By SUZANNE McFADDEN
The Beachballs - two identical Australian yachts - have deflated New Zealand's chances of successfully defending the Kenwood Cup in Hawaii.
New Zealand's three-boat team lost the lead and fell eight points behind Australia after yesterday's two races, but are not totally out of the running going into the final 148-mile Molokai Race starting today.
The Kiwi boats - Sea Hawk, Air NZ High 5 and Big Apple - have to beat all three Australian yachts to keep the trophy.
But they have been finding it tough getting past the boats nicknamed the Beachballs - matching Beneteau 40.7 cruiser-racers sailed by brothers Neil and Simon Whiston.
Their boats, Smile and Fruit Machine, were in the top three in both races yesterday, finishing behind leading American yacht Esmeralda each time.
Sea Hawk, skippered by Ray Davies, was the best of the Kiwis with two fourths, while the other New Zealand boats were a couple of places behind.
But Sea Hawk, a Japanese-owned Farr 47, is still the leading racing boat in the regatta. She has a number of Team New Zealand crew on board.
New Zealand and Australia are the only teams with a chance of winning the overall honours, with the leading American team more than 80 points behind.
Yachting: Kenwood Cup another transtasman fight to last whistle
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