Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘Proud to be American’
(MAY 16, 1992) We’re all missing sports these days. So with the games on hold, we’re offering a daily dose of memorable moments as chronicled through sports history:
This story, edited for length, published after America3, Bill Koch’s high-tech racing machine, won the America’s Cup 4-1 in the best-of-seven final series with Italy’s Il Moro di Venezia.
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AN DIEGO — Buddy Melges steered America3 to a 44-second victory Saturday over Italian challenger Il Moro di Venezia to win the America’s Cup. Melges, 62, of Lake Geneva, Wis., staved off the Italians in the best-of-seven series, allowing them only one victory in the 28th Americas Cup.
Melges led at every mark in the 20.03mile race, but Italy was never more than 51 seconds behind.
His superior sailing skills meshed well with the technical expertise of multimillionaire Bill Koch, 52, who bankrolled the effort.
Saturday’s race started under a sunny sky in 14 mph winds. As is standard for America3 (America Cubed), tactician Dave Dellenbaugh, a rules expert, steered in the 10-minute prestart period while Paul Cayard, the skipper on Il Moro, tried unsuccessfully to draw him into a foul.
During the prestart, bowman Jerry Kirby was hoisted up the mast to attach additional supports to the mast to compensate for a below-deck problem. Both boats were even at the start. During the first leg, 3.77 miles into the wind, Melges took the lead, but Cayard closed within six feet at one point. At the first mark, Melges was ahead by 18 seconds. During the second leg, a downwind run, the Italians sent bowman Alberto Fantini aloft to try to fix two broken battens. A break in the flexible slat sewn into the sail to help keep its shape could cause a tear in the sail. The repairs held throughout the race.
But even with a man on the mast, Cayard lost only two seconds in the downwind leg, far better than the average of 17 seconds during the other races.
Melges gained another 18 seconds on the third leg, a 3-mile beat into winds that had increased to about 16 mph.
During the three legs that make up the course’s 6.3-mile “S” curve, America3 gained only a single second for a 39-second margin at the beginning of the final upwind leg.
Kock took over for part of the seventh leg, but Melges took the helm back as Cayard gained 15 seconds on the leg.
On the final leg, Cayard tried to drive down on America3, but was outdistanced.
As America3 crossed the finish line, there was a din of noise as the 800 boats in the spectator fleet blasted horns in a salute as Melges and Koch both held the wheel.
The crew screamed, high-fived and embraced.
“There were negatives in the press about us, but they did not know what the core of this group really is,” Melges said. “They are terrific.
“I have been thinking that we would win the Cup for about two months as I saw what the potential of this boat really was.”
Koch, a businessman with a doctorate in chemical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, began serious sailing less than a decade ago.
During his campaign for the Cup, he built four of the new class of big boats used in this year’s races for the first time. They replaced the smaller 12-meter class craft used from 1958 through 1987.
Koch calls the cost of the new boats “obscene and absurd” and sank more than $65 million into the effort, a lion’s share of the funds from his own wealth.
Koch selected Melges, a sailing folk hero called the “Wizard of Zenda” for the small Wisconsin border town where he owns three sailing-related businesses, as his helmsman.
With Melges came a depth of experience that allowed America3 to topple Dennis Conner from his position as king of the Cup.
Melges now becomes the only Olympic gold medalist to also win the Cup.
The charismatic Melges brought more than a steady hand at the helm to the America3 effort. He lead the Chicago Yacht Club’s 1987 Heart of America challenge for the Cup, and Saturday, seven of the 16-man crew had sailed with Heart of America.
“We are all very proud to be American today,” Koch said. “The effort took a lot more time, a lot more money and a lot more effort, but today makes it worth it.”