Stars & Stripes Match Against Orm Is Close

PRESS RELEASE October 29, 2002

STARS & STRIPES MATCH AGAINST ORM IS CLOSE WHILE ORACLE PROTESTS A REQUEST FOR DELAY DUE TO DAMAGE

AUCKLAND, NZ, OCTOBER 29, 2002-Team Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes fought a close race against Sweden’s Orm today in the Second Round Robin of the Louis Vuitton Cup, only to lose by 13 seconds.

The all-American boat’s second race of the day, against the Oracle BMW Racing Team’s USA-76 from San Francisco, was abandoned because Stars & Stripes had a broken jib track. The Team Dennis Conner request to postpone and sail another day was countered by a protest from Oracle claiming unfair sportsmanship.

Returning to the Hauraki Gulf race course after four days lost to heavy weather, the New York Yacht Club’s challenger for the America ’s Cup won her start against the Swedish Victory Challenge in a morning race but was forced to tack away on the first cross as the Swedes tacked on their lee bow.

“We got the start we wanted, lost out on the first wind shift, and that was the race,” said skipper Ken Read, Newport, RI, summarizing an hour and 21 minutes of intense racing. The boats were seldom separated by more than three or four boat lengths on the four-leg short course as Orm covered every move the Americans made. The biggest delta was 30 seconds at the second windward mark.

Stars & Stripes advised the race committee after the first race of a problem with the track for the port genoa car. The crew attempted to make temporary repairs during several postponements caused when the southwesterly breeze gusted to nearly 30 knots.

After the breeze settled and the race committee signaled a start, the Stars & Stripes hoisted the jib but decided that the repair was inadequate for racing. The team exercised its option and requested to race another day, or alternatively to claim a 45-minute delay.

Chief measurer Ken McAlpine boarded the boat to inspect the damage and, after racing was abandoned, requested the team to start sailing again so he could examine the damaged area while it was under load.

The Oracle BMW Racing Team has protested Stars & Stripes, claiming there was in fact no damage and the move was a ploy to get the race “killed”. And it has requested redress, saying it was “materially prejudiced by the Race Committee’s failure to start the race.” Both issues will be decided at a later date.

The points after Race 2 of Round Robin 2 of the Louis Vuitton Cup are: Alinghi Challenge, 10-1; OneWorld Challenge, 10-1*; Prada Challenge, 7-4; Oracle BMW Racing 6-4; Victory Challenge 6-5; GBR Challenge 5-5; Team Dennis Conner, 4-7; Mascalzone Latino Challenge, 1-11; Le Défi Areva, 0-11. (Notes: 1*, OneWorld will penalized one point at the end of this round for a Protocol breach. 2. Byes result in different totals)

The crew of Stars & Stripes today was: Vince Brun, Wally Henry, Peter Isler, and Bill Trenkle, from San Diego, CA; Chuck Brown, Jerry Kirby, Rob Myles, Ken Read and Tony Rey, from Newport, RI; Rock Ferrigno, Fairfield, CT; Chris Kam, Stonington, CT; Tom Whidden, Essex, CT; Terry Hutchinson, Annapolis, MD; Mike Toppa, Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Dave Calverley, Tampa, FL and Larry Mialik, Madison, WI. The 17th person was Nancy Duppereault, Stars & Stripes supporter.

Team Dennis Conner and the New York Yacht Club have partnered to put forth the finest team of American designers, sailors, boat builders and shore side support to win America’s Cup XXXI and return the America’s Cup to the United States. The America’s Cup season began on October 1, 2002 with a four-month challenger elimination series known as the Louis Vuitton Cup. The winner of the Louis Vuitton Cup will challenge Team New Zealand for the right to defend the America’s Cup in a best of nine series starting on February 15, 2003.

Team Dennis Conner's platinum sponsor, Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA) delivers the software that manages eBusiness. As the world’s third largest enterprise software company, CA provides industry-leading integrated solutions through strategic partnerships and powerful brands such as Unicenter®, BrightStor™, eTrust™, CleverPath™, Advantage™, Jasmine® and AllFusion™. With mission-critical software in security and storage, CA provides reliable, quality technology. For more information, visit www.ca.com.

Gold sponsors of the Team Dennis Conner America's Cup challenge include Citizen Watch Company (www.citizenwatch.com), proud maker of the new Eco-Drive Sailhawk, the official Stars & Stripes team watch, the ACE Group of Companies (www.acelimited.com), a premier global insurance and reinsurance organization and Airgas, Inc. (www.airgas.com), the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases, welding, safety and related products. With an integrated network of nearly 800 locations nationwide--including branches, retail stores, gas fill plants, specialty gas labs, production facilities and distribution centers--Airgas' national scale and strong local presence offer customers a competitive advantage

Team Dennis Conner’s Silver sponsors are Nautica (www.nautica.com), the team’s official apparel sponsor and a leading global fashion and lifestyle company with products ranging from men's, women's and children's sportswear, denim and accessories to a complete home collection, Manugistics (www.manugistics.com), a leading software company that provides comprehensive solutions which enable companies to share inventory, pricing and planning information with customers and suppliers over the Internet and Viagra (www.viagra.com). Discovered and developed by Pfizer, Viagra is the breakthrough oral treatment for erectile dysfunction that has been found to be effective and well tolerated in over 100 completed and ongoing clinical studies. Viagra has been approved by regulatory authorities in 119 countries around the world and is among the most widely prescribed medications, with over 120 million prescriptions written for more than 20 million men.

Team Dennis Conner’s Suppliers are 3M, Air New Zealand, Airgas, Airtech, APL Limited, Arc Second, Bathysphere Digital Media Services, Columbus Line, Digi International, Dupont, Earth Tech, Itronix, Lewmar Marine, McLube, Media Bin, Munters, Nautica Eyewear, New England Ropes, Newport Adhesives & Composites, Omnisonics Medical, Pacer Technologies, Parker, Plastimo, Protector, Remy Amerique, Saucony, WiTango and Xygent. .

ENDS

© Scoop Media