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To: elpolvo who wrote (23315)	2/18/2003 1:36:52 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 104167

<<...that puts russell in the more awesome category than tiger in my book. i've never heard any yelling on that boat... the most excellent tv directors are the same way... a softness and subtle encouragement that lets the crew expand to exceed their own limitations. leadership through love...>> Good points...Coutts is a most amazing leader - I wish we had that kinda enlightened leadership in our White House...;-) Here is a summary of today's race... Monday, February 17 2003 Alinghi leads all through Race 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Nothing but stern. Everything's looking up for Switzerland's Alinghi. That's what Alinghi of Switzerland showed beleaguered Team New Zealand all the way around the course, and the America's Cup is that much closer to going to Europe for the first time in 152 years. New Zealand-born skipper Russell Coutts sailed another masterful race, steering the whimsically named Alinghi to a 23-second win Tuesday to give the Swiss a 3-0 lead in the best-of-nine series. Two more wins by Alinghi and the oldest trophy in international sports will belong to a landlocked country for the first time. More specifically, it would go to La Societe Nautique de Geneve, a yacht club on the shores of Lake Geneva. "Race three, it puts you over the halfway point,'' said Alinghi tactician Brad Butterworth, another Kiwi. "It's a big deal.'' In 1851, the yacht America won what was then called the 100 Guinea Cup by beating a fleet of British schooners around the Isle of Wight. The silver trophy hasn't been in European hands since. On a gray day on the Hauraki Gulf -- matching the mood of this island nation -- 29-year-old skipper Dean Barker and two-time defending champion Team New Zealand tried vainly to keep up with the 40-year-old Coutts and his Kiwi-heavy crew. Alinghi led from the start, gained immediately from a wind shift and then kept its black-and-red boat ahead of the Kiwi black boat the rest of the way around the six-leg, 18.5-nautical mile course. The Kiwis again made a bad call, picking the left side of the course while Alinghi took the right. Barker admitted to some "confusion'' on the black boat in the minutes before the start. "We just didn't get the decision right off the start line and that put us in a catch-up situation the rest of the day,'' Barker said. Biotech billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli, who paid millions to lure Coutts and his top mates away from Team New Zealand in 2000, couldn't be happier with his investment. "I think they're the best sailors in the world,'' Bertarelli said over the din of clanging cowbells at the Alinghi compound. "They haven't lost an America's Cup regatta in three editions. I think they're writing history. Today Russell goes 12 wins without a loss, which is absolutely unbelievable. "It's obviously huge,'' he said. "These guys are very good.'' The Kiwis need a miracle to keep the America's Cup at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron overlooking the green waters of Waitemata Harbor. Coutts has never been beaten in the America's Cup match, and now Team New Zealand must defeat its former skipper five times in six races. Race 4 is scheduled for Thursday (ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET, Wed). Coutts extended his record to 12 straight victories in the America's Cup match, a streak spanning three regattas and two countries. Two defenders have rallied from 0-2 deficits to win the America's Cup, but no team has been able to come back from three down. The America's Cup has been best-of-nine since 1995, when Coutts and Team New Zealand embarrassed Dennis Conner in a five-race sweep off San Diego. Five years later, Team New Zealand routed Italy's Prada Challenge in five races. Coutts handed the wheel to Barker for the clinching fifth race in 2000, then signed with Alinghi two months later, taking Butterworth and several top crewmen with him. Coutts downplayed his growing record, pointing out that Butterworth and the other "Kiwi Swiss'' have one more win than he does in the America's Cup match. "We've just got to sail well for two more races,'' Coutts said. The wind was about 12 knots at the start from the north-northwest. Alinghi wanted the favored right side of the course and got it thanks to entering the box on favored starboard tack for the prestart maneuvers. The Swiss gained almost immediately from a 20-degree wind shift to the right and led by six lengths less than halfway up the 3.25-nautical mile windward leg. Coutts said the weather team called the boat just before the start to say that it changed its mind and thought the right side of the course was the best. "That was a big call,'' Coutts said. Alinghi led by 28 seconds at the first mark. Team New Zealand closed to 15 seconds after the downwind fourth leg, but the Swiss were ahead by 21 seconds when they rounded the buoy for the downwind run to the finish.

To: elpolvo who wrote (23315)	2/18/2003 1:42:45 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 104167

Team New Zealand needs to make a change -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Gary Jobson Special to ESPN.com Monday, February 17 AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- I have to get it off my chest. Team New Zealand (TNZ) has the boat speed to win this regatta. On both upwind and downwind legs of the course, the defender was able to make up time on the challenger, Alinghi, in Race 3. The difference in this America's Cup is the extraordinary skill of Russell Coutts and his veteran team. Alinghi has been able to outmaneuver Team New Zealand, which might have the faster boat. There was considerable hope that TNZ would be able to turn this regatta around in Race 3. Everyone on the waterfront in Auckland has learned that three times in America's Cup history, boats have been down 0-2 and come back to win (Resolute 1920, Rainbow 1934 and Australia II 1983). Now, TNZ must defeat Coutts and company in five of the next six races. This is even more daunting when you realize that Coutts has now won 12 consecutive Cup races. In fact, he has never lost one! So what can Team New Zealand do at this point? Wednesday is a day off. This is an opportunity to regroup before Race 4 (ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET, Wednesday). We have been able to observe in the first three races that NZL82 has the speed to win in light, medium and heavy breezes. So it really comes down to the crew. One thought would be to rotate veteran Tom Schnackenberg on board. But "Schnack" is quick to point out that he did not write any of the software programs used in the performance analysis while racing. And Schnack, at 57, doesn't feel comfortable with the physical duties required. What TNZ needs is a winning start. Clearly Coutts has Dean Barker's number. In all three starts, Coutts has won the favored end of the line and been in control. Listening to the onboard microphones tells us that tactician Hammish Pepper and strategist Peter Evans have been, at times, tentative. There is not the commanding voice onboard TNZ like we hear from Alinghi's tactician Brad Butterworth. TNZ has Frenchman Bertrand Pace as a member of its team. Historically, he's done a good job racing against Coutts in the match racing circuit. Maybe Pace should be given the wheel at the start. This would be a radical move, but something has to change. The TNZ crew demonstrates good focus during the race, but the dramatic dejection Paul Page and I see after each defeat shows a team that is overly concerned about the outcome of the regatta. Everyone likes a big turnaround in sports. In the current configuration, TNZ lacks the tactical skill to defeat Alinghi. A change could reverse this trend. ____________________________________________________ In 1977, Gary Jobson served as tactician to win the America's Cup for Ted Turner. ESPN's lead sailing analyst, Jobson will be providing ESPN.com with daily analysis throughout the America's Cup. E-mail him at garyjobson@cs.com or check out his Web site at jobsonsailing.com. espn.go.com