AMERICA’S CUP / DAILY REPORT : Nippon’s Streak Ended at Seven by New Zealand

New Zealand led off the challenger semifinals Sunday by ending the Nippon winning streak at seven with a 1-minute 43-second victory while Italy beat Ville de Paris by 1:24 in a dying breeze.

The French’s disappointment was compounded when grinder Thierry Chappet fell through a hatch and suffered three broken ribs at the start of the race.

When racing resumes Tuesday, the French (14-8) will try to recover against New Zealand (19-3), while Nippon (18-4) will face Il Moro (16-6). The challengers will race each other three times during the triple-round-robin semifinals.

The shifty, southwesterly winds Sunday were only five to 10 knots, ultimately fading to four, and the sea off Point Loma was as flat as a duck pond.

Nippon skipper Chris Dickson ran into a spectator boat in the pre-start maneuvering, “trying to follow (New Zealand skipper) Rod (Davis) through the mine field of spectator boats.”

Nippon threw one protest flag shortly before the gun, but the umpires green-flagged it.

Then they took their boats left and right, respectively, at the start, and halfway up the leg the Kiwis were able to cross the Japanese on port tack, without the right of way, to take control. The Kiwis were generally faster upwind, downwind and on the three reaches of the 20-nautical mile course.

But Dickson said, “If it was the optimum conditions for New Zealand, they’ve got problems. They didn’t rocket away from us . . . and we were making a lot of mistakes.”

Davis said, “It wasn’t a boat speed day. It was head up, look up the course and try to figure out what’s going to happen next (with the wind).”

The Italians’ ratings had slipped in the third round when they lost to New Zealand and Nippon, but they seem to have improved their upwind speed with a new keel and other modifications between rounds. They didn’t use any carbon-fiber sails Sunday because the wind was so light.

Beating Ville de Paris doesn’t prove they can beat the front-runners, but it should boost the morale behind the wall along Shelter Island Drive.

Skipper Paul Cayard carried his Star boat crewman, Steve Erickson, as the idle 17th man.