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AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND -- "I've sailed thousands of races in my lifetime, but I surely can't remember a race more fun than this one," said a very happy Ken Read, helmsman for Stars & Stripes. "This one was a super race from start to finish."

Read had every right to be happy. Team Dennis Conner had just beaten Paul Cayard's AmericaOne syndicate in 20-28 knots of wind. The final margin of 2:46 in no way reflected the closeness of the match. In fact, just a quarter of a mile, from the finish the two boats were close enough for Cayard's spinnaker to brush against the running back stay of Stars & Stripes. The umpires called a penalty, which in effect ended one of the closest matches seen so far in the Louis Vuitton Cup Series. The two boats got off the line pretty even. "We were happy with our start," Read explained. "We were eager to line up with them to test our speed." However, after five minutes of pacing on starboard tack, AmericaOne had closed the gauge sufficiently to force Stars & Stripes to tack off. "No one on the boat got down at that point," Read continued."  Instead, the speed team went to work and changed several things that clearly improved our pace." The margins at every mark were close, with never more than 19 seconds separating the two boats.

It was during the last beat that Stars & Stripes finally ground down AmericaOne, and passed them. "I don't know how many tacks we did," Read said. " Everyone on the boat except me took turns on the (winch) handles to help with the grinding. I just ground my teeth." Crewman Chuck Brown quipped, "This isn't the America's Cup -- this is the grinding world championships."

"Through it all, Stars and Stripes always felt good," Read concluded. "We saw 28 knot puffs out there. On some boats, when the wind blows that hard, you have to take your foot off of the accelerator a bit.  Not on Stars & Stripes. This boat is rock solid very controllable in big breeze." The Team Dennis Conner sailing team will not have a chance to rest on their laurels. Tomorrow they meet New York Yacht Club's Young America syndicate.

Standings

1.

Prada

17 -1

38

2.

America True

12 - 6

30

3.

Stars & Strips

11-7

28.5

4.

AmericaOne

12 - 5

24

5.

Young America

12-6

24

6.

Nippon

10 - 7

21.5

7.

Le Defi BTT

5 - 13

14

8.

Spain

7 - 10

13

9.

Abracadabra

6 - 12

12

10.

Young Australia

3 - 14

9

11.

FAST 2000

2 - 16

8

* 1/2 point penalty imposed for contract

Victories are worth one point each in Round One and Four points in Round Two

Crew List

Ken Read

Helmsman

Peter Holmberg

Afterguard

Tom Whidden

Afterguard

Peter Isler

Afterguard

Chuck Brown

Runners

Eric Doyle

Main Trimmer

Jim Cannon

Main Caddy

Bill Trenkle

Port Trimmer

Mike Toppa

Starboard Trimmer

Stu Felker

Grinder

Larry Mialik

Grinder

Jeff Dionne

Grinder

Robbie Young

Pit

Matt Smith

Mast

Rob Myles

Sewer

Geordie Shaver

Bow

17^th person -- Daintry Conner