AUSSIES STRIKE BACK IN CHAMPAGNE MUMM TROPHY

by Susan McKeag on 6 Aug 2000 Australia regains the lead in close-fought series
Third win in a row for USA's Esmeralda

Australia clawed back her lead - by just three points - in what is becoming
an increasingly close-fought Kenwood Cup series with another solid
performance from the 'beach balls' - the matching Beneteau 40.7 cruiser/
racers owned and campaigned by brothers Simon and Neil Whiston. The pair
finished second and third in the first of the two races which today
comprise the Champagne Mumm trophy, romping in together behind the USA's
Esmeralda (Farr 50, Makoto Uematsu,) which has many-times J/24 world
champion Kenny Read at her wheel. And again, it was Simon's Smile which
had just 15 seconds on Neil's Fruit Machine. Ray Davis, driving Naohiko
Sera's Far 47 Sea Hawk was the only Kiwi able to break the Aussie
stranglehold on the race, finishing 4th, just nine seconds ahead of
Geoffrey Ross's Farr 49 Yendys on corrected time. But just behind Yendys,
and blocking the path of all other teams, were Mick Cookson and his Air NZ
High 5 and Hideo Matsuda's Farr 45 Big Apple III, steered by Dean Barker
and with a goodly number of the new generation Team New Zealand crew on
board.

The resulting arithmetic means that New Zealand, who took over the lead
from Australia on the finish line of race 6, and then saw that lead eroded
by an Aussie come-back in race 7, garnered 40 points from this morning's
race but Australia scored 47. Totals after race 8 were Australia 345, NZL
342.

There was high drama as the second race - still underway as this is written
- began, when the Sydney 41 Glama! (Seth Radow, USA), T-boned the Farr 40
Zamboni (Doug Taylor) in what appears to have been a classic
port-and-starboard-gone-wrong. Glama! apparently saw Zamboni and tried,
but failed, to bear away, hitting the Farr just where the cabin and cockpit
join and bashing a considerable hole in both topsides and deck. More
seriously Zamboni's owner Doug Taylor, steering, was flung from the wheel
to the front end of the cockpit and suffered a bad gash to the head. He
was taken off and delivered to a waiting ambulance, but was reported in
satisfactory condition on arrival at hospital.

Results, Race 6 Class A 1 Esmeralda (Farr 50, Makoto Uematsu, USA), 2 Sea
Hawk (Farr 47, Naohiko Sera, NZL), 3 Yendys (Farr 49, Geoffrey Ross, AUS),
4 Air NZ High 5 ( Farr 47, Mick Cookson, NZL), 5 Big Apple III (Farr 45,
Hideo Matsuda, NZL), 6 Bumblebee 5 (Sydney 62, John Kahlbetzer, AUS), 7
Andiamo (Davidson 55, Andrew Taylor, NZL). Class B 1 G'Net (Farr ILC 40,
Shizue Kanbe, JPN), 2 Maupiti (Farr 39, Hiroshi Yamagishi, JPN), 3 Karasu
(Judel/Vrolijk 43, Yasuo Nanamori, JPN), 4 Tower (Lidgard 45, Daisuke
Kimura, JPN), 5 Cha-Ching (Sydney 41, Scooter Simmons, USA), 6 Glama!
(Sydney 41, Seth Radow, USA), 7 Liberte Expres (Beneteau First 47.7,
Yasumasa Kawamura, JPN). Class C 1 Zamboni (Farr 40 OD, Doug Taylor, USA),
2 Orion (Farr 40 OD, Philippe Kahn, USA), 3 Samba Pa Ti (Farr 40 OD, John
Kilroy Jr, USA), 4 Foundation (Farr 40 OD, Masato Fujumaki, JPN). Class B 1
Smile (Beneteau 40.7, Simon Whiston, AUS), 2 Fruit Machine (Beneteau 40.7,
Neil Whiston, AUS), 3 Mojo Rising (Beneteau 40.7, Clayton Craigie,
AUS/HKG), 4 Matador (Aerodyne 38, Jason Khoury, USA), 5 Bondi Tram ( Frers
41, John & Margaret Haig/Chris Austin-Harmes, USA). Class E 1 Charade
(J105, Thomas Coates, USA), 2 Jose Cuervo (J105, Sam Hock, USA), 3 Puff
(J105, Chris Brown, GBR), 4 Juxtapose (J105, Tom Thayer & Dick Watts, USA),
5 Tiburon (J105, Steve Stroub, USA), 6 Irrational Again (J105, Jaren Leet,
USA).

For photos, event history and full results check out the official Kenwood
Cup 2000 web site at www.kenwoodcup.com