AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Challengers, Defenders Trade Off
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SAN DIEGO — Tracking America 3 boss Bill Koch’s assertion that the challengers are sailing a shorter course than the standard 20.03-nautical mile distance the defenders are using, the numbers flipped Wednesday.
For the first time in three races, and with similar wind conditions, the boat America 3was faster around its course than the challengers’ winner, New Zealand, was around its course--2 hours, 37 minutes and 19 seconds to 2:42:44.
Even Stars & Stripes, although 4:20 behind America 3, beat the Kiwis’ time by 1:05.
That should make Dennis Conner’s crew feel a little better.
The Shake-A-Leg Challenge Cup for disabled sailors is scheduled May 1-3 in the America’s Cup waters off Point Loma, with support from the America 3 Foundation and endorsement of the America’s Cup Organizing Committee.
Six crews from around the country will compete in 20-foot Freedom/Independence boats transported from Shake-A-Leg facilities at Newport, R.I., and Miami. The organization hopes to establish a facility on the West Coast.
The America’s Cup will be on display at the America’s Cup Museum Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and May 1, 2, 6 and 8.
The museum is at 1150 North Harbor Drive in San Diego.
For patrons of sailing art, former Mallory Cup (U.S. men’s championship) winner Jim DeWitt of Point Richmond, Calif., has launched “The Spirit of Sailboat Racing” collection of gouache lithographs.
The 1992 charter edition includes the yacht America, which first won the Cup in 1851. Each lithograph is accompanied by a certificate of authenticity and documentation written by sailing historian and designer Bruce Kirby.
Conner last year bought a painting DeWitt did of Stars & Stripes. More information: (510) 234-2440.
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