Every time Dennis Conner gets into a hole, he sails right back out. Conner steered Stars & Stripes to its third victory in the last four races against Bill Koch's America3 on Sunday to pull to 4-3 in the best-of-13 America's Cup defender finals.
Conner, the defending America's Cup skipper, has led the whole way in his three victories. A prestart penalty against America3 helped Stars & Stripes, as did the moderate breeze of 5-9 knots out of the west.On the challenger course, Italy's Il Moro di Venezia beat New Zealand by 43 seconds to close the Kiwi lead to 3-2 in the best-of-9 challenger finals turning nasty over New Zealand's bowsprit.
Il Moro's victory on the water followed by several hours a victory in the protest room.
After losing to New Zealand on Saturday, Il Moro skipper Paul Cayard filed a protest over the Kiwi bowsprit and won.
The international jury overseeing the competition sided with Il Moro and, after a five-hour-plus hearing that ended at 1 a.m. Sunday, annulled New Zealand's victory.
On Sunday, Cayard flew a protest flag again, maintaining that the New Zealand crew is still violating the rules. Another hearing was scheduled.
Conner, meanwhile, has rebounded nicely from a 0-3 deficit.
Conner pinned America3 outside the starting area the start. In an attempt to get to the line, America3 turned too close to Stars & Stripes and committed a right-of-way violation. After crossing the line even with Stars & Stripes, America3 had to perform a penalty turn and start again.