
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, January 27, 1995                   TAG: 9501280013
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

AMERICA3

THE RACE is on for America's Cup, grand prix of yachting competition. While the best-of-nine match series doesn't start until May, early trials already have produced an America's Cup Hall of Fame shoo-in.

On a portentous Friday the 13th earlier this month, the all-female crew of America3 triumphantly knocked the wind out of the sails of the Cup's macho tradition.

Believed to be the first women's team to race in a main event in the Cup's 144-year history, America3 cruised past four-time Cup champion Dennis Conner's all-male Stars & Stripes team, and decked 'em at the finish line with a comfortable 1-minute, 9-second lead.

The women's victory was hailed not just as a gender coup, but a richly deserved comeuppance for the sailor boys.

Last summer, at a yacht-set party in Newport, R. I., attended by Conner and America3 crew member Annie Nelson, Conner reportedly made a slur about ``lesbians'' on the women's boat. Nelson, not appreciating his tack, gave him a shampoo with her cocktail - and the grudge match was on.

True, the women's team has had some setbacks since its historic victory, including a loss to arch rival Conner's crew the next day. But it ain't over til it's over. Corporate sponsors have been putting their money on America3, and the women - with the slogan, ``We can do it'' - are preparing to prove their seaworthiness again.

Meanwhile, best nobody call them Cupcakes.

by CNB