Young America Posts 4-2 Record in
Mini Cup Challenger Round

SOUTH PORTLAND, ME, April 16, 1997— The NYYC/Young America team posted four wins and two losses in the Challenger round robin in Auckland, New Zealand, narrowly losing the battle for a berth in the Road to America’s Cup 2000 Mini-Cup final. England’s Royal Dorset Yacht Club entry went on to face Team New Zealand in the Mini America’s Cup final April 5-6, with the reigning Cup champions winning the best-of-seven match 4-1.

Team New Zealand’s victory over the British team gave the Kiwis a 3-0 record for the three-regatta Road to America’s Cup 2000 Series. The first two regattas featured Team New Zealand versus NYYC/Young America. Team New Zealand won the first regatta 4-0; a stormy weather-shortened competition staged in Wellington March 8-9. The second regatta, sailed March 28-30 in Auckland, was a closely-contested match that went down to a seventh race between Team New Zealand and NYYC/Young America, with the final race going to Team New Zealand, making it 4-3 for the regatta.

NYYC/Young America competed with three other Challengers April 2-5 in a Challenger round robin. The final standings for the Mini America’s Cup round robin: England’s Royal Dorset Yacht Club (5-1), NYYC/Young America (4-2), San Francisco Yacht Club (3-3), and France’s Societe Nautique Port Camargue (0-6). The regattas were sailed in 1992 IACC boats provided by Team New Zealand.

"This has been a productive series for the Young America sailing team," said NYYC/Young America skipper Ed Baird. "The competition has been close, allowing us to up the bar on our performance. We accomplished what we went to New Zealand for. This series gave us our first chance to work together and I’m proud of the job we’ve done. The road to the America’s Cup is a long one and we’re off to a great start."