Yachting: Agony of jammed thumb no problem for tough 'Moose'

By Suzanne McFadden

Even as AmericaOne trimmer David "Moose" McClintock trapped his thumb in a winch yesterday, he urged his team to keep grinding.

As the Americans rounded the final mark well ahead of Prada in the deadlock-breaker of the Louis Vuitton Cup final, McClintock got a digit jammed between the sheet and the winch.

"He's a tough guy. He just told the guys to keep grinding, even though his thumb was still in the winch," skipper Paul Cayard said. "He's still got it, and he'll be fine tomorrow."

AmericaOne drove home a huge advantage to be one win away from a date with Team New Zealand in the America's Cup final.

It was a crushing loss for Prada. Tactician Torben Grael took the blame for urging his skipper to go left on the first beat, while AmericaOne, 2km away, stayed right.

Both boats got the sides they wanted as they crossed the start-line on split tacks. Prada picked the left. AmericaOne tactician John Kostecki figured the right was best.

One-third of the way up the beat, the boats were dead-even but almost a mile apart. For a reason that at the time escaped everyone, Prada tacked and went further left.

Even AmericaOne were a little taken aback when their advantage built to 22 boatlengths before they got to the first mark.

But as AmericaOne rounded the mark 1m 19s ahead, they bounced off some spectator wash and snapped their boom vang, the hydraulic fitting between the mast and the boom.

"Luckily we had a spare rope on board," Cayard said. "But it was a little nerve-racking."

As they fought to tie the boom down, AmericaOne did not miss a beat - losing only 6s.

The Italians had to do something drastic, and again headed left when Kostecki stuck to the right. It was another killer punch - the ravine widened to two-and-a-half minutes, although Prada made up some ground when AmericaOne had main halyard problems on the last beat.