AmericaOne Wins, Trails by Only One
Finally, it was just a boat race in the mishap-marred America’s Cup challenger finals. And what a boat race it was for AmericaOne.
Skipper Paul Cayard steered the yacht that had been losing expensive sails on a daily basis back into contention with a 34-second victory today at Auckland, New Zealand, cutting Prada of Italy’s lead in the best-of-nine series to 3-2.
It was a wire-to-wire win for AmericaOne, which can tie the series Wednesday. More importantly, the boat and its sails stood up to winds of 15 to 22 knots on the Hauraki Gulf.
“This is probably the hardest one to win of the four we’ve got to win. And tomorrow will be a good one and then we’ll get it to 3-3,” Cayard said, “Then we’ll see how the other guys like the pressure.”
There was no pre-race collision as in the first race or torn spinnaker on AmericaOne as in the second. There were no injuries or massive equipment damage as in the third race when the U.S. withdrew with less than one-third of the race remaining.
And there was no penalty in the last minute that forced AmericaOne to make an extra 270-degree turn and cost it the fourth race even though it led all the way.
It was a trouble-free race for AmericaOne, the crew that couldn’t sail straight.
In its other 44 races in the elimination rounds, it had broken eight spinnakers, the sail used at the front of the boat when sailing with the wind coming from behind. In the first four races of this series, it had split three spinnakers and had a sail lying on deck swept overboard.
So Cayard had to be relieved when the big lime-green spinnaker filled perfectly as he started the final leg with a 42-second lead today.
Cayard is trying to duplicate his comeback in the 1992 challenger finals when he was at the wheel of Il Moro di Venezia of Italy, which trailed New Zealand, 3-1. The Kiwis actually won the fifth race, but the victory was taken away when Cayard successfully challenged an illegal bowsprit on New Zealand’s boat.
Il Moro won the next four races to reach the America’s Cup final, where it lost, 4-1, to America3.
Baseball
The Pittsburgh Pirates will play newly acquired Wil Cordero in right field rather than third base, clearing the way for prospect Aramis Ramirez to start but possibly forcing outfielder Chad Hermansen back to the minors. . . . PNC Park in Pittsburgh won’t open until 2001, but the Pirates already are seeing a surge in season-ticket sales. Team owner Kevin McClatchy said the Pirates have nearly doubled season-ticket sales from this time a year ago, having sold 9,137, up from 4,975 in 1999.
Shortstop Neifi Perez and the Colorado Rockies agreed to a one-year contract worth $2.2 million, avoiding what would have been the first salary arbitration hearing in the team’s seven-year history. . . . Infielder Carlos Garcia agreed to a minor league contract with the Angels and will attend spring training as a non-roster invitee. Garcia, 32, split last season between the San Diego Padres and their triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas. . . . The New York Yankees signed right-hander Mike Grace to a minor league contract and invited him to spring training as a non-roster player. Grace, 29, went 1-4 with a 7.69 ERA in 27 appearances with the Philadelphia Phillies last season.
Outfielder Quinton McCracken and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays agreed to a $1.85-million, one-year contract, matching his salary of last season. . . . Outfielder Butch Huskey, let go by Boston last month, agreed to a minor league contract with the Minnesota Twins.
Richie Phillips and the Major League Umpires Assn. won’t decide until Friday whether to file another appeal to overturn the election that replaced them last November. Friday is the deadline to appeal the decision of David E. Leach III, a National Labor Relations Board hearing officer who Jan. 21 rejected the objections filed by Phillips and the MLUA. . . . John J. Gaherin, who represented baseball owners when they lost the 1975 grievance that led to free agency, has died in Hyannis, Mass., of Parkinson’s disease. He was 85.
College Football
John Pettas, quarterback coach for Arizona State, was promoted to offensive coordinator. . . . Tailback Maurice Morris of Fresno City College, the top-ranked junior college player in the nation, has committed to play at Oregon. He also was considering USC. . . . Quarterback Eric Jaworsky, who lost his starting job after four games last season; kicker David McKinney and reserve running back Kevin Leigh have quit the team at New Mexico.
Miscellany
U.S. captain John McEnroe named Chris Woodruff and Rick Leach as replacements for Pete Sampras and Todd Martin on the U.S. Davis Cup team that will face Zimbabwe this weekend in Zimbabwe. Sampras withdrew last week with a hip injury, Martin because of a viral infection.
West African powers Ghana and Cameroon advanced to the quarterfinals of the African Cup despite losses in their final first-round games at Accra, Ghana.
Ghana lost to the Ivory Coast, 2-0, and Togo beat Cameroon, 1-0. All four nations in Group A finished with 1-1-1 records and four points, but Cameroon and Ghana advanced on goal difference.
Boxing
Two escort service workers in Las Vegas testified that they were sexually assaulted and held against their will by heavyweight contender Ike Ibeabuchi in two separate incidents.
The testimony came as prosecutors sought to use the incidents in Ibeabuchi’s scheduled Feb. 22 trial on sexual assault charges stemming from a similar incident last year at a Las Vegas Strip hotel.
A judge ruled that the testimony could be used against Ibeabuchi, a native of Nigeria who was on the verge of getting a heavyweight title fight when he was arrested last July after a 21-year-old outcall entertainer told police she was raped by the boxer.
Steve Little, former World Boxing Assn. super-middleweight champion, has died of cancer at 34 in Reading, Pa. Little won the title in February 1994 by defeating Michael Nunn at London.