| | AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Italy's Prada was knocked out of
first place in the America's Cup challenger series Tuesday after
losing to Japan's Nippon.
Prada, dominant throughout the four-month regatta to decide who
will take on defender New Zealand for sailing's most prized trophy,
trails AmericaOne and Nippon.
|  | | AmericaOne easily beat its foe, Spanish Challenge, on Tuesday and is now at the top of the points table.
|
The loss was Prada's second in two days and only their third of
the competition.
The day's competition was marked by winds that disappeared from
the course in mid-race causing some races to be abandoned and
distorting the result of others.
Racing started on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf in a light breeze of
up to 10 knots which shifted in velocity and direction on the first
leg.
After boats rounded the first mark, the wind died. Leads changed
dramatically as some boats were completely stopped while others
found patches of wind.
The Nippon team, whose record has improved since it switched to
its second boat in the vital third round-robin of the series, found
the breeze before Prada and pulled away for victory by 3 minutes,
13 seconds.
Similarly, AmericaOne led the Spanish team around the first mark
and was able to find the wind first and sail to an 11-minute,
50-second win.
On the competition's second course, racing started but was
abandoned after the first leg because boats were unable to reach
the next mark within the time limit set down in the rules.
Young America's race against Le Defi Francais and America True's
race against Young Australia will be rescheduled. Abracadabra,
scheduled to race the withdrawn Swiss team, sailed its course alone
for a win.
Victories in the third round-robin are worth 9 points, enough to
put AmericaOne in first place with 81 points, followed by Nippon
(74½) and Prada (73).
The top six boats of the remaining 10 in the regatta will race
in a finals series in January to decide who takes on New Zealand in
the best-of-nine America's Cup regatta in February. | |
ALSO SEE
AmericaOne hands Prada its second loss
Third-round schedule and results
Young America ends round 2 in misery
|
