From: wwalker@qualcomm.com (Bill Walker)
Newsgroups: rec.boats
Subject: America's Cup results for April 9, 1992
Date: 10 Apr 92 16:50:28 GMT
Article-I.D.: qualcomm.1992Apr10.165028.17414
Organization: Qualcomm, Inc

America's Cup results for Thursday, April 9, 1992, from the San Diego 
Union-Tribune.

CHALLENGERS

Conditions:  Winds:  4 knots at start, building to 7-8 maximum and then 
only briefly, dropping to 3-4 on last lap.  Direction:  westerly with 
oscillating shifts and one 10-degree shift to the right before the third 
weather leg.  Seas:  flat.

New Zealand defeated Il Moro di Venezia by 2:20.  Preview of the Louis 
Vuitton Cup finals.  Paul Cayard defeated Rod Davis in the prestart 
maneuvers and entered the course with a 29-second lead and better boat 
speed.  Il Moro held the Kiwis off on the first weather [leg] and gained 
12 seconds on the first run.  But the Kiwis broke through on the second 
beat that ended with an incident almost identical to the controversial 
Stars & Stripes-Kanza rounding in Monday's defender race.  NZ approached 
the mark ahead and to the outside.  Cayard tried to pinch Il Moro in 
between NZ and the mark.  The boats almost touched.  They didn't, but Il 
Moro brushed the mark.  The Italians trailed by 31 seconds at the mark and 
after losing another 14 seconds on the Z-leg reaches, had to make a 
270-degreee penalty turn to absolve itself of the penalty.  NZ led by 5:06 
at the next mark and drifted to victory, a semifinals-best 7-2 record and 
a 2-1 edge over the Italians this round.

Ville de Paris defeated Nippon by 0:24.  Chris Dickson and Marc Pajot 
waged a pitched battle for third in fading winds.  Marc Bouet put Ville de 
Paris ahead by 12 seconds leaving the starting line and the French boat, 
the only boat in the challenger semifinals manned by an all-native crew, 
pulled away in the light winds it prefers.  But Dickson had Nippon on the 
right side of a major wind shift on the last weather leg and took the 
lead.  The boats split on the run, Ville de Paris to the left and Nippon 
to the right.  When they came back together, the French were a boat-length 
ahead.  Nippon hit the finish line flying a spinnaker saying, "Sayonara, 
See You Again."

Schedule:
April 19:  Best-of-nine finals begin between New Zealand and Il Moro di 
Venezia.

Standings:
                Overall record
                |    New Zealand
                |    |    Il Moro di Venezia
                |    |    |    Ville de Paris
                |    |    |    |    Nippon
                |    |    |    |    |
x-New Zealand  7-2       2-1  2-1  3-0
x-Il Moro      5-4  1-2       2-1  2-1
y-Ville de P.  4-5  1-2  1-2       2-1
y-Nippon       2-7  0-3  1-2  1-2

x-Clinched berth in finals; y-Eliminated.


DEFENDERS

Conditions:  Wind:  5 knots at start building to no more than 8 and then 
only briefly, dying out to under 4 at the finish.  Direction:  westerly 
with oscillating shifts.  Seas:  relatively flat with 2-foot swell.

America^3 defeated Kanza by 9:59.  Light airs definitely favored 
America^3.  So did the crew, which was stacked to help A^3 keep alive Bill 
Koch's hopes of having both boats in the defense finals.  Buddy Melges was 
steering A^3 with Dave Dellenbaugh as tactician, Bill Campbell as 
navigator and Andreas Josenhans on the main.  Bill Koch, Kimo Worthington 
and By Baldridge were running Kanza, who [never] saw the heavier winds it 
prefers.  Worthington did an excellent job before the start and turned the 
wheel over to Koch with Kanza leading by four seconds.  But Kanza ducked 
under A^3's stern the first time the stablemates crossed and never again 
led, although Koch's crew did an excellent job closing ground on the first 
run.  A^3 gained 6:26 on the final run as the winds dropped off to almost 
nothing.  A^3 puts both boats in the finals if both Kanza and A^3 beat 
Stars & Stripes the next two days and America^3 defeats Kanza in the 
round's last race on Sunday [and if anybody out there believes Kanza will 
win that race, I've got some lovely beachfront property to sell you - 
Bill].  Stars & Stripes wins a berth in the finals with a victory over A^3 
and gains at least a tie with a victory over Kanza.

Schedule:
April 10: Stars & Stripes vs. Kanza, 12:30 PM.
April 11: Stars & Stripes vs. America^3, 12:15 PM.
April 12: America^3 vs. Kanza, 12:45 PM.

Standings:
              
                  Scored wins (includes bonus wins)
                  |    Kanza
                  |    |    Stars & Stripes
                  |    |    |    America^3
                  |    |    |    |
Kanza             5        2-1  1-1
Stars & Stripes   4   1-2       2-1
America^3.        3   2-1  1-2     

Kanza entered this round with two bonus wins based on points acquired by 
Defiant and America^3 in first three rounds.  Stars & Stripes received one 
bonus win for second-most points.  America^3 was placed in slot with zero 
wins.

----------
Bill Walker - WWalker@qualcomm.com - QUALCOMM, Inc., San Diego, CA
All opinions expressed are mine, and do not reflect those of my employer.
"First thing we do, we kill all the lawyers." - Shakespeare