AMERICAONE FIGHTS FOR WINNING RECORD AGAINST SAN FRANCISCO RIVAL IN RACE 2
USA 49 is Unable to Overcome an Over-Early Start AUCKLAND, New Zealand, November 8, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, suffered an over-early call by the Race Committee and was forced into a restart on Race 2 of the Louis Vuitton Cup. Exciting pre-start maneuvers seemed to replay in reverse from the match in Round Robin 1 as this time AmericaOne was over the line early and unable to recover from the original deficit. America True (USA 51) emerged as a winner by 1m 29s.
Yesterday’s scheduled match between the two San Francisco-based teams resumed today after a postponement due to high winds. On the first windward leg, AmericaOne repositioned itself onto the weather hip of America True in hopes of extending its lead but the match ran its course with America True covering USA 49 tack for tack in the 19+ MPH winds and significant swells.
“I think we will have a lot to gain by reflecting on the mistakes we made today,” explained AmericaOne Tactician John Kostecki. “We pushed too hard at the start and went over the line early. Unfortunately, we were never able to make up the difference. There is a positive to losing in that it makes you stand-back and take a critical look at your techniques and work harder than ever to improve them.”
RR2/Race 2 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; Phil Trinter of Lorain, OH, grinder; Jim Nicholas of San Diego, CA, grinder; Kevin Hall of Highland, CA, 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 was John LaFond, Ford Motor Company, MI, USA.
Final Scores To Date:
Prada /18 points
Young America /16 points
AmericaOne /12 points
America True /10 points
Nippon Challenge /9.5 points
Stars & Stripes /8.5 points
Le Defi Francais /6 points
Spanish Challenge /5 points
Abracadabra 2000 /4 points
FAST2000 /4 points
Young Australia /1 point
Other Delta Results:
Prada Challenge over Nippon Challenge/ NIPPON WITHDREW DURING RACE
Young America over Spanish Challenge/ 01:23
Le Defi Francais over Young Australia 2000/ 01:43
Fast2000 over Abracadabra 2000/ ABRACADABRA WITHDREW DURING RACE
BYE: Stars & Stripes
Round Robin 2 During Round Robin 2 each of the 11 Challengers from seven nations will race each other one time – the winner receiving four points per race. One team takes a bye in each flight of races. Racing is scheduled to begin daily at 12:15 PM local time on a full-length America’s Cup course, three laps totaling 18.55-nautical miles windward-leeward format. AmericaOne’s schedule for the remainder of Round Robin 2 is as follows:
