Double trouble hits Young Americans

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

Young America could be in a state of concern today after their second America's Cup boat suffered undisclosed damage during a day of extraordinary carnage on the Hauraki Gulf.

The New Yorkers, whose first boat snapped in half a week ago, pulled out of their race against Young Australia yesterday when something cracked on their substitute yacht USA58.

Just what had broken remained a mystery last night - Young America were keeping tight-lipped about it.

But a four-hour protest hearing revealed that the damage was serious enough that they would not have been able to fix it if they had been granted a 40-minute delay.

Seven cup boats, including one of the Team New Zealand yachts, were struck by mishaps yesterday - a typically turbulent day on the gulf with 2m seas and winds gusting to 28 knots.

In an unprecedented decision late last night, Young America were told they would be given points for the race - even though they packed up and went home before entering the start-box.

The Americans hoisted their red protest flag as they lowered their mainsail yesterday. They had asked race officer Vince Cooke for a delay when they suffered damage, but he turned them down saying there was only five minutes to the startgun - a new rule agreed to by all of the challengers before this round.

Young America argued they had made their plea before the time limit - and last night they were proved right.

The jury ruled that there would not be a resail of the race, because the Americans would not have been able to fix the break during the delay.

So the Australians keep their points, and this morning Young America will be handed an unknown number as well.

Others were nursing wounds after a day when only one racing pair made it to the finish.

No one was suffering more than the hapless Swiss, who have withdrawn from the rest of the round with one of their infamous twin keels shattered.

The Swiss pulled out of their race against America True before the start, with serious steering problems.

The crew heard a bang, and could feel the bulb of the back keel-come-rudder wobbling. The damage is likely to take up to a fortnight to repair, but that could be hampered by a shortage of funds to pay for it.

Bravo Espana was the next casualty. The Spanish boat retired in the middle of their race against Nippon when they broke their main halyard.

Calamity No 4 was Abracadabra 2000. The boom on the Hawaiian boat snapped after the crew noticed runner problems rounding the bottom mark for the last lap in a feisty tussle with Le Defi France.

The French had already lost their electronics on board, and had no idea of the wind speed or direction. Left to sail the race solo, like three other boats in the fleet, Le Defi avoided gybing so they did not tempt damage. Nippon did the same.

In the grand battle of the day, both Stars & Stripes and AmericaOne were crippled - Paul Cayard's boat suffering a torn headsail and a destroyed spinnaker, while Team Dennis Conner lost control of their mainsail when the boom vang broke.

Not to be outdone, Team New Zealand had a mishap of their own as they came home from a day on the gulf. An NZL57 mainsail tore as the boat entered the Waitemata Harbour.