Sailing: Baird retains faith despite loss to rivals

SIX DOWN, four to go and the mighty New York Yacht Club is sweating. After another defeat here yesterday, this time at the hands of their arch- rivals, AmericaOne from San Francisco, they are lying ninth overall in the third round of the Louis Vuitton Cup, that decides the six who will go into the semi-finals.

Not that Ed Baird, skipper of Young America, is looking perturbed. He said they had constant discussions over whether to shuffle the line-up on the Bruce Farr-designed yacht, but had come to the conclusion that it was "better to dance with the one that brought you". Just making a change for the sake of change was not a good idea and could "tumble the team into greater chaos".

Baird knows that he needs to win three of the last four races to clinch sixth place. Their last race will be interesting as it is against the French who also have a chance of finishing sixth. France yesterday beat the Spanish, whose hopes have now all but gone.

The Japanese syndicate almost made their own place secure yesterday, reversing an early deficit to America True, only to lose on the final leg.