AMERICA’S CUP : New Zealand Challenge Sinks

The megamillion challenge of Sir Michael Fay ended quietly Thursday when Il Moro di Venezia beat New Zealand by 1 minute 33 seconds to claim the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger trials, 5-3, and await the winner of the defender finals for the best-of-seven America’s Cup match, starting May 9.

In the defender series, America 3’s Bill Koch dispatched Stars & Stripes by 1:43 to go ahead, 6-4, when the winds grew to the 14 knots at which his boat comes to life. America 3can win the best-of-13 series today, Saturday or Sunday.

New Zealand’s sudden collapse from a 3-1 lead was puzzling. The effort had four boats conceived by Bruce Farr, arguably the world’s top designer; some of the world’s best sailors; every other advantage Fay’s money could buy and, most of all, a mission.

Nippon skipper Chris Dickson, who sailed for Fay at Fremantle in 1986-87, said on ESPN: “This is a very bad day for New Zealand. It’s a very small country, and a lot of hopes have been riding on the America’s Cup. Those hopes have been dashed today.”

Did the jury ruling that stripped New Zealand of its fourth victory in the challenger finals because of improper use of its bowsprit take the heart out of the Kiwis?

They weren’t the same afterward. Until then they were 8-3 against Il Moro, including a loss for touching a finishing mark.

The crash was reminiscent of 1987, when Chris Dickson sailed the Kiwis’ fiberglass 12-meter into the challenger finals with a record of 37-1 and then was beaten by Stars & Stripes, 4-1.

One reason their campaign unraveled was apparent: the Italians’ suddenly solid sailing.

“We peaked,” Il Moro skipper Paul Cayard said. “This is the highest level of performance we’ve reached.”

But Cayard also recognized that the Kiwis had lost their edge when they switched skippers Wednesday from Rod Davis, his old friend, to Russell Coutts, the world’s top-ranked match racer.

“I read it as being a major weakness in their program,” Cayard said. “The program was crumbling when that happened.”

Davis’ tactician, David Barnes, said: “My personal opinion is we would have been better with Russell at the start, then Rod to steer after that. Looking back, maybe (the afterguard change) wasn’t the right thing to do.”

Cayard suspected that his persistent harangue on the bowsprit issue also took a toll.

“Things can pile up on you in a situation like that,” he said. “The bowsprit issue came of age. They made a few mistakes. That disturbed ‘em for sure.”

For Davis, the American-born Kiwi, the ending was a twisted blessing. The stigma will not be his alone.

Thursday morning, New Zealand appealed to the race committee to initiate a hearing under Rule 75, hoping to get the Italians disqualified for “a gross breach of good manners and sportsmanship” because Il Moro boss Raul Gardini had demanded New Zealand’s ouster a few days earlier.

Later, when Gardini apologized, Fay withdrew the protest, they shook hands and made up and Fay withdrew to ponder his team’s breakdown.

Davis said credit should be given to Il Moro.

“They lifted their program significantly,” Davis said. “We didn’t match it. It’s not a problem that the New Zealand team faltered.”