America’s Cup is America 3’s : Yachting: U.S. boat sails to 44-second victory over Il Moro to win series, 4-1.

The America’s Cup is staying in America, thanks to America 3, the powerhouse product of a high-priced, high-tech campaign.

Bill Koch’s boat won the best-of-seven series, 4-1, with its third consecutive victory Saturday, beating Italy’s Il Moro di Venezia by 44 seconds.

“This is a triumph for America and American technology and American teamwork,” said Koch, the millionaire president and backup skipper of America 3. “We’ve got an All-American team here. We’re so proud of it.”

“They did a very nice job designing that boat,” said Il Moro skipper Paul Cayard, a San Francisco native. “We got beat by a better boat and a better team, and it wasn’t like it came down to the seventh race. It was a pretty convincing win.”

It made America’s domination of the Cup even more convincing.

A U.S. boat won for the 28th time in 29 regattas, starting in 1851 when the schooner America beat 15 British competitors on a 53-mile race around the Isle of Wight.

The San Diego Yacht Club, which has had the Cup since Stars & Stripes won it in 1987, is expected to hold the next defense in 1995.

Koch’s technological approach produced a narrow, white-hulled boat with a red-and-blue eagle on the side and innovative sails above. His campaign spent an estimated $65 million, much of it on computer-based research that constantly improved the boat.

Primary helmsman Buddy Melges knew it could win the Cup.

“I’ve been thinking that for at least two months, when we were experiencing how fast this boat is and what her potential really was,” he said.

Koch, who has three chemical engineering degrees from MIT, said the boat was changed before the finals for lighter winds, in the seven-knot range. But they blew stronger throughout the finals.

“The improvements we made sped (America 3) up all the way around,” he said.

Since Il Moro’s only victory last Sunday, by three seconds, in the closest finish in finals history, America 3’s boat speed dominated, leading all 24 legs of the three races.

“I don’t think I sailed as good as I could have,” Cayard said. “If I would have sailed perfectly we could have still won.”

The only U.S. loss in the America’s Cup finals came in 1983 to Australia II. U.S. boats swept the 1987 and 1988 competitions.

Il Moro was the first European finalist since 1964 and the first Italian finalist since that country began competing in 1983. Backed by a campaign of more than $70 million, it eliminated New Zealand in the challenger finals April 30.

America 3 and Il Moro were even at the start of Saturday’s eight-leg, 20.03-mile race. The west-northwest winds of up to 14 knots were among the strongest of the finals.

America 3 led by 18 seconds after the first leg, into the wind, and 20 seconds after the second leg, with the wind. It boosted that another 18 seconds to a 38-second gap after the third leg, into the wind.

As usual, Melges, 62, turned the America 3 wheel over to Koch, 52, for the next three legs, all reaches with the wind coming over the side of the boat.

The lead ballooned to 51 seconds at the fourth mark, the ninth consecutive leg over two races in which America 3 increased its advantage. Cayard, 32, cut that to 35 seconds after the fifth leg, but it was up to 39 seconds after the sixth.

Il Moro made gains on the seventh leg, into the wind, and Melges replaced the less experienced Koch at the helm just before the mark. The lead was 24 seconds with one leg, 2.66 miles with the wind, to sail.

After crossing the finish line, the America 3 crew cheered, jumped into each others’ arms and exchanged hugs

Both boats had equipment problems.

During the 10-minute prestart, America 3 bowman Jerry Kirby went halfway up the mast, apparently to patch a mainsail tear.

During the second leg, Il Moro bowman Alberto Fantini went up the mast to repair two broken mainsail battens, strips of carbon-fiber material that stiffen the rear edge of the mainsail.

Early in the fourth leg, Il Moro’s spinnaker, the sail off the bow of the boat, blew out and had to be replaced.

Tactician Dave Dellenbaugh was at the wheel for all of America 3 starts, and they were the keys to its first three victories.

It won Race 1 by 30 seconds after Cayard underestimated the current speed and was across the line when the starting gun fired. He had to restart and was behind by 30 seconds by the time he crossed the line again.

In the third and fourth races, America 3 gained the favored left side of the starting line, never trailed and won by 1:58 and 1:04.

America 3’s clinching victory was the 168th race of an event that began Jan. 14, with eight boats from seven countries sailing for the right to meet the American defender and two U.S. syndicates battling to defend the Cup.

In the best-of-nine challenger finals, Il Moro overcame a 3-1 deficit and beat New Zealand, 5-3. America 3 won the last three races to beat Stars & Stripes 7-4 in the best-of-13 defender finals.