AMERICA’S CUP ’92 : Kiwis, Italians Rise to the Occasion : Challengers: New Zealand ends Nippon’s win streak, and Il Moro di Venezia beats an embarrassed French syndicate.

Notions that Japan’s sun had risen to dominate the America’s Cup while Il Moro di Venezia tuned up the sad violins may have been premature.

New Zealand led off the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger semifinals Sunday by clipping the Nippon win streak at seven with a convincing 1-minute, 43-second victory, and the Italians drifted home 1:24 ahead of Ville de Paris in a dying breeze.

The French’s disappointment was compounded by grinder Thierry Chappet breaking three ribs at the start of the race and the embarrassment earlier in the day that their budget consultant, Yvon Kergreis, had been caught diving around the Nippon boat as it left its neighboring compound on Mission Bay--apparently, a prank and not a spy mission, although the Japanese had their doubts.

“It was not a good day at all for us,” said skipper Marc Pajot.

The latter incident seemed to rattle the French more than the Japanese, who only two days earlier were under siege after New Zealand asked officials to check out Nippon’s practice of switching forward rudders between races in the third round, which they swept 7-0. Kergreis may have decided to see for himself.

“If the normal position for the French budget controller is under the Nippon yacht, then there’s a rule problem,” Nippon skipper Chris Dickson said.

When racing resumes Tuesday, the French (14-8) will try to recover against New Zealand (19-3), while Nippon (18-4) faces Il Moro (16-6). The challengers will race each other three times in the triple-round-robin semifinals.

The shifty, southwesterly winds Sunday were only 5 to 10 knots, ultimately fading to 4, and the sea off Point Loma was as flat as a duck pond--conditions, the scouting reports say, that put a smile under New Zealand’s bowsprit.

Dickson ran into a spectator boat in the pre-start maneuvering, “trying to follow (New Zealand skipper) Rod (Davis) through the mine field of spectator boats.”

Nippon threw one protest flag shortly before the gun, but the umpires green-flagged it.

Then they took their boats left and right, respectively, at the start, and halfway up the leg the Kiwis were able to cross the Japanese on port tack, without the right of way, to take control. They were generally faster upwind, downwind and on the three reaches of the 20-nautical mile course.

But Dickson said, “If it was the optimum conditions for New Zealand, they’ve got problems. They didn’t rocket away from us . . . and we were making a lot of mistakes.” Davis said. “It wasn’t a boat speed day. It was head up, look up the course and try to figure out what’s going to happen next (with the wind).”

The Kiwis’ worst glitch was when their gennaker tore apart at the top of the last, downwind leg. But they quickly raised another and, in fact, stretched their lead on that leg.

Earlier, kelp was discovered clinging to the keel a few minutes before the start, but team diver Eldon Archer, working from a chase boat, was able to clear it before the 10-minute starting sequence.

New Zealand is 3-1 against Nippon overall. The victory was especially gratifying for grinder Andrew (Raw Meat) Taylor, who rejoined the crew for the first time since surgery on two herniated spinal discs in December.

“It’s great to be back in action proper,” Taylor said.

The French grinder, Chappet, had worse luck. He fell through the open hatch in the cockpit and retired in pain to the fantail for the rest of the day.

Ville de Paris, forced to execute a down-speed tack at the gun, had a poor start, and then Il Moro pounded the French hard on the three windward legs, gaining 0:55, 1:02 and 1:18 to far offset Ville de Paris’ gains off the wind.

The Italians’ ratings had slipped in the third round when they lost to New Zealand and Nippon, but they seem to have improved their upwind speed with a new keel and other modifications between rounds. They didn’t use any carbon-fiber sails Sunday because the wind was so light.

Beating Ville de Paris doesn’t prove they can beat the front-runners, but it should boost the morale behind the wall along Shelter Island Drive.

Skipper Paul Cayard carried his Star boat crewman, Steve Erickson, as the idle 17th man.