Yachting: Lime green monsters all in a spin

By Suzanne McFadden

The sorry tale of AmericaOne's incredible ripping spinnakers continues - the casualty count has reached nine.

AmericaOne have torn three of the lime green monsters in the last three races. Yesterday's kite threatened to blow with a metre-long split in its middle, but miraculously held together until the end of the second run.

Frustrated skipper Paul Cayard guessed the spinnaker was nicked on the rig during a poor set.

Despite their mishaps yesterday, Prada got through another windy day without blowing a kite. Even when they broached, the heavy-duty Cuban fibre spinnaker survived - and Cayard was not surprised.

"I heard some serious flapping, but I didn't bother turning around to see if the kite had torn - because I know it wouldn't," he smiled.

Cayard reckoned Prada tied up the market on the tough Cuban fibre, which he said cost $US60,000 ($121,000) a sail.

"They bought all the production of that cloth for this period of time. Even if they took more than they needed, they took it all out of action."

Prada skipper Francesco de Angelis and his syndicate deny they have exclusive rights to Cuban fibre.

But de Angelis had the perfect comeback for Cayard: "Yes it is expensive, but if you buy one, maybe you save buying six, seven or eight."