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All knotted up Italy wins, sets up decisive ninth race
Posted: Saturday February 05, 2000 12:19 AM
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- Paul Cayard isn't the only comeback skipper in the America's Cup. Facing elimination, Francesco de Angelis drove Prada to a 37-second victory over Cayard's AmericaOne on Saturday, tying the best-of-9 challenger finals 4-4 and setting up a deciding race Sunday. Cayard had rallied from a 3-1 deficit to a 4-3 lead with a 1-minute, 6-second victory Friday. But de Angelis, helped by outstanding crew work, broke his three-race slide as the Italians led from start to finish Saturday in moderate winds of 10-15 knots. So after more than 3 1/2 months of sailing in the challenger trials that began Oct. 18 with 11 boats from seven countries, it has come down to this: One 2 1/4-hour race to decide whether AmericaOne or Prada faces defending champion New Zealand in the best-of-9 America's Cup finals starting Feb. 19. New Zealand is the least populated country ever to compete for sailing's top prize. Italy has never won it in four previous campaigns. The United States has dominated, winning all 25 competitions from the first one in 1851 until 1980. Australia took it away in 1983, but the United States won the next three before New Zealand's 5-0 sweep in San Diego in 1995 brought the silver trophy to Auckland for the first time. Now Cayard is trying to win it for the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco so he can defend it there in three or four years. But he could find himself in the Mediterranean, a challenger again, if he doesn't win Sunday and Prada beats New Zealand. The 18 1/2-mile race is an up-and-back course, three legs into the wind and three, including the last, with the wind from behind. Cayard lost Saturday's race on the second leg, the first going downwind, when he incurred a penalty for getting in de Angelis' way. That meant he would have to take a 270-degree penalty turn at a point in the race of his choice, a maneuver that takes about 30 seconds. Cayard lost the second race when he incurred a similar penalty as he held a small lead one minute from the finish line. Both times, he had to give way as the windward boat but failed to do so. On Saturday, the yachts approached and nearly touched midway through the second leg. The referees in a nearby boat immediately signaled a penalty for AmericaOne. So when Prada started the final leg with a 16-second lead, Cayard's chances of overcoming that plus the penalty time were very slim. His best opportunity was to steal a page from an NFL playbook -- by doing the equivalent of a long, desperation pass on the last play, with the quarterback hoping for a defensive pass interference call in the end zone. Cayard had to get close enough to Prada to force the Italian yacht into a penalty which would negate both penalties. That rarely happens and it didn't Saturday on the waters of the Hauraki Gulf Prada won the start by two seconds and stretched the lead to 20 seconds at the first mark. It was 19 seconds after the second mark and 30 seconds after the third, the midpoint of the race. The third leg was among the most exciting of the series as the boats engaged in 20 tacks. AmericaOne gained on each of the next two legs, cutting the margin to 17 seconds after the fourth and 16 seconds after the fifth. Prada began the final leg with a bad gybe set and had a brief spinnaker pole problem midway through the leg. But as the boats sailed to the finish line, Prada made sure to stay far away from AmericaOne to avoid a penalty. Prada cruised up the left side, its sailors exchanging firm handshakes as the boat crossed the finish line. AmericaOne went up the right side and, with the race already lost, its sailors were reminded of the penalty's heavy price. Cayard steered the boat in a 270-degree turn of defeat.
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