Yachting: Dramatic tussle lives up to boyhood dreams

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

When Stars & Stripes helmsman Ken Read imagined the America's Cup as a kid, it was yesterday's skirmish with AmericaOne that he dreamed of.

It had all the elements of a Boy's Own adventure - breaking boats surfing side-by-side to the finish, through peril and drama on the high seas.

The most thrilling race of the Louis Vuitton Cup regatta so far - and the only one that went the distance yesterday - left Stars & Stripes closer to the top of the points table, and AmericaOne slipping down.

After cracking the champagne on their new boat, US61, at breakfast, the AmericaOne crew were still fizzing at lunchtime - keeping Stars & Stripes behind them for the first four legs.

The real drama kicked in on the final lap. Halfway up the beat, AmericaOne tore their headsail, and Stars & Stripes edged past.

The boats flew down the final run, powered by winds hitting 28 knots and riding 2m swells. Halfway down the leg, a gust smacked both boats - in the same second, AmericaOne's bright green spinnaker exploded and the boom vang broke on Stars & Stripes, leaving their mainsail useless.

Paul Cayard's crew worked miracles in hoisting a new kite within a minute, and were immediately back in the race, surfing within metres of Stars & Stripes' stern.

But as Cayard gybed, he got too close.The billowing spinnaker touched the runners at the back of Stars & Stripes, copping a penalty which ended their race.

AmericaOne's hopes deflated with their spinnaker as they grappled with a couple more sail problems before the line.

Despite the defeat, bowman Josh Belsky was still buzzing a couple of hours after the event. After seeming to spend half the race underwater, the bowman said surfing on Stars & Stripes' stern wake was the nearest thing you could get to the exhilaration of round-the-world sailing.

"It's a weird feeling - you are super-excited to be going so fast. Then you get two feet of water coming back into the cockpit - you just have to hope you are going to come through it okay," he said.

Read was on the edge of his nerves all through the race: "Everyone on the boat except me took turns on the [winch] handles to help with the grinding. I just ground my teeth."