Yachting: Conner up to second and looking good

By Suzanne McFadden

For three hours yesterday, Chuck Brown sat 30m above the ocean painfully searching for the slightest sniff of a breeze.

The Stars & Stripes man-up-the-mast did an admirable job, guiding his crew to victory over the Swiss America's Cup boat on the most torturous day yet in this Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series.

At the end of the 2m 36s win, 39-year-old Brown could hardly walk - his legs were in agony.

"It's tough sitting in a rock climbing harness all day, resting on your legs at the top of the jumpers," he said. "It's not the most comfortable seat in the house - but it's great fun. It's like watching a virtual race and being in it."

Brown also watched more than half the fleet sail home over the horizon as his race was about to begin. When the clock struck three, four boats packed up and went home without raising a sweat - the winds failing to kick in above five knots.

Another two boats - Le Defi France and AmericaOne - never made it to the top mark in time to carry on.

They flapped about in a whisper of a breeze racing the clock to sail the three-mile leg in 50 minutes. Surprise leaders Le Defi were an agonising 100m short of the yellow buoy when three short honks on the hooter blew up their race.

"We are just a little disappointed, but those are the rules," said French coach Pierre Mas. "It is not the first time we have wasted a day out there with no wind - and it won't be the last."

On the course furthest from the city, Prada and America True managed to flutter around the track - both with wind-watchers at the top of their rigs - Prada making it to the finish line first.

The Italians made decent gains upwind, finally winning by 3m 28s after three hours on the course.

Prada is now well clear of the fleet after another two wins at the weekend.

And last night the Stars & Stripes team were relishing their second place status - even though they realise it may be short-lived when the other boats sail their catch-up races.

Yesterday's abandoned races will now be sailed at the end of a round already stretched out by over-boisterous winds.

Team Dennis Conner's boat is the happening thing in round two - winning four of its five races. One of its most satisfying victories came on Saturday, battling from behind to overhaul the hapless Nippon.

Some of its success has been credited to its tactics team, buoyed by the arrival of six-time cup veteran Tom Whidden.

Yesterday Brown, who usually works on the runners on the deck, fed the tacticians with running commentary from the top of the mast.

"They yell up to me, asking where the breeze is. You can see the puffs quite well up there."

All the racing boats had men up the rig yesterday. In 1995, Team New Zealand were stripped of a victory for having tactician Murray Jones up the mast for too long, but that rule has since been changed.

Although it was the least riveting day of the regatta, it drew the biggest spectator fleet yet. Around 250 boats bobbed around for four hours waiting for a start. Only a handful were rewarded for their patience.