Yachting: Desperate remedies for brittle Cup boats

By Suzanne McFadden

The battered challengers have a week to toughen up before they launch back into the tumultuous seas of the America's Cup.

If the skippers agreed on anything at the end of the first round of the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series yesterday, it was that they must be stronger and grittier if any one of them is to threaten Team New Zealand.

Prada looked sleek, but they are also tough.

The unbeaten Luna Rossa was one of only two boats that wasn't damaged in this round.

Bridesmaids Young America and AmericaOne have had their share of troubles over the last 10 days - yesterday's closing day being no exception.

In an anti-climactic result to the most hyped race of the series so far, Young America cruised around the gulf course for a walkover win when AmericaOne sustained mast damage before the race.

AmericaOne skipper Paul Cayard tried to get a postponement - the dreaded word of the last three days - and was denied. Yet he was still pragmatic.

"It's come time to turn up to the startline and sail. If you break down - you're not ready to race," he said. "We need to make our boat more durable.

"It's going to be rough out there, and you have to be able to sail in these conditions if you really want to win the America's Cup.

"It's part of facing up to reality."

While the builders get to work on the boats - the French began chainsawing Sixieme Sens last night - the brains trusts have less than a day to consider whether they want to change the rules.

After the string of delays - and requests for delays - which turned the last days of the round into a debacle, the challengers are now considering changes to the rules they wrote about postponements during the pre-starts.

Two postponement refusals on Wednesday resulted in the bizarre situation of resails yesterday.

But the results did not change - Prada still beat Abracadabra and Stars & Stripes took one point from Young Australia.

All eyes turned to the patched-up AmericaOne and Young America to brighten up a dreary day, but it was not to be.

AmericaOne had sustained mast damage during its early victory over Young Australia, then a batten pierced the mainsail.

Bowman Curtis Blewett spent over an hour clinging to the top of the mast trying to make the repairs as AmericaOne sailed around the course without a mainsail, until Cayard finally decided to call it a day.

Young America skipper Ed Baird was disappointed that the clash of the American giants never came off because of more gear failure.

"It just shows you that all of us aren't ready yet," he said. "But when we go to nine-point races, you won't see the same breakdowns."

Baird's idea of what to expect from the weather was spot on, but he was disappointed he did not get to test his boat in 20-knot winds and rough seas before the round began.

America True, with its outstanding speed downwind, finished the round in fourth spot - ahead of two-boat campaigns Nippon and Abracadabra. One of the big surprises was the off-colour performance of the Japanese boat Asura in the opening round.

But skipper Peter Gilmour was not upset.

"I told the Japanese boys before it started that I wanted to win exactly half of the races - so we achieved that," he said.

Dennis Conner's favourite description of his boat's chances in this America's Cup is "if the dog will hunt."

Stars & Stripes is a couple of dog-lengths behind the front hounds, but keeping in touch.

Said helmsman Ken Read: "We knew we had a lot of growing to do because this was such a last-minute programme.

"This round has left a bit of a bad taste in our mouths knowing we can do much better."