From: mehardy@b8.ingr.com (Mike Hardy)
Subject: ...America's Cup...
Keywords: Live Viewing
Organization: Intergraph
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 16:05:56 GMT


	On Saturday, March 28, I was fortunate enough to be in San Diego
	with enough time to view the race between Stars and Stripes
	(Dennis Conner) and Kanza (Bill Koch).

	I checked out several charter boats and chose the AVANTI. This 
	was a 60 ft. fishing boat in good condition. It seems most
	boats had agreed on a price of $50.00 for the semifinals and
	$150.00 for the final match. About 9:30, two America 3 boats
	were towed out and two Italian boats soon followed. Our 
	spectator boat left at 11:00. The race was scheduled to start at 
	12:00.

	On the way out of the channel, I noticed nine nuclear submarines
	and two air craft carriers at dock. I guess they did not have
	anybody to race with that day! When we got to the race area, the
	official patrol boats were doing a good job of keeping the spectator 
	boats (about 100) out of the starting area. Our boat settled into a
	good viewing spot and waited. Initially, the most outstanding 
	stimulus to my senses was the sound of the 7 helicopters hovered
	over the starting area.

	Stars and Stripes did not have their main sail up at 11:45 and the
	race annoucer indicated they had requested a 15 minute delay to
	effect a minor repair. The new starting time was 12:15. Meanwhile,
	Kanza hoisted a red protest flag and hung around the committee
	boat marking one end of the starting line. By 11:50, S&S had their
	repairs completed and their sails up. The 15 minute gun sounded 
	at 12:00 and S&S entered the area from the weather side where most
	of the spectator boats were and Kanza entered from the other side.
	A little friendly jockeying for position resulted in S&S heading  
	for the spectator fleet with Kanza right behind. It was amazing to
	watch these huge boats playing amongst the spectator boats. 

	Eventually, S&S headed back for the starting line and then Kanza
	had some difficulties with a small spectator sailboat. More
	dueling took place in front of the starting line, with S&S 
	covering Kanza and getting over the line first at the gun.

	The rest of the race saw S&S covering Kanza with no problems and
	finishing several minutes ahead. The wind varied from 10 to 6
	knots with several shifts on some legs. 

	S&S crew work showed no major goofs and she looked settled, steady,
	and fast on each leg. The most notable modification seen was the
	big dip in the transom.

	Kanza looked  like a boat that had only been in the water a week.
	She definately hobby horsed a lot more than S&S. The liquid
	crystal main sail appeared a lot flatter than the S&S mainsail.
	The gennaker used on the downwind leg was huge compared to the
	one on S&S. Kanza would gain some time then sail into a hole
	and lose it.

	I am currently a fan of the America 3 group but S&S sure looked
	sharp and I see in today's paper that S&S beat AMERICA 3 boat
	in Tuesday's race. This is the same boat that had beat S&S
	six times previously. 

	Any speculation on which boats will be in the Cup race in May???


                     /|
                    / |\           | Michael E. (Mike) Hardy 
                   /  | \          | Technical Support, Intergraph Corp
                  /   |  \         | mehardy@sparky.b8.ingr.com
                 / o  |   \        | (205) 730-4383
                _-/|--------/      | CR041 
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