AmericaOne Completes Round Robin 1 of the Louis Vuitton Cup

Round Robin 1 – Auckland, New Zealand – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 Challenger completed Round Robin 1 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Challengers Series with a score of 8 wins, 2 losses. AmericaOne raced against each of the challenger syndicates for a total of 10 races on the Haruaki Gulf, New Zealand. Racing took place October 18 to 28, 1999.

The first of three round robins in the Challenger’s Series, a win was worth one point. A Round 2 win is worth 4 points and a win in Round 3 is worth 9 points.

“Looking back on Round Robin 1 and our first month here in New Zealand we have a lot to be pleased with,” said AmericaOne Skipper Paul Cayard. “Our boat is fast, our team is strong and we have all the pieces around us necessary to win the Louis Vuitton Cup. ”

Summary of AmericaOne Races in Round Robin 1

[October 18, Races 1 & 2] AmericaOne defeated the Spanish Challenge’s Bravo Espana (ESP 47) by 1m 9s, and won against America True (USA 51) by an even greater margin of 3m 45s.

“The boat performed well in the first race,” said Tactician John Kostecki. “It was really our first race so we took it slow and talked out a lot of maneuvers. It was a good race for us.

“The wind was fickle that day and we had a nice break at the start because they (America True) were over early.” USA 49 continued to gain on each leg and went on to win comfortably.

[October 19, Races 3 & 4] AmericaOne easily defeated FAST2OOO’s be hAPpy (SUI 59) by 14m 9s, and finished the second race against the Nippon Challenge’s Asura (JPN 44) by 2m 26s.

“We had a good day of racing today which turned fairly aggressive in Race 4 against Nippon,” commented AmericaOne Skipper Paul Cayard. “We were unfortunate in that we broke down prior to the onset of the race. Luckily, we were able to qualify for a postponement in the rules and took the 45 minutes we were allotted, fixed the part and then went on to win the race.”

[October 20, Races 5 & 6] AmericaOne had a bye in Race 5 and in Race 6 defeated Le Delfi’s Sixieme Sens (FRA 46) by 1m 26s.

Having lost the start against the French by seconds, AmericaOne overtook the lead position in the first leg and continued to gain on each leg to eventually win. “The start of the race with the French was interesting,” said AmericaOne Skipper Paul Cayard. “He (Bertrand Pace) was very aggressive and really pushed the line hard to have a slightly better start than we did. We climbed out to windward to have a four boatlength lead at the first cross.” The lead continued on each leg and USA 49 won the race.

Racing on October 21 was postponed due to weather by the race committee.

[October 22, Race 7] AmericaOne lost to the Prada Challenge by a mere 17s. In a race plagued with spinnaker maladies for both teams, the Italian syndicate racing on Luna Rossa was able to recover from their onboard mishaps in time to cross the finish line ahead of AmericaOne.

“We were pretty happy to be in such a tight boat race with Prada. We know that they’ve put in a lot of time training during the last three years,” said Cayard. “All in all I’m pleased to have been so competitive.”

[October 23, Race 8 & 9] In Race 8, AmericaOne defeated Aloha’s Abracadabra (USA 54) by 1m 8s, and defeated Stars & Stripes in Race 9 by 1 minute.

“Our first race of the day was great,” said AmericaOne Tactician John Kostecki. “Each day we are learning more about our boats, our team and further raising the level of our boat speed.” Star’s & Stripes fouled AmericaOne in a pre-start maneuver. The umpires tagged Team Dennis Conner with a penalty for colliding with AmericaOne’s transom in a misjudged duck below AmericaOne’s stern. Although seriously damaged, the AmericaOne Team cautiously sailed the course and finished ahead of Stars & Stripes by 1 minute.

The international jury granted AmericaOne’s request for time to effect repairs to the transom. AmericaOne’s matches were rescheduled for Thursday, October 28.

[October 28, Race 10 & 11] AmericaOne defeated Young Australia (AUS 29) by 1m 32s, and withdrew in the final race against Pact 2000’s Young America (USA 53).

“We suffered some damage to our mast before the first race against Young Australia. We tried to repair it in between the two races, but six minutes before the warning signal we knew that we weren’t able to complete the race with the damage.

“Actually, it has come time to show up at the starting line ready to sail,” said Cayard. “If you have damage and you breakdown, you’re probably not ready to race.”

The AmericaOne Team is looking forward to the next round of racing. “You look at where Prada is at this point,” said Mainsheet Trimmer Terry Hutchinson. “They’re basically two years ahead of us in sailing time. If we can go out with three months of sailing time and and only lose to them by 12 seconds, then that’s great news for us.”

Final Scores Round Robin 1:

Prada /10 points

AmericaOne /8 points

Young America /8 points

America True /6 points

Abracadabra 2000 /4 points

Nippon Challenge /5.5 points

Spanish Challenge /5 points

Stars & Stripes /4.5 points

Le Defi Francais /2 points

Young Australia /1 point

FAST2000 /0 points

Round Robin 1 Sailing Crew: Bill Bates of San Diego, CA, mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Hood River, OR, pit; Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, bow; Gavin Brady of Annapolis, MD, runner; Paul Cayard of Kentfield, CA, helmsman; Sean Clarkson of Middletown, RI, main assist; Lexi Gahagan of Wilmington, DE, navigator; Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, MD, mainsheet; John Kostecki of Fairfax, CA, tactician; David McClintock of Portsmouth, RI, upwind trim; Bruce Nelson of San Diego, CA, traveler; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Greg Prussia of Oroville, CA, bow; Russ Silvestri of San Francisco, CA, downwind trim; Ralph Steitz of Port Washington, NY, mid bow; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Morgan Trubovich of Newport, RI, downwind trim; Matt Welling of Bay Shore, NY, grinder; Mike Howard, Malibu, CA, grinder.

17th crew sailing aboard USA 49 in Round Robin 1:

Race 1, St. Francis Yacht Club member and AmericaOne supporter Larry Finch, San Francisco, CA; Race 2, St. Francis Yacht Club Commodore Monroe J. Wingate, San Francisco, CA; Race 3, United Airlines Mileage Plus Auction winner Ted Springstead, Port Townsend, WA; Race 4, St. Francis Yacht Club Vice Commodore Bruce Munro, San Francisco, CA; Race 5, bye, Race 6, David Pensky; Race 7, Hewlett-Packard Design Challenge Winner Terrel Silvers, Iowa Park, TX; Race 8, Michael Herlick, Wellington, NZ; Race 9, Kerry Dobbs, Auckland, NZ; Race 10, James Allison, Auckland, NZ; Race 11 not completed.

About the Louis Vuitton Cup, Round Robin 2 Round Robin 2 of the Louis Vuitton Cup Challenger’s Series is scheduled for November 6-18, 1999, with one race scheduled per day. There are three reserve days.

With Auckland’s summer season and its related weather patterns coming on full blast in November, spectators can plan on another Round Robin full of thrilling racing. Every race counts, but with the value increasing to 4 points per win in round robin 2, the stakes will be higher for each syndicate. Stay tuned for some exciting racing come November 6.

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CAYARD GUIDES AMERICAONE TEAM TO 8TH WIN TO CLOSE ROUND ROBBIN 1

Highlight Match Turns Out To Be Uneventful

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, October 28, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, competed in the last day of Round Robin 1 races for the Louis Vuitton Cup taking their 8th win in the first match of the day. During the morning races, AmericaOne defeated Young Australia (AUS 29) by 1m 32s. In Race 11, the final match of the round, also anticipated as being one of the most exciting races of the series, AmericaOne struggled with mast and sail problems which resulted in an uneventful loss to Young America’s Pact 2000 (USA 53). AmericaOne’s final racing scores for the series were 10 races with 8 wins, placing the team in second place overall behind Prada (10 points) and tied with Pact 2000 (8 Points).

The weather conditions for the day were ideal for some potentially captivating racing as wind conditions ranged upwards of 15+ knots — white caps and swells prevailed. Although Young Australia won the pre-start of Race 10 by 1s, AmericaOne favored the left side of the course and rounded the top mark first with a 53s lead. At the second leeward mark, AmericaOne Bowman Curtis Blewett was sent up the mast to try to effect a repair to damage incurred moments prior to the start. Blewett worked quickly to make the necessary repairs above the jumper spreaders, limiting the damage.

For the last race of the series, AmericaOne raced Young America, both teams having suffered a loss to Prada earlier in the series. The damage from the first race proliferated and AmericaOne was forced to drop the mainsail. At the start of the race, under jib only, AmericaOne crossed the line 51s behind Young America with Bowman Curtis Blewett still clinging to the mast in strong weather conditions. AmericaOne fought a losing battle and retired after sailing past the leeward mark, unable to overcome their equipment failure. Despite having flown a protest flag for the duration of the race, AmericaOne did not seek redress.

“It was good to get back on the race course following the last few days of repairs made to the boat,” remarks AmericaOne Tactician John Kostecki. “Although we were unable to compete in the 2nd race against Young America due to a breakdown, we learned what our strengths and weaknesses are to further move our program forward.”

Both of the races AmericaOne sailed today were originally scheduled for last Sunday, but as a result of the collision with Stars & Stripes in race 9, AmericaOne was granted a delay to fix USA 49 and complete the final racing of Round Robin 1 today.

Race 10 & 11 Starting Line-Up: Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, bow; Ralf Steitz of Port Washington, NY, mid bow; Bill Bates of San Diego, CA, mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Hood River, OR, pit; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Mike Howard of Malibu, CA, grinder; Matt Welling of Bay Shore, NY, grinder; David McClintock of Portsmouth, RI, upwind trim; Morgan Trubovich of Newport, RI downwind trim; Gavin Brady of Annapolis, MD, runner; Paul Cayard of Kentfield, CA, helmsman; John Kostecki of Fairfax, CA, tactician; Bruce Nelson of San Diego, CA, traveler; Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, MD, mainsheet; Sean Clarkson of Middletown, RI, main assist, and Lexi Gahagan of Wilmington, DE, navigator. The 17th crew person for Race 10 was James Alison of Auckland, NZ.

Final Scores To Date:

Prada /10 points

AmericaOne /8 points

Young America /8 points

America True /6 points

Abracadabra 2000 /4 points

Nippon Challenge /5.5 points

Spanish Challenge /5 points

Stars & Stripes /4.5 points

Le Defi Francais /2 points

Young Australia /1 point

FAST2000 /0 points

Round Robin 2 This second round will commence on November 4, 1999. Round Robin 2 each of the 11 Challengers from seven nations will race each other one time – the winner receiving 4 points per race.

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STRONG WINDS CONCLUDE ROUND ROBIN ONE . . . ALMOST!

The Louis Vuitton Cup First Round Robin limped to a curious finish today in what proved to be the strongest sailing weather of the series so far. As the Hauraki Gulf delivered steady 20-knot breezes from the Northeast, only two of the eight scheduled matches were real races. In the others, at least one boat did not start or did not finish.

All racing is now complete, with the exception of AmericaOne’s matches against Young America and Young Australia 2000, both of which will be sailed tomorrow.

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AmericaOne Racing Is Further Delayed

The possibilities of further delays to Louis Vuitton Cup racing loomed large in Auckland today, with less than 24 hours to go to the already-postponed final day of racing in Round Robin One.

By day’s end, AmericaOne’s races against Young America and Young Australia 2000 had been postponed to Thursday. And weather watchers were studying the advance of an approaching cold front that threatened to wash out racing on Wednesday with winds of 20-30 knots.

The Race Committee will make a decision on any possible weather delay at 0630 hours Auckland time on Wednesday morning.

This afternoon the International Jury granted the AmericaOne syndicate an additional 24 hours to complete repairs to its boat, damaged in a collision last Saturday. The jury acted after the Measurers reported that repairs, which have already consumed three days, were only 50 per cent complete this morning.

In an added twist, the Swiss FAST 2000 syndicate announced that it will not sail tomorrow because repairs to its boat be hAPpy will not be completed in time. However, if racing is delayed tomorrow, it will probably race on Thursday.

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A SUSPENSEFUL MID-SERIES RACE FOR AmericaOne

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, October 22, 1999 – AmericaOne , the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, raced against Prada Challenge (ITA 45), in Race 7 of the Louis Vuitton Cup and gave spectators an exciting show. It was everything that an America’s Cup race should be: A suspenseful and very close contest between the leaders of the Challengers. In a race plagued with spinnaker problems for both syndicates, the Italians emerged the eventual winner by 17 seconds.

After a close start, AmericaOne took on Prada’s Luna Rossa all the way to the first windward mark, to round just 19 seconds behind the Italians. A failure of the spinnaker sheet’s shackle forced the Italians to drop their sail and slowly replace it. It was all the time that AmericaOne needed to take over control of the course. Minutes later Prada fumbled and lost the spinnaker guy, again caused by shackle failure. They dropped their sail with less than 30 meters to the mark. AmericaOne rounded and extended the lead by three boatlengths and then continued to increase the lead to the second windward mark rounding.

With winds gusting to 20 knots, the final downwind leg found both teams engaged in a quick-jibe duel and AmericaOne controlling the pace. With just seconds to go to the finish AmericaOne ‘s spinnaker exploded. “We think it nicked the jumper on the jibe,” said skipper Paul Cayard. After quickly cutting away the sail, the AmericaOne Team promptly set a new spinnaker but was unable to re-gain the lead.

“We were pretty happy to be in such a tight boat race with Prada. We know that they’ve put in a lot of time training during the last three years,” said Cayard. “All in all I’m pleased to have been so competitive and we congratulate them. They deserved to win and I’m content with the accounting for the time being.”

Race 7 Starting Line-Up: Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, bow; Ralf Steitz of Port Washington, NY, mid bow; Bill Bates of San Diego, CA, mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Rye, NY, pit; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Matt Welling of Bay Shore, NY, grinder; David McClintock of Portsmouth, RI, upwind trim; Russ Silvestri of San Francisco, CA downwind trim; Gavin Brady of Annapolis, MD, runner; Paul Cayard of Kentfield, CA, helmsman; John Kostecki of Fairfax, CA, tactician; Bruce Nelson of San Diego, CA, traveler; Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, MD, mainsheet; Sean Clarkson of Middletown, RI, main assist, and Lexi Gahagan of Wilmington, DE, navigator. The 17th crew person for Race 7 was Terrel Silvers of Iowa Park, Texas, AmericaOne Design Challenge Winner.

Final Scores To Date:

AmericaOne /5 points

Prada /7 points

Young America /6 points

Abracadabra 2000 /3 points

America True /3 point

Nippon Challenge /3 points

Spanish Challenge /3 points

Stars & Stripes /3 points

Le Defi Francais /1 point

Young Australia /1 point

FAST2000 /0 points

Round Robin 1

During Round Robin 1 each of the 11 Challengers from seven nations will race each other one time – the winner receiving one point per race. AmericaOne s schedule for the remainder of Round Robin 1 is as follows:

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AMERICAONE REMAINS UNBEATEN IN ROUND ROBIN 1

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, October 20, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, used their bye in the fifth flight to prepare for the afternoon match against Le Delfi’s Sixieme Sens (FRA 46). Having lost the start by seconds, AmericaOne quickly overtook the lead position by pointing higher and gaining on the first windward leg of Race 6 and defeated the French by 1m 26s.

“Today we saw the strongest wind conditions we’ve seen thus far in the racing,” commented AmericaOne Skipper Paul Cayard. “The start of the race with the French was interesting, he (Bertrand Pace) was very aggressive and really pushed the line hard. He had a slightly better start than we did but we were able to live on his hip and climb out to windward to have a four boat length lead at the first cross.”

AmericaOne, Prada and Young America all remain unbeaten.

Day Two Starting Line-Up: Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, bow; Greg Prussia of Oroville, CA mid bow; Bill Bates of San Diego, CA, mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Rye, NY, pit; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Matt Welling of Bay Shore, NY, grinder; David McClintock of Portsmouth, RI, upwind trim; Russ Silvestri of San Francisco, CA downwind trim; Gavin Brady of Annapolis, MD, runner; Paul Cayard of Kentfield, CA, helmsman; John Kostecki of Fairfax, CA, tactician; Justin Clougher of Newport, RI, traveler; Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, MD, mainsheet; Sean Clarkson of Middletown, RI, main assist and Lexi Gahagan of Wilmington, DE, navigator.

Final Scores To Date:

AmericaOne /5 points

Prada /6 points

Young America /5 points

Abracadabra 2000 /3 points

Stars & Stripes /3 points

Nippon Challenge /2 points

Spanish Challenge /2 points

America True /2 points

Le Defi Francais /1 point

Young Australia /1 point

FAST2000 /0 points

Round Robin 1 During Round Robin 1 each of the 11 Challengers from seven nations will race each other one time – the winner receiving one point per race. AmericaOne’s schedule for the remainder of Round Robin 1 is as follows:

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AMERICAONE REMAINS UNDEFEATED WITH A TOTAL OF FOUR POINTS

FAST2000 Has A Not So hAPpy Day — Nippon Warriors Combat 49ers Furiously

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, October 19, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, won both races, defeating FAST2000 and Nippon Challenge, on day two of the Louis Vuitton Cup for the 2000 America’s Cup season. In Race 1, AmericaOne defeated FAST2OOO’s be hAPpy (SUI 59) by 14m 9s. In the second race, AmericaOne beat Asura (JPN 44) by 2m 26s. Despite the light North Easterly wind conditions that prevailed earlier during the day for Race 3, the wind and the competition heated up when AmericaOne battled Nippon during Race 4 of the challenger series. The latter of the two matches proved to be exciting at the onset until AmericaOne managed to build a lead of about 20 boat lengths in the last leg.

“We had a good day of racing today which turned fairly aggressive in Race 4 against Nippon,” commented AmericaOne Skipper Paul Cayard. “We were unfortunate in that we brokedown prior to the onset of the race. Luckily, we were able to qualify for a postponement in the rules and took the 45 minutes we were allotted, fixed the part and then went on to win the race.”

After four races, AmericaOne, Prada and Young America all hold a 4 -0 record and have yet to race one another.

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AMERICAONE IS AT THE TOP OF THE LEADERBOARD WITH TWO WINS ON OPENING DAY

Team Faces Off With Bravo Espana and America True

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, October 18, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, got off to a good start with two wins in the first day of racing for the 2000 America’s Cup season. In Race 1, AmericaOne defeated the Spanish Challenge’s Bravo Espana (ESP 47) by 1 minute and 9 seconds. In the second race, AmericaOne beat America True (USA 51) by 3 minutes and 45 seconds.

“In the first race AmericaOne remained close to the Spanish Team. On each lap we were able to increase our lead,” remarks AmericaOne Tactician John Kostecki. “The weather conditions in the second race were really tricky, so when John Cutler (America True) crossed the starting line early, we were given a nice advantage. The first lap was close but things really opened up for us in the third leg and we were able to stretch the lead on the last run to the finish line.”

Day One Starting Line-Up: Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, bow; Ralph Steitz of Port Washington, NY, mid bow; Bill Bates of San Diego, CA, mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Rye, NY, pit; Phil Trinter of Lorraine, OH, grinder; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Matt Welling of Bay Shore, NY, grinder; David McClintock of Portsmouth, RI, upwind trim; Morgan Trubovich of Newport, RI, downwind trim; Gavin Brady of Annapolis, MD, runner; Paul Cayard of Kentfield, CA, helmsman; John Kostecki of Fairfax, CA, tactician; Bruce Nelson of San Diego, CA, traveler; Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, MD, mainsheet; Sean Clarkson of Middletown, RI, main assist and Lexi Gahagan of Wilmington, DE, navigator. The 17th crew person for Race 1 was St. Francis Yacht Club member and AmericaOne supporter Larry Finch. In Race 2, St. Francis Yacht Club Commodore Monroe J. Wingate rode in this position.

Final Scores: Abracadabra 2000 (1 point), America True (O points), AmericaOne (2 points), FAST2000 (0 points), Le Defi Francais (1 point), Nippon Challenge (1 point), Prada (2 points), Spanish Challenge (0 points), Stars & Stripes (1 point), Young America (2 points) and Young Australia (0 points).

Round Robin 1

During Round Robin 1 each of the 11 Challengers from seven nations will race each other one time – the winner receiving one point per race. In the first round, the race committee is scheduled to run two races for five pairs on two courses during the racing days leaving one team taking a bye in each flight of races. Racing is scheduled to begin daily at 10:40 AM local time on a 12.5-nautical mile windward-leeward format, four-leg course. AmericaOne’s schedule for the remainder of Round Robin 1 is as follows:

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Louis Vuitton Preview

By the time you read this, we America

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