Sailing: Conner leaves Britain on the rocks

Only as recently as last Monday, the GBR Challenge team were looking forward hugely to their Louis Vuitton Cup quarter-final match against Stars & Stripes. There was the prospect of making headlines by beating the New York Yacht Club for the first time in the history of the Cup, validating two years of blood, sweat and tears and £25m of Peter Harrison's money, and moving on to the next phase of the contest, from where any win would be enhancing established credibility. The mood was rather different yesterday after Dennis Conner's sailing team had marched away from them to win their third straight race and take the best-of- seven contest to match point at 3-1.

An overnight mode change, where the shore crew worked through the night to deliver more upwind bite made a difference. But not enough. Since the first race of the quarter-final where starting helmsman Andy Beadsworth managed to sucker Stars & Stripes' skipper Ken Read into a prestart foul, handing GBR Challenge the race, Ian Walker and his team have not had a serious sniff of a win. And while the British boat was noticeably faster yesterday, Team Dennis Conner are in the throes of a gear change that many experts believe will take them much further in this competition than their eighth place after the first two rounds would have suggested.

The writing was on the wall on Monday when skipper Ken Read asserted that the team had satisfied themselves that USA 77 was faster than USA 66, the boat they used in the first two rounds. "The Splinter", as the latest, narrower, boat has become known around the dockside, is the same vessel that sank in 100 feet of water off Long Beach in July just a few days into its sailing life.

A new front section was attached to the salvaged back half of the hull, but there has been little time for testing the boat since it was relaunched here. Optimistic British supporters suggested that there was no way Team Dennis Conner could know they were upgrading when they switched boats.

But the differences were manifest last week and Walker and his team will need luck as well as skill to win three straight races. "I feel much more optimistic at the end of today than I did yesterday," said Walker after comparing a defeat by more than two minutes on Friday with that of 34 seconds yesterday. "We're not out of this quarter-final yet and we are a team who are known for fighting hard."

Though there were encouraging signs yesterday in boat-speed terms, GBR Challenge still appear to have problems getting off the start line in good shape. Yesterday Walker, the skipper and race helmsman, took the wheel for the prestart phase, the first time he has done so in competition. Stars & Stripes won the start and led the race from start to finish.

"Our boat has some idiosyncrasies that we're not used to," he explained. "And because I have spent the most time at the wheel we decided that I should do the start." The team are not admitting to handling problems but there are those in Auckland who have been scrutinising the matter closely who believe otherwise.

"There's something going on below the waterline on that boat," said Peter Montgomery, the experienced commentator for New Zealand television. "Because there is a common thread that whether it's Andy Green, Andy Beadsworth and now Ian Walker that starts, the boat struggles to accelerate during the prestart sequences and they are getting cleaned out on every start.

"They are getting beaten by the margin that they lose the starts and the starting helmsmen are getting painted darker than they are."