Yachting: Into the Finals

Everything that went before was supposed to be just practice as four U.S. 12-meter yachts squared off in the final America's Cup elimination trials off Newport, R.I. If so, practice makes perfect. After five days of round-robin match racing, Bus Mosbacher's Intrepid was still the prohibitive favorite to defend the Cup against Australia's Dame Pattie next month. Outfitted with a second titanium-tipped mast (to replace the spar that broke twice in earlier races this summer), a new rudder, and new spreaders to stiffen the mast, Intrepid twice beat her own trial horse, Constellation, utterly crushed American Eagle—beating her...

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