Stars & Stripes Drops to 3rd

New Zealand beat Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes in the strong winds he relishes today and dropped the United States’ lead boat to third place in the America’s Cup eliminations. New Zealander Chris Dixon said “the race came down to who made the least mistakes.”

The Yanks, who normally set spinnakers as automatically as donning trousers, were late in setting the kite at two successive marks. Conner said he was so busy maneuvering at 11 knots he misjudged the distance to the buoy. French Kiss took over second place and America II held the fourth and final slot for the upcoming semifinals by beating Eagle.