Yachting: Darkness hits Prada

By Suzanne McFadden

The "moment of darkness" came for Francesco de Angelis when he was belted on the head by Prada's boom and blacked out yesterday.

But it was one of a string of forgettable moments for the Italians - along with a botched start, a spectacular broach and AmericaOne bolting back into the race for the America's Cup challenger crown.

The Prada skipper wore a large lump on the side of his head last night after the whack which left him dazed, and maybe a little confused. For in the minute after his confrontation with Luna Rossa's boom, the boat went into a spin - rolling on to its right side and skidding like an out-of-control car on loose metal.

That broach on the second downwind run left the Italians in the wake of AmericaOne, who scored a critical 34s victory.

Paul Cayard's clan have now closed to within one win of Prada, at 2-3, in the first-to-five Louis Vuitton Cup final.

For the first time in a long time, AmericaOne led from start to finish after out-foxing Prada at the start line.

De Angelis admitted he was too aggressive at the start and cost Prada the race - but the broach and his accident halfway through made it worse.

"When they fake gybed, and I came back [gybed] I got badly hit by the boom - so I don't remember much," he grinned. "I stopped the first gybe with my head, and then I had a moment of darkness."

AmericaOne were not without their mistakes either yesterday, and boss Cayard was none too happy.

They tore their ninth spinnaker - which has to be some kind of unwanted record - and bungled a couple of gybes and tacks along the way.

But Cayard was still a relieved man to be back on the scoreboard again. And the way he talks, they are now booked in for a meeting with Team New Zealand.

"This is the hardest one to win of the four that we have to," he said. "I think when we win tomorrow, that's going to even it up, 3-3, and I'd really like to put some heat on these guys [Prada] for once.

"We've lived under the heat and we're doing fine under the heat, but I'd like to test these guys out and see if they can hang in there."

Prada could not hang in there long enough in the pre-start yesterday. De Angelis had Cayard on the ropes until the final minute, as he pushed AmericaOne up towards the committee boat.

But he left enough room for Cayard to safely tack on top of him and squeeze across the line first.

AmericaOne built their lead on the right side, and would have led by more than their 32s at the top mark had they not lost a headsail sheet in a tack.

"Unbelievable," cursed Cayard at the crew's foul-up.

Prada closed up on the run - as they would every time downwind - to be 10s behind at the bottom mark, but again AmericaOne went right and caught a sweet right-hand windshift.

On the next run, the Americans spotted a rip in their spinnaker but stuck with it. As Prada zoomed up to their stern, Cayard tried to shake them off with a couple of quick gybes.

It worked. As de Angelis tried to match him, the boat locked up and the boom dragged through the water for an agonising time.

It was the second time in five days that Prada have broached - something that had never happened to the Luna Rossas before. Perhaps the pressure is telling.