AMERICA’S CUP / DAILY REPORT : DEFENDER TRIALS : Defiant Defeats Jayhawk, Koch

There was a pretty good sailboat race Thursday when America 3c,8.5 ‘s Defiant took on stablemate Jayhawk--but that wasn’t it.

While Buddy Melges was sailing Defiant to a 3-minute 47-second victory over syndicate boss Bill Koch on Jayhawk in the America’s Cup defender trials, two New Zealand boats were having their own private duel off to the south.

“We had a fine little fun race,” skipper Rod Davis said.

The Kiwis were gearing up for the start of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger trials Jan. 25.

Sailing an approximation of the 22.6-nautical mile Cup course, the third New Zealand boat, with Russell Coutts at the helm, won the race by about 30 seconds over Davis on No. 4.

“We have a lot of respect for No. 3,” Davis said. “We think it’s a good boat.”

He adds: “We think No. 4 is faster than No. 3.”

At last report, White Knights, the Russian entry Red Star’s boat, was in Tartu, Estonia. But America’s Cup officials said it had to be in San Diego Sunday to be measured or it would not sail in the challenger trials.

Construction delays and confusion following the collapse of the Soviet Union have prevented the boat from being shipped.