AMERICA’S CUP / DAILY REPORT : An Old Boat Has New Look in Victory

Dennis Conner, sailing an old boat with a new look, spoiled the debut of America’s newest boat, Kanza, winning by a lopsided 2:27 to open the fourth round of Americas’s Cup defender trials Saturday.

It’s the first time Stars & Stripes has been alone in first place since the trials started Jan. 14.

With everyone starting over in this fourth round, from which only two boats will continue, the year-old, rebuilt Stars & Stripes is 2-0, including a bonus victory for placing second in the points rounds.

Kanza is 2-1, and both of its victories are bonuses inherited from stablemate America 3 (0-0), which awaits Stars & Stripes in the next match Tuesday.

“This is a big win for us,” Conner said, “but we have to keep our feet on the ground. It’s nice to be in first place, but we have still have 14 races to win before it’s over.”

Conner is counting three more victories in seven races to clinch second place in this round, then seven victories in the best-of-13 defender finals and four in the best-of-seven Cup match in May.

The race was delayed a few minutes when Stars & Stripes was able to raise its mainsail because of a broken piece of hardware.

Kanza protested the race committee for allowing the delay, flying a red flag throughout the 3-hour 20-minute race, but the jury dismissed the protest Saturday night.

Semifinals of the challenger trials start today, with Chris Dickson’s Nippon Challenge, first through the points rounds, fending off nuisance questions about its forward rudder as it prepares to meet Rod Davis’ second-place New Zealand.

Paul Cayard’s II Moro di Venezia will meet Marc Pajot’s Ville de Paris. The four will sail against each other three times to determine the finalists.

During the third round this month Nippon used a long forward rudder on windy days and a short one when the wind was light. New Zealand -- pestered earlier by controversy about its bowsprit -- questioned whether it was legal to switch appendages during the “no-change” period of a round after the boat’s principal features had been measured.

Ken McAlpine, the International America’s Cup Class technical director, said what the Japanese were doing was OK, and indicated that they weren’t the only ones doing it.