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: