Yachting: Cayard level as Italians blow it

By Suzanne McFadden

AmericaOne were simply relieved yesterday to survive the strangest race in this America's Cup.

A dollop of good luck, a smattering of good sense and the snarled spectator fleet helped Paul Cayard's crew even the scores 1-1 in the first-to-five Louis Vuitton Cup final yesterday.

Prada's silver bullet was rocketing across the Hauraki Gulf on the first lap of the race, but its crew then made two unforgiving mistakes.

If the Italians haven't learned it now they never will - never let these feisty Americans get back into a race. They will pretty much always win.

But it was a victory for the Americans that came with so much frustration.

On the first leg, AmericaOne trailed by almost two minutes, sparking the question: is Luna Rossa that much faster?

Later Cayard blew out his cheeks as the boat tore its sixth lime green spinnaker of the regatta.

Strategist Gavin Brady said there was apprehension in the AmericaOne camp before the race began, knowing something bizarre was probably about to happen.

"It was a very strange race," he said. "It's just good to survive these races, they can go either way."

Prada skipper Francesco de Angelis shrugged and conceded the Italians gave the race away.

First, they tacked when they were heading into the spectator fleet on the second upwind leg, and couldn't come back because the wind had fizzled. In their second faux pas they didn't cover AmericaOne when the boats split the width of the course.

It was a bitterly cold, shifty day out on the water. There was a six knot breath of wind when racing finally began, both boats crawling painfully across the startline.

Prada had the slower start, but once again picked the more fruitful - left - side of the course. Within minutes they were two-boatlengths ahead.

The silver bullet continued to pull away from AmericaOne, showing better boatspeed, and at the top mark were 1m 49s in front.

"We were fortunate that the breeze actually stayed light and the tacking angles were so large and the wind shifts were so big that you could turn any separation into a pretty big comeback,'' Brady admitted.

Downwind, AmericaOne made up 45s, helped by Luna Rossa's gennaker twisting into knots just before the mark.

But as Prada rounded, the wind was swinging wildly to the left, the course moved with it and they had to sail towards the spectator boats.

De Angelis tacked away before he hit anyone.

By the time AmericaOne rounded, the spectators had moved on, and Cayard could continue left.

Both yachts then sailed side-by-side up the course - Luna Rossa squeezing around the mark first by 18s.

But in the defining moment of the race, Prada set their spinnaker as they gybed and went right. But Cayard's strategists saw a windshift on the left, and headed there.

As they hoisted their kite, they tore it on the boat's hatch.

The gaping hole in the middle of the sail threatened disaster, but calmly AmericaOne waited three minutes before raising a replacement - all the while threading their way through the fleeing spectator convoy.

Staying on the left during the repairs won the race for Cayard. Prada saw the commotion across the course, and chose to stay way over on the right.

When they came together, AmericaOne were well in front, rounding the bottom mark 1m 27s up, and were never threatened again.