YOUNG AMERICA TEAM SAILS FALCON2000 TO VICTORY
IN NEW YORK YACHT CLUB MAXI YACHT REGATTA

NEWPORT, R.I. - Falcon2000, sailed by Ed Baird and the NYYC/Young America crew, won the New York Yacht Club's Maxi Yacht Regatta.

Baird and NYYC/Young America supporter Don Smith shared the helm of Falcon2000, the team's 80-foot ILC Maxi yacht, defeating Jim Dolan's Sagamore and George Coumantaros' Boomerang in the four-day, six-race regatta on Rhode Island Sound June 18-21. The Maxi event was part of the NYYC's 143rd Annual Regatta. Falcon2000 earned a low point score of 9.25 for the series with three wins, two seconds and one third. Sagamore placed second with 10.50 points and Boomerang third with 14.75 points.

"The changes we made to the boat showed on the race course," said Baird. "Falcon2000 underwent modifications this winter including a slenderized keel, substantial work to the hull form and a new mast. The improvements to the boat, along with first-rate crew work, gave us the winning combination for
this regatta."

Falcon2000 finished second in Friday's race and third in the sixth and final race on Saturday. Mathematically, Falcon2000 had won the regatta by the end of racing on Friday. The Maxi fleet sailed one race each of the last two days on longer courses.

In the fifth race of the series on Friday, Boomerang had a clean start, taking the lead early and never letting it go. Sagamore followed in second place, but on the second beat fell into a hole on the right side of the course. Falcon2000 seized the opportunity and worked ahead of Sagamore into second place, but the gains were not enough to catch Boomerang finishing two minutes, 48 seconds ahead.

In the sixth and final race on Saturday, Sagamore won the 21.4-mile race sailed in a breeze of 15-19 knots. After rounding the first weather mark bow to stern, the three Maxis engaged in an exciting three-way jibing duel on the first leeward leg. The race was still close at the leeward mark, but on the second windward leg Falcon lost ground on the left side of the course. "The right side was the big winner and we weren't able to get there in time," said Falcon2000 tactician Tony Rey. Boomerang crossed the finish line first but Sagamore corrected out one minute ahead to win the final race and take second overall for the regatta. Falcon2000 placed third for the day.

Falcon2000 is being shipped tomorrow to Europe for the Maxi competition at the Copa del Rey Regatta August 2-10 in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. The 1997 circuit concludes with the Maxi World Championship in Sardinia in September. The Falcon2000 campaign is just one component of this year's on-the-water program for the NYYC/Young America Challenge. It includes eight events on the World Match Racing Circuit and an extensive two-boat testing and training program with the team's IACC boats Young America, USA-36, and NZL-39, in Rhode Island. The team's Rhode Island Training Center is located at Quonset Point in North Kingstown, R.I.