AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Four months after sinking off the California coast, a New York Yacht Club boat will sail in the America's Cup.

"USA-77 is back from the depths,'' helmsman Ken Read said Monday.

The boat will face Britain's GBR Challenge in a quarterfinal challenger series beginning Tuesday.

Read, helmsman of the New York syndicate, Stars & Stripes, can think of no other time when a yacht had "gone to the bottom'' only to return for a later America's Cup race.

"We were talking about it this morning and we couldn't come up with anything,'' he said. "If anyone would like to enlighten me, I'd welcome it.''

USA-77 filled with water and sank with its full crew aboard during a training sail off Long Beach, Calif., in July. No one was injured and the yacht was quickly salvaged, though its bow had to be replaced.

The New York used USA-66 in the two challenger rounds completed, qualifying for the quarterfinals in seventh place among eight teams.

In the meantime, the Stars & Stripes team led by Dennis Conner has been working overtime to get USA-77 in shape. One of the hardest tasks has been regaining the confidence of crew.

"USA-77 is what we've always considered to be our race boat,'' Read said. "We're confident it does have a speed edge over 66.

"The boat builders have done a spectacular job to get the boat ready for the quarterfinals. They are confident the boat is fully recovered. From the sailor's point of view, you take the data they give you but you still have to prove it.

"We've had it out there now in some good breezes. There were no creaks. In fact, it's a much quieter boat than it used to be so we're quite happy with it.''

Britain and New York first raced in 1851 when the schooner America, racing against 14 British yachts, won the trophy for New York and endowed it with its name. It has been the America's Cup since.

New York held the Cup for 132 years, from 1851 until 1983 when Australia won off Newport, R.I. For almost 120 of those years, the longest winning streak in the sports, Britain and New York enjoyed an exclusive rivalry.

It was only toward the end of New York's Cup reign that challengers from other nations entered the event.

"This is a classic match for us,'' said Peter Harrison, head of the GBR Challenge, which qualified for the quarterfinals in sixth place. "It's almost as if all the history of the Cup has been compressed into one match for the British team.

"A British yacht club challenged the New York Yacht Club for 132 years, and it's a sad thing to say but no British club ever won. That in itself means it is a massive match for the British team. We are obviously apprehensive. We have a chance to change the course of history.''

Sweden's Victory Challenge will race France's Le Defi in another best-of-seven quarterfinal in the bottom half.

In the top half of the draw, top qualifier Alinghi of Switzerland will race Prada of Italy and OneWorld of Seattle and Oracle of San Francisco will meet in an all-American match.

The winners of top-group quarterfinals will advance to the semifinals while the losers of those matches will race the winners of bottom-half matches in repecharges. Repecharge winners also will qualify for December's semifinals.

The winner of the four-month Louis Vuitton Cup for challengers will face Team New Zealand in February.