The duel began well enough for the New York Yacht Club's America II. The 12- meter sloop led its competitor, New Zealand, for most of their 24-mile match race on the choppy Indian Ocean off Fremantle, the port for Perth in Western Australia. But then the Fremantle Doctor, a blustery afternoon wind so-called because it cures the 100 degreesF temperatures of the antipodal summer onshore, blew in and riffled the pages of the record book. The fiber glass- hulled New Zealand, dubbed the "Plastic Fantastic," surged ahead on the wind and crossed the finish line 15 seconds ahead of America II,...
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