AMERICA’S CUP UPDATE : NOTEBOOK : Kiwis No. 1 Among Challengers

SAN DIEGO — Tuesday’s victory by Ville de Paris over New Zealand notwithstanding, the latest poll by Italy’s Mondo Barca magazine ranks the Kiwis first and the French last among the six remaining teams.

The poll of media before these rounds also had America 3 and Stars & Stripes fourth and fifth, respectively.

New Zealand led in three of the four categories--organization, boat and crew--and skipper Rod Davis was rated third behind Nippon’s Chris Dickson and Stars & Stripes’ Dennis Conner.

The ratings: New Zealand, 34.89; Nippon, 33.18; Il Moro di Venezia, 31.33; America 3, 31.03; Stars & Stripes, 30.9; Le Defi Francais, 29.94.

Ever wonder why they call the schedules “round robins”?

The Louis Vuitton Cup media desk researched the subject in Webb B. Garrison’s “Why You Say It” (Abingdon Press, 1955) and found that it dates to the 18th Century.

“Ingenious French sailors devised a method of escaping punishment for complaints when a ship’s company was disgruntled. They would prepare a written statement and let every man sign it. In order that no name should head the list, they penned the signature in a circle. Handed a complaint signed by such a ruban rund, meaning round ribbon, the captain could not tell who had signed it first.

“British seamen soon borrowed the custom, mixed French and English terms and called the circles a round ruban. Soon the term was corrupted to round robin, never remotely connected with the bird.”

The Vuitton people say the first time the expression was used in a sporting competition in the U.S. was in 1895 in an official lawn tennis bulletin, which said: “The so-called round-robin tournament, where each man plays every other, furnishes the best possible test of tennis skill . . . “

Conner’s Stars & Stripes is more than just a floating billboard for his sponsors. Sometimes it’s a nautical art gallery.

On one leg of Tuesday’s race he used a gennaker featuring his first serigraph, “In Command,” part of his sailing portfolio “Touch the Wind.”

Rival Bill Koch has one of America’s best collections of fine art. He was asked his opinion of Conner’s talent, from his, uh, point of view.

“One night I had dinner with Dennis and tried to get him to sell me one of his original paintings,” Koch said. “I’m gonna get one before the series is over.”