AMERICAONE OPENS ROUND ROBIN 2 OF THE LOUIS VUITTON CUP WITH A WIN
Undisclosed Adjustments to USA 49 Prove Solid
AUCKLAND, New Zealand, November 6, 1999 – AmericaOne, the San Francisco-based St. Francis Yacht Club’s America’s Cup 2000 challenger, won its opening race on day one of Round Robin 2 for the 2000 America’s Cup season. Skipper Paul Cayard and the AmericaOne crew defeated the Spanish Challenge’s Bravo Espana (ESP 47) by 1m 15s. Adjustments were made to both boats following Round Robin 1 – AmericaOne sailed with a repaired and remeasured boat and Bravo Espana received a new mast.
The weather conditions showed great improvement from the heavy wind and rain conditions seen over the past few days. However, wind shifts remained lumpy, ranging upwards of 15+ knots. The drag race between Cayard and Spanish Skipper Pedro Campos at the start left AmericaOne slightly behind to windward of Bravo Espana. Rounding the first windward mark, AmericaOne’s Tactician John Kostecki located a significant shift in the wind direction from the right giving USA 49 a speed advantage that pushed them well into the lead. By the second windward leg, Cayard remained in control of the match.
“It was good to see that we have improved our boat speed,” explained AmericaOne Tactician John Kostecki. “The goal right now for all of the teams is to optimize boat performance in this second round. Clearly there were marked differences between our win over the Spanish from Round Robin 1 to Round Robin 2 — I could see we had both improved our speed.”
RR2/Race 1 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 Hood River, OR, 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; 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 Terry Kohler of Wisconsin, IL.
Final Scores To Date:
Prada /14 points
AmericaOne /12 points
Young America /12 points
Nippon Challenge /9.5 points
Stars & Stripes /8.5 points
America True /6 points
Abracadabra 2000 /4 points
Spanish Challenge /5 points
Le Defi Francais /2 points
Young Australia /1 point
FAST2000 /0 points
Other Delta Results:
Stars & Stripes over Le Defi Francais/ 00:41
Prada Challenge over FAST2000/ 02:19
Nippon Challenge over Abracadabra 2000/ 02:08
Young America over America True/ 00:33
BYE: Young Australia 2000
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:
