On this day…

16 April

In 1992, Bill Koch’s Kanza, the second yacht of the America³ team, entered into the Defender Series. Kanza defeated Stars and Stripes after a controversial umpire call when Stars and Stripes attempted to round the last mark inside Kanza, touched it and claimed there was not enough room as entitled by the rules. “If we do not reach the Final because of this, I will be sick to my stomach,” Dennis Conner, the Stars and Stripes skipper, said later. He made the Final, but was defeated by the eventual America’s cup winner America³.

Meanwhile on the Challenger’s course, in the Louis Vuitton Cup Semi Finals, New Zealand again defeated Nippon, skippered by Chris Dickson by 1 minute 28 seconds, and Il Moro di Venezia defeated Ville de Paris by 31 seconds. New Zealand and Il Moro di Venezia made the Final, which Il Moro di Venezia won only to go on to lose its match for the America’s Cup to America³ 4-1.
© Hamish Ross 2007