November 25, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Bertrand wins, Mahaney 6th

SAN DIEGO – John Bertrand again dominated the International America’s Cup Class World Championship, sailing his speedy yacht oneAustralia on Tuesday to its second straight decisive victory.

With the exception of the start, no one came near oneAustralia all day as Bertrand and co-skipper Rod Davis increased their lead on each of the first five legs of the six-leg, 18.55-mile ocean course.

The Aussies gained 1 minute, 41 seconds sailing into the wind on the fifth leg to boost their margin to 4:51. Nippon 94, which was making its competitive debut, made up 26 seconds on the downwind final leg, leaving the Aussies’ final margin at 4:25.

oneAustralia, launched in April, has dominated this regatta, a prelude to the 1995 America’s Cup.

Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes, launched three years before oneAustralia, was second for more than three legs on the windward-leeward course. But Nippon 94, launched in January, made up a deficit of more than one minute and passed Stars & Stripes near the end of the windward fourth leg.

Conner took third, 7:40 behind oneAustralia. Nippon 92 was fourth, 10:01 behind, while America3’s historic women’s team tumbled to fifth, 12:33 back.

Spirit of Unum, sailed by Maine-based PACT 95 and skippered by Bangor’s Kevin Mahaney, was sixth, 13:28 back. Age of Russia’s Vek Rossii failed to finish within 30 minutes of oneAustralia for the second straight race.


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