America's Cup: Alinghi closing in on America's Cup title

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Nothing but stern.

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 Alinghi to a 23-second victory yesterday 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.

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 tomorrow.

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.

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.