Dragster in The Danger Zone

By J.D. Reed

For sheer, world-class derangement, few pastimes can match that of smearing one's face with sunscreen goo, joining ten other hearty mates and smashing over the sea in multimillion-dollar pursuit of an ugly, and near worthless, silver jug. Yachtsmen often complain that ocean racing is like standing under an ice-cold shower tearing up thousand-dollar bills. Until recently, Dennis Conner, 44, skipper and mastermind of the smoke-blue Stars & Stripes, might have agreed.

Last week, however, as speakers on the Stars & Stripes tender boomed out the boat's theme song, Danger Zone, from the movie Top Gun, the skipper who lost the America's Cup had come a long way toward putting some glory after his black mark in yachting's record book. Conner's 1983 defeat by Australia broke the New York Yacht Club's 132-year winning streak. This time, Conner has heeled over, hunkered down and blasted to a comfortable -- and unexpected -- 3-1 lead over the fiber-glass-hulled New Zealand in the best-of-seven series to determine who will challenge Australia.

Conner's success on Gage Roads, a boisterous strip of the Indian Ocean off Perth's port of Fremantle, is a sailing surprise. Through four elimination rounds since October, Stars & Stripes, the entry of the San Diego Yacht Club, had done well, compiling a 31-7 record. But in last week's challenger final between Conner and New Zealand, pundits and punters favored the "Kiwi Magic" because the boat was 37-1 overall, as well as 2-1 in its previous races with Stars & Stripes. Gloomy American fans worried about an all-Pacific final that would keep the Cup -- and the next contest -- in the Antipodes.

But a calmer Conner than the one who groused abrasively as he was overtaken by Australia II in Newport has long been quietly plotting his course for the Cup's recapture. After breaking with the N.Y.Y.C., Conner, who owns a drapery business in San Diego, raised some $15 million (mostly from corporate sponsors, including Ford, Merrill Lynch and Budweiser). Two years ago, he assembled his crew and began sailing in near secrecy off Hawaii, where wind and water duplicate the Western Australia conditions. Conner had also noted that the Fremantle Doctor, a wind so named because it relieves the almost 100 degrees temperatures onshore, increases in strength as the antipodal summer progresses. So he got his marine architects to deliver a boat that would sail best in a straight line and go fastest in the high winds and rough seas expected during the Cup races' final stages.

The strategy paid off as Stars & Stripes grew stronger during the competition. The boat seemed to find a "magical lift," according to rival USA Skipper Tom Blackaller, who lost the semifinals to Conner in four straight three weeks ago. That set the stage for a neat matchup of opposites last week because New Zealand was designed for maneuverability on high seas. The result, says Conner, is "like a fuel dragster vs. a turbocharged Porsche. While the dragster might have more speed in a straight line, he doesn't want to go 24 hours at Le Mans." The series was also a classic duel of wily veteran vs. brash youth. Conner has some 10,000 hours on 12-meter boats. New Zealand Skipper Chris Dickson, 25, although a sailor since childhood, has been at their helms less than a year.

Last Tuesday, after a week of fine-tuning rudder, rigging and sails and applying strips of plastic film to the hull, Conner came out smoking and caught the Kiwis by surprise. Stars & Stripes crossed the starting line three seconds ahead of New Zealand and never relinquished the lead. On the 24.1-mile course's four windward legs, Conner refused to be drawn into Dickson's practiced tacking maneuvers, in which the lead boat covers the one behind, trying to prevent it from escaping the blockage of its breeze. In a blustery 26-knot wind, Stars & Stripes did not risk losing that contest and barreled straight ahead to win by 1:20. The second meeting was a replay of the first: Stars & Stripes blew ahead on a gusty breeze to a 1:36 victory. But Dennis-no- longer-the-Menace did not crow. "I've been ahead two-zip before," he said, referring to his lead in Newport prior to disaster.

Buoyed by a phone call from Prime Minister David Lange, two miles of thermofaxed messages from 300,000 fans at home and a dockside war dance by Maori tribesmen, New Zealand got lucky in the third race. Stars & Stripes got off to a lead of 21 seconds, but a halyard shackle popped loose as the boat rounded the second mark, sending its spinnaker flapping into the water. Although his crew cleared the wet sail and hoisted a new sheet in 70 seconds, Conner fell behind and was forced into an exhausting two-hour tacking match in which he came about 131 times to Dickson's 128. Stars & Stripes narrowed the gap to 15 seconds at one point, but New Zealand held on, crossing the line 38 seconds ahead. Said a drained Conner: "We went down bloody, but we're willing to continue."

In the fourth race, he continued with a roar. Never really threatened, Conner pulled off a "horizon job" -- meaning the leader is all but out of sight. The hard-pressed New Zealand had a rash of problems, from gear failures to a ripped mainsail, that left it limping in, a stunned 3:38 behind. "Disastrous," said Dickson. "Everything broke and went wrong." Conner ended the week needing only one victory to clinch the challenger's berth in the finals, while the dispirited Kiwis had to win three. If the draper succeeds, next week he will face either his old nemesis, Perth Millionaire Alan Bond and Australia IV, a descendant of the boat that won at Newport, or more likely the lithe and speedy Kookaburra III, owned by rival Perth Businessman Kevin Parry. Some experts now believe the onrushing Stars & Stripes will take it all. Conner is making no claims. But though he may try some equipment changes for the ultimate contest, the theme song is set. Playing Danger Zone seems to suit him just fine.

With reporting by John Dunn/Fremantle