Prada toppled from the top of the scoreboard.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, December 7 (Reuters) - Italy's Prada Challenge have been knocked off the top of the scoreboard for the first time since the Louis Vuitton Cup started back in October, with Paul Cayard's AmericaOne taking over the top spot.

On a day of frustration and contrasts on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, Peter Gilmour and his Nippon Challenge crew, inflicted a telling defeat on the Italians, who have now been beaten two days in a row.

The race started in 8 to 10 knots of breeze, but died out halfway through the day, before returning in force, with Nippon driven home by a wind that had built to 20 knots.

Nippon were at one stage a massive 12 minutes, 22 seconds ahead of their rivals, but the Italians closed the gap down to 3 minutes 13 seconds by the finish.

Meanwhile Paul Cayard and the AmericaOne crew, from San Francisco crossed the finishing line nearly 12 minutes clear of the Spanish Challenge skippered by Luis Doreste.

John Kolius and the Aloha Challenge chalked up nine points for sailing around the course alone in the absence of Switzerland's Fast 2000, who have pulled out of the regatta.

It was a nightmare day for the tacticians, with tension running high amongst the afterguard on each boat as they searched for fickle zephyrs of breeze in the middle of the race, while sitting for nearly an hour almost becalmed.

Two races did not get the benefit of the returning breeze before their time limit expired, Le Defi Francais versus Young America, and Young Australia against America True.

Dennis Conner has confirmed that his Stars & Stripes will be ready to sail again on Wednesday, having repaired the damage caused when a bulkhead ripped out of the boat on Sunday.

Eleven challenges from seven nations started the Louis Vuitton Cup in October, and the eventual winner will face Team New Zealand in the America's Cup starting in February next year.

Sailing-Louis Vuitton Cup results - provisional.

AUCKLAND, December 7 (Reuters) - Results on Tuesday from the sixth day of round three, of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the eliminator series for the America's Cup challenge (U.S. unless stated):

(Francesco de Angelis, Italy)

Aloha Challenge (John Kolius) beat Fast 2000 (Marc Pajot, Switzerland)

Le Defi Francaise (Bertrand Pace, France) versus Young America (Ed Baird) race abandoned (lack of wind)

America True (John Cutler) versus Young Australia (James Spithill, Australia) race abandoned (lack of wind)

*Nippon Challenge and Stars & Stripes have both been penalized half a point for causing damage to other boats during the first round.

Americas Cup 7

Cayard beats Prada

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, December 6 (Reuters) - The match of the day at the Louis Vuitton Cup turned out to be a cliff-hanger, with Paul Cayard and his AmericaOne team snatching a last ditch victory from the Italian Prada crew.

Cayard and his tactician John Kostecki had lured the Italians into a close pre-start battle, which got too close when Prada's bow crashed into AmericaOne's stern, and the umpires awarded a penalty against Prada.

Although the Francesco de Angelis eventually got the better of the start, and led throughout the race, when he tried to take his penalty turn just before finishing, Cayard slipped past to take the gun by 23 seconds.

It appeared that when the Italians rounded the last mark of the race, they had a big enough margin to execute their penalty and still win, but chose to delay the turn until close to the finishing line, by which time the America's had narrowed the gap.

"We were never sure of the outcome of that race," commented Cayard later, "it was a good race, regardless of the final result, it's just good to be in a tough race like that and hang close, it was good even before we crossed the finish line."

This puts Paul Cayard's AmericaOne challenge just one point behind Prada at the top of the scoreboard, and both teams virtually assured of their semi-finals places.

In other matches on Monday, Nippon Challenge defeated the Spanish Challenge, America True chalked up a comfortable win over the Aloha Challenge, and Young Australia sailed alone around the course to record a win over the absent Swiss.

Nippon Challenge, skippered by by Peter Gilmour, are now the only undefeated team since the third round started on Thursday (2^nd December), and they have moved up to third place on the scoreboard.

Conditions on the Hauraki Gulf today were light and shifty, with the wind rarely reaching 10 knots, and flicking between south westerly and south easterly, making life difficult not only for the tacticians, but for the race director as well.

Eleven challenges from seven nations started the Louis Vuitton Cup in October, and the eventual winner will face Team New Zealand in the America's Cup starting in February next year.

Sailing-Louis Vuitton Cup results - provisional.

AUCKLAND, December 6 (Reuters) - Results on Monday from the fifth day of round three, of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the eliminator series for the America's Cup challenge (U.S. unless stated):

Nippon Challenge (Peter Gilmour, Japan) beat Spanish Challenge (Luis Doreste, Spain)

AmericaOne (Paul Cayard) beat Prada Challenge (Francesco de Angelis, Italy)

Switzerland)

*Nippon Challenge and Stars & Stripes have both been penalized half a point for causing damage to other boats during the first round.