< Look Out --- OneWorld Made Stars & Stripes 'A Little Mad' >
The news at today's pre-repechage round press conference was on the light side. Seattle's OneWorld will go back to USA 67, which was 13-3 in the two round robins, park USA 65, which was 0-4 against Oracle in the quarterfinals.

Prada skipper Francesco de Angelis couldn't attend because he left the dock early for some last-minute two-boat testing, trying to decide whether to stick with ITA 74, which has its second new bow, or change to ITA 80, which has undergone a more extensive overhaul the last few weeks.

The question of why OneWorld picked Team Dennis Conner as its opponent for the best-of-seven knockout series remained unanswered, even after being directly put to skipper Peter Gilmour.

"None of us would like to race each other," Gilmour said. "If we could race some imaginary boat, we would choose that."

Stars & Stripes skipper Ken Read was asked if his guys were surprised they were picked and how felt about it.

"Nobody likes to be picked," Read said. "It’s a humbling thing in a way, but at the same time our team has taken it as a chance to get a little mad. You know, these guys think we’re the worst of the heap, so let’s go prove them wrong. Frankly, we think we have the ability to do that."

Read also was asked about the confidence factor, with his team coming off a 4-1 series win against Britain's GBR] and the opponent trying to forget a 0-4 defeat by Oracle BMW?

"I hope these guys are scarred for life," Read said.

Races are scheduled daily starting Friday (Saturday in New Zealand). The winners will meet in next month's semifinals, alongside Alinghi and Oracle BMW; the losers are excused.