Coutts

St. Paul's running back Mike Kernan thanked "Mother Nature" for Friday's torrential downpours, which forced the postponement of the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association B Conference title game until yesterday at Boys' Latin."

SAN DIEGO -- Team New Zealand, undefeated entering yesterday's races in the America's Cup challenger trials, extended its winning streak to five with an impressive, 1-minute victory over Nippon Challenge.Team New Zealand, which yesterday clinched first place in the first round robin, finishes tomorrow against Sydney '95, which has won two races, against Spain and France.Nippon (3-2) is scheduled to race Sydney '95 today."We played to get the right-hand side," said Brad Butterworth of the Team New Zealand afterguard.

If portions of the tidal Potomac River seem unusually crowded with boat traffic today through Friday, take a closer look. More than 300 of the additional boats won't be racing to the best striped-bass grounds. Instead, those extra boats and their drivers will be looking for black bass in the $175,000 Bassmaster Maryland Invitational.The tournament, the second of 10 qualifying events for the BASS Masters Classic, will operate out of Smallwood State Park's Sweden Point Marina on Mattawoman Creek.

The Columbus Cup match-racing regatta has been finalized as an eight-team event, with skippers and crews from seven countries scheduled to sail a round-robin series of races on Chesapeake Bay the week of Oct. 8.Among the returning foreign skippers, who will bring three crewmen with them and be complemented by as many as six American crews, are Russell Coutts of New Zealand and Makoto Namba of Japan.Coutts, who is ranked No. 4 in World Match Racing Conference standings, placed second to Peter Gilmour of Australia last year.

SAN DIEGO -- An America's Cup International Jury convened last night to consider America3's protest that Team Dennis Conner's keel change in the wake of Sunday's near-sinking was illegal both in application and protocol. After 4 1/2 hours, the jury decided to reconvene today.A ruling in favor of America3 would, in essence, end Conner's campaign and send America3's Mighty Mary into the defender finals against PACT 95's Young America. A ruling in favor of Conner would put his Stars & Stripes back on the water against Young America today, needing a victory to eliminate Mighty Mary from the semifinals.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- The man behind Team New Zealand's early success in defending the America's Cup here is Sir Peter Blake, who brought yachting's oldest and most prestigious trophy to this island nation in the first place. As syndicate head in San Diego in 1995, Blake put together such a powerful campaign that he gave veteran U.S. skipper Dennis Conner, sailing Young America, a 5-0 beating. It was only the second time in its 144-year history that the Cup had left the United States.

Gary Jobson's ship has come in. The Annapolis yachtsman, author and television commentator will be honored for his tireless promotion of sailing when he is inducted Oct. 16 into the America's Cup Hall of Fame. The selection of Jobson and Australian Alan Bond - both America's Cup winners - was announced yesterday by the Herreshoff Marine Museum in Bristol, R.I. They will join the 53-member Hall, which includes Dennis Conner, Russell Coutts, Ted Turner and the late Sir Peter Blake. "It's a huge honor," said Jobson, 52. "When I look at the list of members, I feel quite humble.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Its days as a dark horse over, New Zealand won its second straight America's Cup race today by 2 minutes, 43 seconds, as double trouble struck the Italians. First, Prada picked up a piece of trash on its bow and, in the effort to clear it, bowman Massimiliano Sirena took a serious gash to the head. He was hit by one of the carbon-fiber poles being used in a vain effort to dislodge the trash, the exact composition of which never was determined, but which had a rope attached.

The 1990 Cadillac Columbus Cup takes over the Inner Harbor this week, as eight teams representing seven countries and the city of Baltimore bring a slice of world-class sailing to the Chesapeake Bay.Up against that world-class field, which includes four skippers ranked among the best match-racing sailors in the world, is Kin Yellott, whose Team Baltimore is one of two American teams in the regatta.Last year, Yellott finished seventh in the field of eight boats. This year, however, Yellott, who owns Haven Corporation, said he thinks there is a chance the outcome might be somewhat different.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Weather cancellations took a 4-3 lead over race days in the America's Cup today as lack of wind forced the boats back to the dock, with Team New Zealand still sitting on a 3-0 lead in the best-of-nine competition. With only three races started in 10 days, the two crews agreed within minutes of the fourth cancellation to race tomorrow (tonight in Baltimore), slated in the official timetable as a lay-day. The forecast tomorrow is for a sea breeze of 12 knots to 15 knots from the north east, exactly the conditions the Italians have been hoping for to reverse their fortunes.