 44 ft. long at the waterline, Fay built New Zealand, a $3 million giant sloop that sports 10,000 sq. ft. of sail and is 90 ft. long at the waterline, the maximum allowed under the specifications. The reason: the greater the sail area and the longer the boat, the faster it goes.

San Diego waved off the challenge, but Fay filed papers in the New York Supreme Court. Last November Ciparick agreed that Fay was within the rules to request a one-on-one competition and sail the big boat. The Californians then announced that they would defend in a "killer mosquito," a maneuverable catamaran called Stars & Stripes that features a Kevlar sail akin to an airplane wing. The idea of racing two such radically different boats sent Fay back to court. Said he: "This is the America's Cup, not a boat show."

Who will win the best-of-three match? Dockside pundits remain almost evenly divided. The only sure bet in town is that Ciparick has not seen the last of the sailors. Fay vows to race under protest and return to court, though presumably only if he loses. At week's end the parties had at least agreed on one thing. Instead of starting the contest on Sept. 19, which falls during the first week of the Olympic Games, they will begin Sept. 7 in hopes of creating more hoopla for their boat show.

With reporting by James Willwerth/ San Diego