Upper Wind Limits Make for Challenging Racing

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, December 3, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, won its second race of Round Robin 3 against Abracadabra (USA 54) by 3m 15s, and moved into second place in the overall standings. Conditions remained at the upper wind limits today, blowing 16-23 knots, on the Harauki Gulf with small white caps visible on the water.

AmericaOne’s Skipper Paul Cayard aggressively positioned USA 49 at the start with an “early hook” pushing Abracadabra above and to windward of the starboard tack layline just before the start of the race. At the first leeward mark, USA 49 had a six boat length lead. Throughout the race the AmericaOne Team increased and defended their lead, keeping close watch and a lose cover on USA 50; Paul Cayard and the AmericaOne Team always remaining between the mark and USA 50. The resulting win gave them a satisfactory nine point victory.

“The conditions were really challenging today,” explains AmericaOne Tactician John Kostecki. “We felt good about our racing from all aspects – boat speed, tactical maneuvering and overall strong team performance. This is when you want all of those elements to be in phase, as points in Round Robin 3 are critical.”

RR3/Race 2 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; Matt Welling of Bay Shore, NY, grinder; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; David McClintock of Portsmouth, RI, upwind trim; Carter Perrin of Houston, TX, downwind trim; Lexi Gahagan of Wilmington, DE, runner; Paul Cayard of Kentfield, CA, helmsman; John Kostecki of Fairfax, CA, tactician; Morgan Larson of Capitola, CA, traveler; Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, MD, mainsheet; Sean Clarkson of Middletown, RI, main assist, and Gavin Brady of Annapolis, MD, navigator. The 17th crew person was Mr. Grant Lilly.

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Final Scores To Date:

Prada / 64 points

AmericaOne /54 points

Nippon Challenge /47.5 points

America True /47 points

Stars & Stripes /45.5 points

Spanish Challenge /26 points

Abracadabra 2000 /25 points

Young America / 24 points

Le Defi Francais /14 points

Young Australia /9 points*

FAST2000 /8 points

* Young Australia had a BYE today

Other Delta Results:

Spanish Challenge beat FAST 2000 – Delta 01:59:55

Nippon Challenge beat Young America – Delta 04:55

Prada beat Le Defi Francais – Delta 00:37

America True beat Stars & Stripes – Delta 00:30 Round Robin 3

AmericaOne’s schedule for the remainder of Round Robin 3 is as follows:

Well, back in race mode today. Round Robin 3 started off with USA 49 doing battle with the Swiss team. The first start had to be abandoned because the Swiss were rammed by the umpire boat, that is definitely a first for me. After getting settled into the next pre-start, we had a good battle on our hands. The new and improved Swiss boat did well, they added a bigger rudder and wings to their aft keel. In the flat water and 18 knots of the southwesterly breeze we won the start, held on up the beat, and rounded just in front of the Swiss. It was pretty tight all the way around the course. The major excitement came when our spinnaker exploded as it filled at the second weather mark. The bow team did a great job sorting everything out and getting our backup kite hoisted quickly. Up the last beat we were just able to get them out to the starboard layline and lead them into the mark. We executed a nice tack set and protected down the run for our win. A win in this round is worth nine points, so it is nice to see those points go up on the board.

I also have to mention the extraordinary effort put in by our sail loft last night. Our new main missed its plane, and didn’t arrive until 6:00 PM last night. Craig Phillips and his sailmaking team worked through the night to take a 3DL skin and turn it into a finished, ready to race mainsail complete with logos. We put it up right after the race to take a look at it and it looks really nice. Tomorrow we take on Abracadabra with their bowsprit boat USA 50. It should be exciting. Thanks for tuning in.

Auckland is a happening place in the world of sailing. The America

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, December 1, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, will continue to sail USA 49 in Round Robin 3 of the Louis Vuitton Cup. AmericaOne’s first race of the round is against FAST200, skippered by Marc Pajot. In Round Robin 3, each boat will receive nine points per win.

“We are comfortable using USA 49,” remarked AmericaOne Skipper Paul Cayard. “By not getting 61 locked into a race schedule we are able to make changes to her during the round which will speed up her optimization process.”

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ROUND ROBIN THREE SCHEDULE

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Race 1 – 2 December

1st Match Young America (USA-58) vs Prada Challenge (ITA-48)

2nd Match FAST2000 (SUI-59) vs AmericaOne (USA-49)

3rd Match Abracadabra 2000 (USA-50) vs Spanish Challenge (ESP-47)

4th Match Stars & Stripes (USA-55) vs Young Australia 2000 (AUS-31)

5th Match Le D

AmericaOne defeats Le Defi Francais in Race 6 Re-Match

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, November 20, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, won its seventh race of Round Robin 2 against Le Defi Francais’s Sixieme Sens (FRA 46) by 00:48. Today’s race was a re-match from earlier in the week when Race 6 was postponed due to weather conditions.

An exciting pre-start dial-up ended with Le Defi Francais the victor, when Skipper Paul Cayard at the helm of AmericaOne was pushed underneath the starting line allowing the French to take the preferred left side of the course with a one boatlength lead. As the battle for the layline continued the boats remained close. Cayard and the AmericaOne Crew quickly minimized the loss and fought to regain the lead. The second windward leg was the turning point for USA 49 as it split from FRA 46 and gained a significant windshift. The outcome was grim for the Le Defi Francais, as the second downwind leg progressed, no passing lanes remained and AmericaOne held a healthy 100-meter lead.

“With such a competitive race, there was a lot of pressure on our crew not to make any mistakes,” remarked Gavin Brady, AmericaOne Navigator. “I think the deciding factor is that we had a slight edge in our boat speed and made some good calls to sail deep when we thought the dividends would pay.”

Immediately following the race, USA 49 met up with her sister boat USA 61 for a brief sea trial on the Hauraki Gulf. Two-boat testing for AmericaOne will officially begin on Monday, November 22, 1999.

Round Robin 3 will begin on December 2, 1999. The pairings for Round Robin 3 will be announced after the draw on Wednesday, November 30, 1999.

RR2/Race 11 Starting Line-Up: Greg Prussia of Oroville, CA, bow; Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, mid bow; Bill Bates of San Diego, CA, mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Hood River, OR, pit; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Matt Welling of Bay Shore, NY, grinder; David McClintock of Portsmouth, RI, upwind trim; Carter Perrin of Houston, TX, downwind trim; Lexi Gahagan of Wilmington, DE, runner; Paul Cayard of Kentfield, CA, helmsman; John Kostecki of Fairfax, CA, tactician; Morgan Larson of Capitola, CA, traveler; Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, MD, mainsheet; Sean Clarkson of Middletown, RI, main assist, and Gavin Brady of Annapolis, MD, navigator. The 17th crew person was Ms. Suzanne McFadden. .

Final Scores To Date:

Prada /46 points

America True /38 points

Stars & Stripes /36.5 points

AmericaOne /36 points*

Nippon Challenge /29.5 points*

Young America / 25 points

Spanish Challenge /17 points*

Abracadabra 2000 /16 points*

Le Defi Francais /14 points*

Young Australia /9 points*

FAST2000 /8 points

*Today six teams sailed Race 6, which had been rescheduled due to insufficient wind earlier in the series.

Other Delta Results:

Nippon beat Young Australia – Delta 04:12

The Spanish Challenge beat Abracadabra – Delta 00:17

Its an exciting time to be at the AmericaOne compound these days. Exciting can be translated to mean concerned, encouraged and confident. We have had some tough breaks in Round Robin 2 losing an over-early against America True and a real heavy air gear buster against Stars & Stripes. Balance that with an exciting come-from-behind victory against Nippon (we caught and passed them BEFORE they lost the rig) and today’s win over Young America. We feel we have really gained an accurate understanding of how USA 49 stacks up against the competition. This is very important as we now enter one of the most strategic periods of our campaign.

Today’s race against New York was satisfying. Both syndicates have had a tougher-than-expected Round Robin 2 (mind you, I wouldn’t trade our Round Robin 2 for theirs for all the tea in China). Paul and John are really clicking as they have won our last two starts in a big way. Today, they had Ed Baird and the boys trapped over the line as the gun blew and led them back to the line to start one boat length ahead and on their breeze. A couple of downspeed tacks and we saw the two boats split, New York heading left and AmericaOne heading right. John had confidence in Clouds’ forecast and sailed out into a 10 degree right shift and three more knots of wind. When the boats came back together AmericaOne had a lead which ended up being more than two minutes at the first weather mark. It was a tough day to comeback for the Young Americans and AmericaOne slowly extended their lead throughout the race.

Brad Fitzgerald and shore team have been working flat-out since USA 61 arrived on a plane last week. In order to get her ready for sea trials they have assembled the keel, fin and bulb, mounted the hull on the keel, and installed the trim tab, rudder and the steering systems for each foil. Finally, they stepped the mast. Once in the water, she was put through a series of carefully administered dock tests. This involves stationing the boat builders throughout the boat at all the major structures (mast step, keel box, runners bulkhead, forestay bulkhead) and slowly loading up the runners. Both of the running backstays are wound-up one revolution at a time. After each turn of the winch handle, everyone stops and listens for sounds – sounds we do not want to hear. This is truly a case of silence being golden. They slowly load the boat up until there is 22,000 lbs of pressure on the runners. As they load it up, they watch for movement in string lines and level beams set up and calibrated at certain stations in the boat. The hull bends and moves under the huge load, but only a few millimeters. All quiet on the loaded-up 61 led to satisfied smiles on Ted Brown and Mike Eldred’s faces. These guys spent the busiest 19 weeks of their lives building 61. To know she is as solid as rock is very satisfying.

With our last race against the French tomorrow, the period between Round Robin 2 and Round Robin 3 is quickly approaching. Due to weather delays to Round Robin 2 the time off is considerably shorter than originally scheduled. It looks like we will get about ten days (Nov 22-Dec 1) to do some testing and accomplish two major goals. Optimize and reconfigure USA 49 and tune-up USA 61. Then, we have to make the decision – which one we will use in Round Robin 3?

Stay tuned.

Heaviest Winds of Louis Vuitton Cup Series

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, November 18, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, won its fifth race of Round Robin 2 against Young Australia’s oneAustralia (AUS 31) by 5m 39s. The start of the race began in 22+ knots of wind which had only slightly subsided by the end of the match. Cayard and the AmericaOne Crew showed good teamwork and speed as they gained distance on five out of the six legs.

The start of Race 10 commenced with heavy winds and large swells as the Race Committee struggled to set the marks on time for the start of the match. Once the starting gun sounded, the duel lasted only a short time as Cayard and the AmericaOne Team ran off on starboard tack 13 seconds ahead of the competition, leading James Spithill and the Young Australian Crew in a feverish chase as USA 49’s lead grew to nearly two boatlengths. The winds increased to 28 knots and white caps blanketed the course. Both boats pitched accordingly in the deep swells pushing the bows to dive under the waves as water splashed onto the boats and rushed to flow out of the respective scoops. USA 49 rounded the last weather leg and stretched a 1500 meter lead to a solid victory.

“The most important aspect of today’s race, aside from the good teamwork, was that we didn’t suffer any breakage in the heavy winds,” commented Jim Nicholas, AmericaOne Grinder. “We sailed well in some very challenging conditions and felt confident in the heavy air. Two consecutive days of hard sailing this week showed us that USA 49 is strong and durable.”

RR2/Race 10 Starting Line-Up: Greg Prussia of Oroville, CA, bow; Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, mid bow; Bill Bates of San Diego, CA mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Hood River, OR, pit; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Mike Howard of Malibu, CA, grinder; David McClintock of Portsmouth, RI, upwind trim; Morgan Trubovich of Newport, RI, downwind trim; Lexi Gahagan of Wilimington, DE, runner; Paul Cayard of Kentfield, CA, helmsman; John Kostecki of Fairfax, CA, tactician; Morgan Larson of Capitola, CA, traveler; Terry Hutchinson of Annapolis, MD, mainsheet; Sean Clarkson of Middletown, RI, main assist, and Gavin Brady of Annapolis, MD, navigator. The 17th crew person was Mr. Larry Finch.

Final Scores To Date:

Prada /42 points

America True /34 points

Stars & Stripes /32.5 points

AmericaOne /28 points*

Young America / 25 points

Nippon Challenge /21.5 points*

Spanish Challenge /17 points*

Le Defi Francais /14 points*

Abracadabra 2000 /12 points**,*

Young Australia /9 points*

FAST2000 /8 points

* Were not able to complete Race 6 due to insufficient wind

** Abracadabra had a BYE today

Other Delta Results:

America True beat Nippon Challenge – Delta 00:12

Stars & Stripes beat Young America/YOUNG AMERICA WITHDREW FROM RACE

Spanish Challenge beat FAST 2000 – Delta 02:14

Prada beat Le Defi Francais — Delta 03:49

Round Robin 2

AmericaOne’s schedule for the remainder of Round Robin 2 is as follows:

Hopes Torn In Two as Spinnakers Shred In Heavy Winds

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, November 17, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, sailed the most eventful race of Round Robin 2 against Stars & Stripes (USA 55). Both boats suffered causalities throughout the match, Stars & Stripes having broken their boom vang and AmericaOne tearing one genoa and one spinnaker. The eventual outcome was a win by Stars & Stripes by 2m 46s.

Coming out of the pre-start, with AmericaOne holding a slight advantage, both teams hit the starting line dead even, AmericaOne to leeward and slightly ahead on starboard. Stars & Stripes tacked away into clean air as AmericaOne managed to gain a 3-4 boatlengths lead to the first weather mark. AmericaOne held the lead until two-thirds up the third weather leg. USA 49 and USA 55 engaged in a close tacking duel until a slight tear in AmericaOne’s jib, near the second spreader, gave Stars & Stripes a window to advance. AmericaOne was losing ground and opted to made a quick jib change. At the last weather mark, both boats bore away and set their spinnakers. A large puff of wind blewout USA 49’s spinnaker setting the team into full motion, at nearly the same moment Stars & Stripes broke their boom vang. While AmericaOne switched to a new spinnaker, the previously tattered spinnaker flew from the mast like a pennant.

AmericaOne continued to gain on Stars & Stripes, as the two teams matched one another gybe for gybe. As USA 49 approached the finish line, nearly even with USA 55, the umpires tagged AmericaOne with a penalty as USA 49 passed closely behind Stars & Stripes transom. Stars & Stripes went on to win the race while AmericaOne went above the finish line and took a penalty turn.

“Today was certainly the most exciting race of this round. We didn’t win but it was great to be pushed so hard,” explains AmericaOne Skipper, Paul Cayard. “It’s not easy to give up four points but we feel in the long run we are better for the experience .”

RR2/Race 9 Starting Line-Up: Greg Prussia of Oroville, CA, bow; Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, mid bow; Bill Bates of San Diego, CA mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Hood River, OR, pit; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Mike Howard of Malibu, CA, 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; Morgan Larson of Capitola, 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 was Mr. John McCormick.

Final Scores To Date:

Prada /38 points**

America True /30 points

Stars & Stripes /28.5 points

AmericaOne /24 points*

Young America / 24 points

Nippon Challenge /21.5 points*

Le Defi Francais /14 points*

Spanish Challenge /13 points*

Abracadabra 2000 /12 points*

Young Australia /9 points*

FAST2000 /8 points

* Were not able to complete Race 6 due to insufficient wind

**Prada had a BYE today

Other Delta Results:

America True over Fast 2000/ FAST 2000 WITHDREW FROM RACE

Young Australia over Young America /YOUNG AMERICA WITHDREW FROM RACE

Nippon over Spanish Challenge / SPANISH WITHDREW FROM RACE

Le Defi Francais over Abracadabra 2000 / ABRACADABRA WITHDREW FROM RACE

Round Robin 2

AmericaOne’s schedule for the remainder of Round Robin 2 is as follows:

Today was one of those days that we all became sailors for. With sunny skies and a beautiful building northeasterly sea breeze the AmericaOne Team was ready for battle. After yesterday’s defeat to Prada we re-grouped and were ready to grab some points and position ourselves back in the top three. Our opponent today was our friend from Hawaii. John Kolius and his team on Abracadabra were also looking for win but today wasn’t their day! Paul came out of the barn with all guns blazing. Our first confrontation with them after entering the starting area resulted in Abracadabra being tagged with a foul by the umpires. After three laps of great sailing AmericaOne pulled out to a 2 minute and 52 second win. AmericaOne Founder, Bill Leroy, sailed as our 17th man. As soon as we finished he was straight into the speedboat and racing for the airport. Thanks to Bill and all of the other Founders’ that have been down over the last few weeks to support the team. Once ashore the sailing and shore teams were straight to work on our new boat USA 61. Now she sits in the yard with keel, rudder and mast all attached and ready to go. Tomorrow we will christen the boat before we head out to race Dennis Connor and his team on Stars & Stripes. USA 49 & 61 should see some two boat testing by early next week. We still have a lot to accomplish but everything is in place and we have a team dedicated to winning the race!

Mid-series Race for USA 49 is Competitive Despite Light Wind

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, November 15, 1999 — AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, was narrowly defeated in Race 7 of Round Robin 2 for the Louis Vuitton Cup by Prada Challenge (ITA 45). Light and shifty wind conditions on the course found both teams close in pre-start maneuvering and on the first leg, however Prada was able to position itself on the favored side of the course, gain a lead, and finish the race ahead of USA 49 by 1m.

“It’s never easy to lose,” said AmericaOne Skipper Paul Cayard. “But we sailed tough today and we congratulate Prada on their win. They did a good job at the start and defended their position well. I was satisfied with our boat speed and handling.”

Today’s racing for the Louis Vuitton Cup threatened to be cancelled when the Race Committee headed out to the racecourse and found no wind for the second day in a row. Yesterday three out of the five races were postponed due to insufficient wind, including AmericaOne’s match against Le Defi. In the past three days, two days have seen extreme wind conditions causing a modification in the round robin schedule.

Racing got under way at approximately 1:15 PM this afternoon.

After winning the pin end at the start Luna Rossa got off to a two-boatlength lead. AmericaOne gained on the Italians on the downwind leg of the 6-lap course. With the breeze building to a strong 10 knots on the second upwind leg AmericaOne continued to keep pace with Luna Rossa around the mark into the second leeward leg. In classic match-race strategy USA 49 initiated maneuvers and was countered by ITA 45 as they covered with matching gybes. Luna Rossa stretched their lead on the third lap of the course and crossed the finish line with a one-minute lead.

Race 8 against Aloha Racing’s Abracadabra is scheduled for tomorrow Tuesday, November 16, 1999.

RR2/Race 7 Starting Line-Up: Greg Prussia of Oroville, CA, bow; Curtis Blewett of Los Angeles, CA, mid-bow; Bill Bates of San Diego, CA, mast/sewer; Josh Belsky of Hood River, OR, pit; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Matt Welling of Bay Shore, NY, grinder; Morgan Trubovich of Newport, RI, downwind trim; David McClintock of Portsmouth, 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 was AmericaOne supporter Mrs. Jan Finch of San Francisco, CA.

Final Scores To Date:

Prada /34 points

Young America /24 points

America True /22 points

Stars & Stripes /20.5 points

AmericaOne /20 points*

Nippon Challenge /17.5 points*

Spanish Challenge /13 points*

Abracadabra 2000 /12 points*

FAST2000 /8 points**

Le Defi Francais /6 points*

Young Australia /5 points*

* Were not able to complete Race 6 due to insufficient wind

**FAST 2000 had a BYE today

Other Delta Results:

Spanish Challenge beat Young Australia by 1m 36s

America True beat Stars & Stripes by 1m 6s

Nippon Challenge beat Le Defi by 49s

Young America beat Abracadabra by 4m 58s

Round Robin 2

AmericaOne ‘s schedule for the remainder of Round Robin 2 is as follows: