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Closing the gap AmericaOne wins Tuesday, cuts Prada's lead to 3-2
Posted: Monday January 31, 2000 11:43 PM
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- Finally, it was just a boat race in the mishap-marred America's Cup challenger finals. And what a boat race it was for AmericaOne. Skipper Paul Cayard steered the yacht that had been losing expensive sails on a daily basis back into contention with a 34-second victory Tuesday, cutting Prada of Italy's lead in the best-of-9 series to 3-2. It was a wire-to-wire win for AmericaOne, which can tie the series Wednesday. More importantly, the boat and its sails stood up to winds of 15 to 22 knots on the Hauraki Gulf. There was no pre-race collision as in the first race or torn spinnaker on AmericaOne as in the second. There were no injuries or massive equipment damage as in the third race when the U.S. withdrew with less than one-third of the race remaining. And there was no penalty in the last minute that forced AmericaOne to make an extra 270-degree turn and cost it the fourth race even though it led all the way. No, just a competitive race between two finely-tuned yachts trying to reach the final round in the quest for sailing's top prize. The winner of the challenger finals faces defending champion New Zealand in a best-of-9 series starting Feb. 19. It was a trouble-free race for AmericaOne, the crew that couldn't sail straight. In its other 44 races in the elimination rounds, it had broken eight spinnakers, the sail used at the front of the boat when sailing with the wind coming from behind. In the first four races of this series, it had split three spinnakers and had a sail lying on deck swept overboard. So Cayard had to be relieved when the big lime-green spinnaker filled perfectly as he started the final leg with a 42-second lead Tuesday. Unlike Saturday, when high winds reaching 30 knots and wild waves battered AmericaOne in Race 3, Tuesday's conditions were milder as the boats sailed the 181/2-mile race covering six legs, three downwind and three upwind. Cayard had to be careful since he was down to his last mast. His original mast, damaged Saturday, is being repaired and the mast he used Tuesday is his only backup. Cayard is trying to duplicate his comeback in the 1992 challenger finals when he was at the wheel of Il Moro di Venezia of Italy, which trailed New Zealand 3-1. The Kiwis actually won the fifth race, but the victory was taken away when Cayard successfully challenged an illegal bowsprit on New Zealand's boat. Il Moro won the next four races to reach the America's Cup final, where it lost 4-1 to America3. AmericaOne, representing the St. Francis Yacht Club of San Francisco, has led from start to finish in the last two races. Only the penalty for blocking Prada's course in the charge to the end of Race 4 has kept it from a 3-2 lead. Cayard dominated from the beginning Tuesday, crossing the starting line ahead of Prada for the fifth straight race. He led by seven seconds after aggressive prestart maneuvering in which Prada was pushed to the far right side. Cayard made a big gain on the first leg, going into the wind, and led by 32 seconds heading into the second leg, with the wind at his back. But Prada closed the lead to 10 seconds at the second mark and the boats engaged in a drag race on the third leg, heading upwind, as they sailed parallel courses for most of the leg. The Americans got the better of it and led by 18 seconds heading into the fourth leg and were ahead by 26 seconds going into the fifth, the last upwind leg, after Prada made a bad gybe. Then Cayard made his big gain, stretching the lead to 42 seconds with one leg remaining. He was never threatened after that. Before the third race, AmericaOne crewmen Greg Prussia and Curtis Blewett were injured when they went up the mast to fix a broken halyard. After that race, sail trimmer David McClintock was hurt when a line snapped as it was towing AmericaOne to port after the withdrawal. Tuesday's cruise back to land felt a lot better for the Americans.
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