Black Magic gets a freebie

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

As a black cloud passed in front of Prada's red moon yesterday, one small gesture of sportsmanship in the America's Cup brought the Italians a ray of sunshine.

Prada's rivals, Team New Zealand, sent 30 red roses to Italian bowman Max Sirena, who was nursing a nasty head wound last night after a horror day on the water for the Cup challenger.

There was blood on the boat and a man in the water as Prada slipped to their second defeat against the Auld Mug defender.

Sirena gashed his head trying to help free a tangle of plastic and ropes from Luna Rossa's keel soon after the start of the race.

The yacht stopped and crewmate Piero Romeo dived overboard in a fruitless attempt to clear the mess - as Black Magic sailed away.

The fouling on the keel worked its way free before the first leg was over, but, adding insult to injury, the Italians then had sail-track trouble on the final leg upwind.

Herald yachting analyst Chris Dickson said the Italian debacle had turned the race into a freebie for Team New Zealand.

It is said that bad luck comes in threes, but Luna Rossa skipper Francesco de Angelis, famous for his superstitious ways, refused to believe his crew were cursed yesterday.

"I don't think there was bad luck. We just had a couple of bad things happen to us in one day."

Two months ago, Prada had their darkest day when the mast snapped during the challenger semifinals. But they came back even stronger.

De Angelis believes that will happen again in this best-of-nine Cup final. "We know we can do better," he said.

Team NZ skipper Russell Coutts does not doubt it.

"Prada has a very competitive boat and we have a lot of respect for their crew," he said.

Prada's problems started halfway up the first leg yesterday, when their boatspeed suddenly dropped.

The crew used a special camera to locate the plastic wrapped around the nose of the keel bulb. Sirena went below deck to pass up the carbon-fibre rod used to remove the debris, but the rod snapped back and cut his head.

Blood poured down the outside of the hull as crew helped Sirena.

But the plastic was still there. Romeo put his hand up to take the plunge.

After his brave attempt, he was dragged back on board as his bloodied team-mate was thrown into a rubber support boat.

Prada's doctor put seven stitches in Sirena's wound as he phoned his fiancee, Tatiana del Giovane, the Prada receptionist, to tell her he was okay.

Sirena could only watch as Team NZ pulled away.

There were cheers and whistles for the Kiwis when they returned to base, and a huge round of sympathetic applause for Prada.

A deflated de Angelis believed his team just needed to do better.

"I feel we are not doing as good as we can," he said.

So are Team NZ the toughest foes they have encountered in the past six months?

"We have to sail a proper race and then we see."

His chance will come in the third race tomorrow.