Their quest for sailing's top prize, the America's Cup, was swamped by a catastrophic weekend -- three injured men, two blown spinnakers, one race lost when it withdrew with equipment problems, another lost by a crushing penalty.

	On Saturday, one of AmericaOne's many problems was a torn spinnaker.

So the American sailors took a breather Monday to relax, watch the quest for the NFL's top prize, the Super Bowl, which began shortly after noon here, and think about rallying from a 3-1 deficit.

Two more losses to Prada of Italy, and AmericaOne will have lost the best-of-9 challenger final that determines who will face defending champion New Zealand in the best-of-9 final starting Feb. 19.

"We don't give up too easily," skipper Paul Cayard said. "We're looking forward to Tuesday."

That's when his boat, representing the St. Francis Yacht Club of San Francisco, will return to the six-leg, 18½-mile Hauraki Gulf course. There was no racing Monday because the Gulf was used for a regatta marking Auckland Anniversary Day.

In 1992, Cayard overcame a 3-1 deficit to win the challenger finals as skipper of Il Moro di Venezia of Italy against New Zealand. Il Moro eventually lost the America's Cup finals to Bill Koch's America3.

On Sunday, AmericaOne fell into a 3-1 deficit just as it seemed ready to win. It led at every mark, but, about one minute before the finish line incurred a penalty for getting in Prada's way.

The U.S team crossed the finish line a half-boat length in front, but had to make a 270-degree penalty turn and lost by 2 minutes, 32 seconds. Cayard disagreed with the penalty assessed immediately by umpires in a nearby boat, but there is no appeals mechanism.

"It was a quick call for a big-money race. It shuffled the deck big time. That's all right. We don't mind 3-1," said Cayard, although his dour demeanor belied his remarks. "A human being had to make a call and the umpires made the call that they thought was right. You've got to live and die with that."

In the challenger semifinals, Prada was penalized in a similar situation in a race against AmericaOne. That time, Cayard noted, it took the umpires eight minutes to make a decision. On Sunday, he said, "it was a very quick call."

Cayard agreed that, as the windward boat, AmericaOne had to stay clear of Prada. But he said Prada was not sailing a proper course to the finish line, which would have eliminated any penalty had the umpires agreed with him.

Crew members on both teams screamed at each other as the maneuvering took place. Prada tactician Torben Grael accused the Americans of unseamanlike behavior after their spinnaker, a sail used on downwind runs, blew out on the second leg.

That allowed AmericaOne to turn in a luffing maneuver, forcing Prada to follow and steer away from a course that would have kept the wind coming from directly behind. Grael said AmericaOne's move jeopardized Prada's spinnaker and rigging.

"We risk our boat," he said. "We have this rule (against) unseamanlike (tactics). When will we apply it?"

"We did what we felt was right," Cayard said.

Two of the three sailors injured Saturday raced Sunday -- Curtis Blewett and David McClintock. Blewett suffered a head wound before the race when he went up the mast to fix a halyard, and McClintock was hit hard in the back when the line towing AmericaOne to port after the race snapped.

Greg Prussia, who also went up the mast with Blewett, suffered leg and arm bruises and missed both weekend races.

All were recovering and so was the mast. Hearing cracking sounds and fearing it would break, Cayard withdrew on the fifth leg of Race 3. He used his only spare mast Sunday while the other is being repaired, which could take several days.

He said the backup mast is "awesome" and he's looking ahead to a better day Tuesday.