AMERICA’S CUP / DAILY REPORT : CHALLENGER TRIALS : Skippers Seeing Red in Front at Finish Line

A red boat has never won the America’s Cup, but there never have been red ones like Il Moro di Venezia and New Zealand.

The two strongest challengers will meet for the first time today after impressive tuneup victories in the Louis Vuitton Cup trials Saturday.

Both started poorly by going right when more favorable wind was to the left, but they came from behind to win--skipper Paul Cayard’s big, red Il Moro di Venezia boat by 2 minutes 23 seconds over outclassed Spirit of Australia; and Rod Davis’ little red New Zealand by 56 seconds over a stronger rival, Ville de Paris.

The other first-day winners were first-time Cup competitors: Chris Dickson’s Nippon by 3:30 over the Sweden’s untested Te Kronor and Pedro Campos’ Espana ’92 by 2:15 over Challenge Australia.

Te Kronor’s late-arriving crew had sailed the boat only four days.

Hanging over the first Italian-New Zealand showdown is the case against the Kiwis’ bowsprit, which was resolved Saturday in New Zealand’s favor by the international jury. Bowsprits are permissible, the jury ruled.

Ville de Paris skipper Marc Pajot protested New Zealand the first time the Kiwis jibed--that is, changed the large headsail from one side to the other while turning the boat downwind.

The point of contention was that instead of leaving the sail attached to the unstable spinnaker pole while jibing, New Zealand attaches it to the end of the bowsprit, which projects one meter beyond the hull of the boat.

“The way they jibed seemed to us not really clear with the (International America’s Cup Class) rule,” Pajot said. “So we put the protest flag up at that moment. Our intention is to clarify the intention of the rule. When you are maneuvering, the rule says you aren’t supposed to use this bowsprit.”