America’s Cup Trials : British Entry Leads Most of Way, but Kiwis Rally for 6-Second Win
For about three hours Friday, Brittannia ruled the waves again.
Harold Cudmore, a displaced Irishman, was Lord Nelson reincarnate, railing at the foe from the afterdeck and firing every volley in his arsenal to dispatch an emerging power.
But, alas, this was Fremantle, not Trafalgar, and White Crusader’s hopes of winning the America’s Cup were virtually sent to the bottom by a six-second loss to the seemingly invincible crew from New Zealand.
It was by far the closest of the Kiwis’ 21 consecutive victories. They started behind in light winds, were knocked back severely by a mid-race mishap and trailed at every mark, teasing the skeptics who doubt that a first-time effort can win sailing’s greatest prize.
But in the end, they had clinched first place in the challenger trials, leaving four others to scrap for the remaining three semifinal spots over the last three days.
“It was difficult,” Cudmore said. “They just nibbled at us persistently.”
New Zealand skipper Chris Dickson said: “It took us all day to get into the passing lane, and then Harold didn’t want to let us go past.”
Friday’s winds arrived at 10 knots and built to 16 by mid-afternoon, giving Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes the power it needed to sail away from another heavy-weather boat, French Kiss, by 2:07 and move past the rival into second place.
America II, still struggling, trailed Canada II until making an inside pass at the last leeward mark to win by 1:16. USA whipped Eagle by 5:51.
New Zealand, 30-1, will meet the fourth-place boat--probably America II or USA--in the best-of-seven semifinals starting Dec. 28.
Conner needs to win only two of his last three races to reach the semifinals. Despite its loss to Stars & Stripes, French Kiss also needs only two wins to hold onto third place, so it seems unlikely that the United States will have three boats in the semis.
America II will sail against USA in today’s featured race. The loser probably will go home for Christmas.
“The crew understands the situation,” America II’s John Kolius said. “It’s snowing in Connecticut.”
America II has beaten USA in both of their matches, but the improving San Francisco boat may be faster than the last time they met.
The winds have been erratic this week. Kolius’ boat was built for the middle ranges, but the double-ruddered USA is still unpredictable.
“We were talking about that on the way in today,” Kolius said. “We can’t really figure out what conditions we want.”
White Crusader, a distant sixth but mathematically still alive, has been hanging on the brink of extinction all week, fighting for survival in the jury room as well as on the water.
The British boat is easy to spot on the course. The first thing you look for is the red protest flag flapping from the backstay.
The Brits lost all three of their protests from last Sunday’s loss to USA--two were nonsailing technicalities--and had another one working against New Zealand in Friday’s race, but withdrew the action after the finish.
New Zealand had beaten White Crusader by 4 minutes and 1:28 in previous matches but, sluggish in the light breeze, got stuck at the start and was left to nip at the British stern.
On the first reach, Dickson had moved alongside White Crusader when the fitting end for his spinnaker pole suddenly broke.
“Harold saw our broken pole and luffed head to wind immediately,” Dickson said.
The move threw the Kiwis into chaos. Dickson turned so sharply that his spinnaker snagged on the boom, collapsed and the boat went dead in the water as the Brits sailed away to a 41-second lead.
But the Kiwis wouldn’t quit. They closed to eight seconds by the last mark and rounded sharply, not dropping their chute until they were halfway around.
When New Zealand crossed Crusader’s stern, Cudmore was slow to tack and cover, allowing the Kiwis to get their nose past for clear air and eventually force Crusader to tack away.
Cudmore said: “If anything, I would have pushed my luck on that slam dunk (tack) a bit more.”
It was all the edge the Kiwis needed to hang on for the win.
America’s Cup Notes In the defender trials, Kookaburra II defeated Kookaburra III by 36 seconds--K-II’s first win over its stablemate in seven races, although it had led in every one. People were starting to talk. K-III skipper Iain Murray turned the helm over to Derek Clark to remain at headquarters and discuss modifications for the next round. The Kookaburras may be making their move toward monopolizing the defenders’ final in January. K-II is only seven points behind second-place Australia IV, which beat Steak ‘n Kidney by 1:08. Wins are worth three points in this round, five in the next. . . . The latest form chart issued by Data General’s panel of experts has Kookaburra III as the overall favorite, followed by New Zealand, Australia IV, Kookaburra II, Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes and America II.