New Zealand Rally Beats French Kiss
Unbeaten New Zealand played the tricky wind shifts to come from behind on the last leg Wednesday and deal French Kiss its first defeat by 40 seconds in the America’s Cup challenge trials off Perth, Australia.
Skipper Chris Dickson’s Plastic Fantastic, the only fiberglass 12-Meter in the competition, was scheduled to race America II (3-0) in the highlight match today.
Eagle (2-2), the Newport Harbor Yacht Club entry skippered by Rod Davis, finished 10 minutes 45 seconds--nearly a mile and a half--ahead of two-time Cup winner Courageous IV (0-3).
Eagle has a bye today. Courageous races Italy’s Azzurra (0-4).
Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes beat back an unrelenting assault from Britain’s Crusader for a decisive 1:16 victory to become the only skipper besides Dickson with four wins.
America II, skippered by John Kolius, managed to keep ahead of a persistent drive by USA of San Francisco (1-3) to win by 1:34.
France’s other entry skippered by Pajot’s brother, Yves, remained winless (0-3), as Canada II (2-2) won by 5:15.
Buddy Melges’ Heart of America (2-2) trailed Azzurra for seven of the eight legs but caught up on the last for an 18-second victory.
“We tacked nearly 50 times on the last leg,” Melges said. “When push comes to shove we’re able to race.”
Heart of America flew a protest flag during its race with Azzurra but it was taken down before the finish.
America’s Cup Notes The winds remained light in the Indian Ocean where the races are conducted, and shifts up to 20 degrees have turned the races into something of a guessing game. Wednesday they were 6 knots at the start, later building to 15 before dropping to 12 at the finish line. Heavier winds were forecast for today and Friday over the two 24.5-mile courses. . . . French Kiss, which seemed fast in heavy air at the 12-Meter worlds in February, was modified for lighter conditions and has been going well. . . . America II skipper John Kolius had this advice for boats that fall behind: “Keep tacking until the other guys drop dead.”