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Smooth sailing New Zealand leads wire to wire to take 3-0 lead
Posted: Saturday February 26, 2000 11:50 PM
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Reuters) -- Defending champion Team New Zealand opened a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-nine America's Cup finals Saturday after completely outsailing Italian challenger Prada in Race 3. The New Zealanders sailed a brilliant tactical race at a decisive moment to win the third squirmish by one minute and 39 seconds after leading from start to finish. The black-hulled New Zealand boat appears to be well on course to becoming the first non-American boat to successfully defend the America's Cup since it was first sailed in 1851. The Italians, seeking to become the first Europeans to win the Cup, had been desperate to fight their way back into the regatta after two disastrous races followed by a frustrating cancellation Thursday due to light wind. New Zealand set up Saturday's victory with important tactical decisions on the second and third legs of the six-leg, 18.5 nautical mile race in the Hauraki Gulf off Auckland. Skipper Russell Coutts won a tense pre-start battle over rival Francesco de Angelis in southerly winds of about 14 knots and then held off Prada on a tight beat into the wind on the first leg. Coutts and New Zealand tactician Brad Butterworth hugged the right hand side of the course during the first leg and led by 19 seconds at the first mark. Coutts and Butterworth then decided to head back to the center of the course on the second leg as the wind direction shifted by as much as 40 degrees. That gave them a buffer over Prada as the Italian boat charged downwind to cut New Zealand's lead by two seconds at the second mark. New Zealand then sailed clear on the third leg as the wind stabilized, with Coutts and his crew adding as much as 10 boat lengths over Prada to lead by 71 seconds at the third mark. "The whole race was pretty much under control right from the start," New Zealand crewman Murray Jones said. The race offered the first real indication of the relative speeds of the two boats. The first race was sailed in light winds and the Italians endured a horror race 2 in which their keel was fouled and a crew member injured during the scramble to clear the obstruction. At key points of race 3 the New Zealand boat appeared clearly faster than Prada, enabling it to post significant gains. "We certainly never felt we were lacking for speed," Jones told Television New Zealand. The New Zealanders also shrugged off their first real problem of the regatta when their gennaker tore badly while gybing downwind on the fourth leg. Coutts's crew calmly set their headsail and kept the torn sail up until they rounded the fourth mark, where their lead was cut by only 11 seconds. They then rammed home their advantage by adding 43 seconds to their lead on the fifth leg.
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