Americas Cup 31

Conner in breach of rules.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 7 (Reuters) - Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes team have been found to be in breach of the America's Cup rules, by using a rudder that was built in Australia.

The Nippon Challenge, protested Stars & Stripes for using the illegal rudder, in the first race of the current Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final round, in which Conner's team beat the Japanese.

Under America's Cup rules, the keels and rudders of the boats must either be built in the country of the challenge - in Conner's case America - or in New Zealand, the venue of the series.

The International Jury judging this case, established that the rudder used by Conner in the first race of the semi-finals, was built in Sydney, Australia.

These facts will be relayed to the Arbitration Panel who adjudicate on America's Cup rules, and they will either decide on the appropriate penalty, or hand the matter back to the international jury for sentencing.

This decision is not expected to be reached before Saturday morning at the earliest.

Peter Gilmour, skipper of Nippon Challenge, commented after the hearing, "the context in Article 19 of the protocol is loud and clear, that even when it is translated into Japanese, Italian or any other language.

"It reads "you are only allowed to manufacture appendages in your own country (that is USA in Team Dennis Conner's case) or in New Zealand."

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the elimination series to select a challenger to face the America's Cup holders, Team New Zealand, starting 19th February.

Cayard shares the top with Conner.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 7 (Reuters) - San Francisco-based AmericaOne moved up to share the top spot on the America's Cup eliminator series scoreboard with Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes on Friday.

Skipper Paul Cayard sailed an impressive Louis Vuitton Cup semifinal race to defeat Peter Gilmour and his Nippon Challenge crew by 23 seconds, putting him on level pegging with Conner.

Le Defi Francais, skippered by Bertrand Pace, was narrowly defeated by Italy's Prada team under Francesco de Angelis.

Conner's Stars & Stripes is being repaired after a collision with the French on Wednesday and his scheduled race against America True has been delayed until the end of the series.

Both of Friday's races were hard fought and in doubt until the end, with the Italians winning by just 18 seconds after the lead changed several times.

The win boosted Italian morale which suffered after they broke their mast on Wednesday.

Two penalties at the end of the first lap put the Italians behind the French, but the Prada crew regained the advantage and had time to do their penalty turns before taking the gun and another valuable point.

Bertrand Pace revealed at the end of the day, that the "trim-tab" on his boat had broken, this is a secondary steering device on the trailing edge of the keel, and this had made it difficult to defend his lead.

A relieved Francesco de Angelis commented, "we knew it was going to be a tough race, it was like that on the first leg, the boats were really close, then we got two penalties, and we knew we had to do our best."

Friday's racing was held in almost perfect conditions of eight to 12 knot north easterly winds and bright sunshine.

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the series to select a challenger for the America's Cup. The winner will face cup holders Team New Zealand, starting February 19.

BC-SPORT AMERICAS RESULTS

Sailing-Louis Vuitton Cup results - final.

AUCKLAND, January 7 (Reuters) - Results on Friday from the fourth day of the semi-finals, of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the eliminator series for the America's Cup challenge (U.S. unless stated):

Race 4

AmericaOne (Paul Cayard) beat Nippon Challenge (Peter Gilmour, Japan)

Prada Challenge (Francesco de Angelis, Italy) beat Le Defi Francais

(Bertrand Pace, France)

Standings after day 4, semi-finals (each race worth 1 point):

*Le Defi Francais have been penalized half a point for causing damage to Stars & Stripes.

Americas Cup 30

No sailing on the Hauraki Gulf.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 6 (Reuters) - A glassy calm over New Zealand's Hauraki Gulf prevented any sailing on Thursday in the Louis Vuitton Cup, the elimination series to select a challenger for the America's Cup.

Race crews relaxed in the sun and the race committee fished off the back of the race control boat-but caught nothing.

After two hours of waiting, race director Vince Cook decided that wind was unlikely in time to run a race before the time limit expired, and sent everyone back to their docks.

Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes team worked on repairs caused by a collision with French challenger Le Defi Francais, on Wednesday.

Conner had been granted an initial 24 hour delay in his next race,

against America True, to repair the back of his boat, and Thursday evening

gained a further 24 hour period to complete the work

Meanwhile, Bertrand Pace, skipper of the French boat, faced a hearing on Thursday evening. He was deducted half a point penalty in addition to the penalty turn taken during the race.

Peter Gilmour's Nippon Challenge have also lodged a protest against Stars & Stripes, alleging that Conner's team used an illegal keel or rudder in their race on Sunday.

Eleven challengers from seven nations started the Louis Vuitton Cup in October last year. Five have been eliminated, and remaining six are now contesting the semifinals.

The semifinals consist of a double round robin, in which each team sails against all of the others twice, with the top two going sailing in the best of nine races final.

The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will face the America's Cup holders, Team New Zealand, in a best of nine race series starting February 19.

Sailing-Louis Vuitton Cup results - final.

AUCKLAND, January 6 (Reuters) - Results on Thursday from the third day of the semi-finals, of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the eliminator series for the America's Cup challenge (U.S. unless stated):

Race 3

Stars & Stripes (Dennis Conner) beat Le Defi Francais (Bertrand Pace,

France)

Nippon Challenge (Peter Gilmour, Japan) beat America True (John Cutler)

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

Standings after day 3, semi-finals (each race worth 1 point):

*Le Defi Francais have been penalized half a point for causing damage to Stars & Stripes.

Americas Cup 29

Conner still leads, Prada's mast tumbles.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 5 (Reuters) - Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes maintained its lead in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals on Wednesday with a comfortable win over Bertrand Pace and his Le Defi Francais team.

Italy's Prada Challenge, skippered by Francesco de Angelis, broke its mast on the first leg of its race against Paul Cayard's San Francisco - based AmericaOne, which went on to take the gun.

In the other race of the day, Peter Gilmour's Nippon Challenge team outsailed the other San Francisco - based yacht, America True, skippered by John Cutler.

Stars & Stripes, steered by Ken Read, won the start against the French but Pace pulled back to challenge the Americans at the end of the first lap.

But the French collided with Stars & Stripes as they turned for the second lap and were penalized, to leave Pace and his crew two minutes behind.

Prada and AmericaOne were having a close race. Cayard won the start but de Angelis clawed his way back to only half-boat's length deficit, when the mast came down.

Each race in the competition consists of three laps of a six-mile (9.6-km) course, with each lap sailed as two legs of three miles, a total of eighteen miles.

Conditions on the Hauraki Gulf were mild, with 11 to 15 knot southerly winds and flat seas, which would not have put undue stress on the boats and their rigs.

This is the first major breakdown for the Prada team, which had earlier won races when opponents suffer breakages.

Prada held the lead at the end of each of the first three round robins, but has won only one of its three semi-final races to date.

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the series to select a challenger to meet the America's Cup holders, Team New Zealand, starting on February 19.

BC-SPORT SAILING AMERICAS (2ndld update)

Conner gets time for repairs, French face protest.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 5 (Reuters) - After winning their third successive race on Wednesday, Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes have been given time to repair collision damage before their next race.

Stars & Stripes maintained its lead in the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals with a comfortable win over Bertrand Pace and his Le Defi Francais team.

However following a collision with the French during the race, Stars & Stripes have been given 24 hours for repairs, delaying their next race, which is against America True.

Bertrand Pace must also face a jury hearing for causing the damage, and could face a points penalty in addition to the penalty turn taken during the race.

Italy's Prada Challenge, skippered by Francesco de Angelis, broke its mast on the first leg of its race against Paul Cayard's San Francisco - based AmericaOne, which went on to take the gun.

In the other race of the day, Peter Gilmour's Nippon Challenge team outsailed the other San Francisco - based yacht, America True, skippered by John Cutler.

In a frenzy of dockside activity on Wednesday evening, the Prada support crew replaced the broken mast, and the team went for a brief sail before sunset to check the replacement spar.

This is the first major breakdown for the Prada team, which had earlier won races when opponents suffer breakages.

Prada held the lead at the end of each of the first three round robins, but has won only one of its three semi-final races to date.

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the series to select a challenger to meet the America's Cup holders, Team New Zealand, starting on February 19.

BC-SPORT AMERICAS RESULTS

Sailing-Louis Vuitton Cup results - provisional.

AUCKLAND, January 5 (Reuters) - Results on Wednesday from the third day of the semi-finals, of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the eliminator series for the America's Cup challenge (U.S. unless stated):

Race 3

Stars & Stripes (Dennis Conner) beat Le Defi Francais (Bertrand Pace, France)

Nippon Challenge (Peter Gilmour, Japan) beat America True (John Cutler)

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

Standings after day 3, semi-finals (each race worth 1 point):

Americas Cup 28

Racing cancelled.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 4 (Reuters) - Racing was cancelled on the third day of the Louis Vuitton Cup, as squalls of over 30 knots ripped across the Hauraki Gulf, whipping it into a frenzy.

The huge armada of Cup yachts, support craft and spectator boats had positioned themselves in the course area and waited patiently for the wind to abate, but at 2.55 pm it became obvious that this was not going to happen.

By this time there was only one pair of semi-final yachts left on the Gulf, Paul Cayard's AmericaOne from San Francisco and Italy's Prada team skippered by Francesco de Angelis.

The first pair to give up hope of a race were Nippon Challenge and America True, with their two skippers, Peter Gilmour and John Cutler agreeing to delay their race for a day.

Then the Stars & Stripes team came to a similar mutual agreement with the French crew, and left the course area, however AmericaOne and Prada waited until they were sent home by the race director.

The rules of the Louis Vuitton Cup do not allow racing to start if the wind is consistantly over 18 knots for five minute, and after the start, racing is abandoned if the wind stays over 23 knots for five minutes.

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the series to select a challenger to meet the America's Cup defender, Team New Zealand, in the Cup match which starts on 19th February.

Eleven challengers from seven nations started the Louis Vuitton Cup in October last year, with five already eliminated, and the remaining six contesting a double round robin semi-final.

Americas Cup 27

Stars & Stripes takes lead in Auckland.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 3 (Reuters) - Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes took the lead in the semi-finals for the Louis Vuitton Cup on Monday, after a day of crash-and-burn sailing on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

Stars & Stripes, steered by Ken Read, grabbed the advantage off the starting line, to inflict a one minute seven second defeat on Italy's Prada team, the pre-series favourites, on the second day of the semis.

The other joint favourite, Paul Cayard's AmericaOne, suffered a defeat by over two minutes at the hands of their San Francisco rivals America True.

For the second day in succession, Bertrand Pace and his French team were on the wrong end of the closest match of the day, trailing Peter Gilmour's Nippon Challenge across the finishing line by just 38 seconds.

Stars & Stripes navigator Peter Isler accounted for their performance, "we've made a few subtle changes to the boat, above the waterline and below the waterline, and the crew is sailing well, and Dennis gave us a very inspirational speech before this round."

With south westerly winds in the 20 to 25 knot range, it was on the upper limit of wind strength for these boats, and the list of damage told the tale.

The Prada team, already trailing Stars & Stripes, lost further ground when the vang, that controls the angle of the boom, exploded, making the mainsail difficult to control.

America True shredded a spinnaker, and looked to have forfeited any chance of beating AmericaOne, when its rival's jib blew out, and ended up in the water wrapped around the keel.

Both the French and Nippon teams also appeared to suffer breakdowns, but managed to keep battling through their close and hard fought race.

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the series to select a challenger to meet the holders of the America's Cup, Team New Zealand, starting on 19th February.

BC-SPORT AMERICAS RESULTS

Sailing-Louis Vuitton Cup results - final (confirmed).

AUCKLAND, January 3 (Reuters) - Results on Monday from the second day of the semi-finals, of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the eliminator series for the America's Cup challenge (U.S. unless stated):

Race 2

Stars & Stripes (Dennis Conner) beat Prada Challenge (Francesco de Angelis, Italy)

America True (John Cutler) beat AmericaOne (Paul Cayard)

Nippon Challenge (Peter Gilmour, Japan) beat Le Defi Francais

(Bertrand Pace, France)

Standings after day 2, semi-finals (each race worth 1 point):

Americas Cup 26

Prada, Stars & Stripes and AmericaOne score.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 2 (Reuters) - Italy's Prada team, Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes and AmericaOne, skippered by Paul Cayard, all chalked up victories on the first day of the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals.

On a day of 10 to 15 knot northerly winds, across Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, probably the biggest surprise was Stars & Stripes' large winning margin over Nippon Challenge.

The much hyped improvements to Nippon's older boat, JPN 44, would appear to be a fizzer, with Peter Gilmour and his Japanese crew trailing Stars & Stripes by close to a minute throughout the race.

Gilmour commented later, "they quite quickly took a nice wind shift out of the left, and there weren't a lot of passing lanes for the rest of the race."

The closest race of the day was between AmericaOne and Le Defi Francais, with Bertrand Pace and his French crew mostly within half a minute of the Americans, trailing them at the finish by just 22 seconds.

Though John Cutler and his America True team appeared to get the better of the start, against the Italians, at the first mark Prada were 17 seconds up, and rarely looked threatened again.

Ken Read, skipper of Stars & Stripes played down the significance of their victory on Sunday, "so far so good," he said, "we are clearly pleased with today's race, it's pretty tough.

"Realistically we didn't know how fast we were, we made a few changes to the boat, and of course you always hope you are faster, but we didn't really know until the first five minutes of the race."

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the challenger series to select a team to sail against the holders of the America's Cup, Team New Zealand, starting 19th February.

BC-SPORT AMERICAS RESULTS

Sailing-Louis Vuitton Cup results - provisional.

AUCKLAND, January 2 (Reuters) - Results on Sunday from the first day of the semi-finals, of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the eliminator series for the America's Cup challenge (U.S. unless stated):

Race 1

Prada Challenge (Francesco de Angelis, Italy) beat America True (John Cutler)

Stars & Stripes (Dennis Conner) beat Nippon Challenge (Peter Gilmour, Japan)

AmericaOne (Paul Cayard) beat Le Defi Francais (Bertrand Pace, France)

Standings after day 1, semi-finals (each race worth 1 point):

Americas Cup 25

Cayard's AmericaOne favourite.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, January 1 (Reuters) - Despite finishing the third round of the Louis Vuitton Cup in fourth place, Paul Cayard and his San Francisco based AmericaOne challenge are still favourites, with the pundits, to become the America's Cup challengers.

With the semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup due to start Sunday 2nd January, the general consensus is that Cayard and Italy's Prada Challenge, skippered by Francesco de Angelis, are most likely to progress to the finals.

However Peter Gilmour's Nippon Challenge are being seen as a dangerous dark horse, bringing back their older of two boats into action, which is now supposedly much faster.

Cayard's position as favourite is the result of his sailing record, his leadership ability and motivational skills, added to the fact that he is bringing out a new boats for this round.

The Prada team's massive US$55 million budget, their lengthy preparation period, plus their position at the head of the leaderboard are the contributing factors to their status with the punters.

America True, also based out of San Francisco, have so far been the surprised package of the series, a low budget, one boat campaign, they have pulled off some big victories in the earlier rounds.

"Never underestimate Dennis" is the catch phrase that best sums up Dennis Conner's Stars & Stripes campaign, he is an old warrior, and a wiley one too.

Bertrand Pace and his Le Defi Francais team, are the rank outsiders of the semi-finals, lucky to be there, but showing occasional flashes of brilliance.

John Cutler, skipper of America True, summed up the coming semi-finals well, "The way this regatta has been structured, it's a pretty severe cut from six down to two with ten races to do it.

"So I think the two teams that come out on top will have sailed really well, I think it is going to be good preparation for moving on to the next round as well, we're looking forward to some good racing."

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the selection series to find a challenger for the America's Cup, the winner will meet the holders, Team New Zealand in the Cup match starting 19th February.

Americas Cup 24

Two old boats, one new for the semis.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, December 31 (Reuters) - The Japanese and Italian teams at the America's Cup have elected to use their older boats for the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals, while Paul Cayard's AmericaOne team will bring out their new boat for the first time.

With the six team semi-finals due to start on January 2nd, the deadline for declaring which boats will be used, fell at 1:00 pm (NZ time) Friday.

The Nippon Challenge, skippered by Peter Gilmour, and Italy's Prada Challenge in the hands of Francesco de Angelis, had already declare their decision to go back to the boats they had used in the first two rounds.

Paul Cayard, whose San Francisco based challenge is the only other semi-finalist with two boats, was putting out conflicting messages until Friday, when he admitted that his new boat would get it's first chance to do battle.

Both Nippon and Prada have made substantial changes to their older boats, and claim they are now considerably faster than when they used them in the first two rounds.

"We've made quite a positive modification to 44," said Gilmour, refering to his older boat, "which has seen quite a performance improvement, so it is only logical to take your best boat into the semi-final series."

For de Angelis, it seems the decision to use the older boat followed considerable angst, "There has been a lot of thought, and we are going to use ITA 45," he commented.

"We picked 45, because we think it is the boat that will fit the kind of racing we are going to have starting January 2nd," was the reasoning.

Cayard told a local newspaper "the reality is that 61 (the newer boat) is simply a better boat than 49," but then refused to confirm that he would be using it until Friday's deadline.

The Louis Vuitton Cup is the selection series to find a challenger to meet the America's Cup holders, Team New Zealand, starting on 19th February.

Americas Cup 23

Conner and Cayard slam Gilmour.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, December 30 (Reuters) - American skippers Dennis Conner and Paul Cayard have slammed Nippon Challenge skipper Peter Gilmour for training with the America's Cup defenders Team New Zealand.

In a tirade loaded with sarcasm, Conner said, "you have to ask yourself, what is in this for Peter?

"May be he thinks he's not going to the America's Cup, and he wants to get a picture of the Japanese boat sailing against New Zealand.

"I could go on from there, may be he needs a new patio cover, and Russell has one in the backyard he could use, someday may be we'll know Peter, if you're steering the New Zealand boat in the defence of 2003."

Cayard, who skippers the San Francisco based AmericaOne challenge, accused Gilmour of betraying the rest of the challengers, and giving Team New Zealand a benchmark.

"Like Peter says, someone always does, (sail against the defender) I'm surprised it came so early, and I'm surprised it was Peter Gilmour," said Cayard.

"Now they've (Team New Zealand) got a benchmark," he continued, "and they'll watch what happens in the semi-finals, they've been watching us all along, they've just got a better measuring stick now.

Suggesting Gilmour was grandstanding, Cayard commented, "I can't really see what the benefits are to the other side (Nippon Challenge) , except may be the front page of the newspaper."

This is the first real outbreak of verbal sparring since the start of the challengers selection series - the Louis Vuitton Cup - in October, but there is a long history of argument and controversy in the America's Cup.

Referring to the unwritten agreement amongst the challengers not to train with Team New Zealand, Gilmour commented, "It is something that we within Nippon Challenge don't agree with."

He added, "it is something that has often tried to be pushed through at ACCA (America's Cup Challengers' Association) level, and certainly has never carried the day.

"I think it is a positive thing for us to be doing, and I do understand and appreciate that others see it a different way, and that is their perspective."

Eleven challengers from seven nations started the Louis Vuitton Cup in October, but just six are still in the competition, and will start the semi-finals on 2nd January.

Americas Cup 22

Nippon lines up against New Zealand.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, December 29 (Reuters) - Peter Gilmour and his Nippon Challenge team have broken ranks with the other America’s Cup challengers to sail against Team New Zealand, the defenders.

The eleven challengers from seven nations had made an informal, and unwritten, agreement not to sail against Team New Zealand before the Cup match, which starts 19^th February.

However on Wednesday, Nippon Challenge, one of six teams that will contest the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-final starting 2^nd January, spent the afternoon training with the defenders.

Peter Gilmour, skipper of the Nippon team, commented at the end of the day, "it was good for us to go out and sail against the best, we learnt a lot."

Explaining his decision to break ranks, he said, "Yamasaki san, our chairman, said why don’t you go and do it, Team New Zealand have been very good to us in ‘92 and ‘95, it makes sense."

For the defenders, Team New Zealand tactician Brad Butterworth said, "the boats are pretty even, that doesn’t surprise us, so we know we’re fast enough to make the Louis Vuitton Cup semi-finals."

However it seems he may be understating the case a little, Gilmour being very complimentary about Team New Zealand’s state of readiness.

"They are definitely in a very high state of readiness," he confided, "they are ready to sail in the America’s Cup now, and they will be a very tough defender."

On the subject of Team New Zealand skipper Russell Coutts, Gilmour said, "Russell has lost none of his cut and thrust, or his poise, I haven’t sailed against him since July, and he is still a great competitor."

The Louis Vuitton Cup, which started in October, is the series to select a challenger to face Team New Zealand in the America’s Cup, with five teams having already been eliminated.

Americas Cup 21

Confrontation between defenders and challengers.

by John Roberson

AUCKLAND, December 27 (Reuters) - Confrontations between the defenders and the challengers for the America’s Cup have started already, despite the fact that the Cup races don’t start until February 19^th next year.

One such recent confrontation caused the defenders, Team New Zealand, to rip a spinnaker when it got wrapped in the rigging of Paul Cayard’s AmericaOne.

Team New Zealand rules adviser Russell Green said he was umpiring a race between their two boats when the incident occurred, and Cayard’s two boats were out training.

"It was a very close race," said Green, "Russell Coutts had a very narrow lead, and they were approaching the mark with their spinnakers up."

"Cayard and his team were sailing on a collision course, and it became obvious they weren’t going to get out of the way, so at the last minute Russell avoided them, and the spinnaker got ripped when it dragged across their rig."

Although Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf is big enough to accommodate three seperate America’s Cup courses, there have been a number of cases of defenders and challengers trying to use the same patch of water.

This incident is reported to have happened just before Christmas, and is said to be just one of several close encounters between the two sides of the up-coming duel.

Alan Sefton, Executive Director of the defence organisation, commented, "I believe there have been one or two games of chicken going on out there, and I understand AmericaOne and America True were involved."

The semi-finals of the Louis Vuitton Cup, the trials to select a challenger to meet Team New Zealand, start on 2nd January 2000.

Eleven challengers from seven nations entered the Louis Vuitton Cup which started 18th October, but five of those teams have now been eliminated.