Europe Mia From Cup

Nippon is in and France 3 is out, giving the America’s Cup strictly a Pacific Rim flavor.

Nippon claimed the last spot in the challenger semifinals by sailing to a 13-second victory over Rioja de Espana. That eliminated France 3, and with it any European presence for the first time since the semifinals began in 1980.

On the defender course, Dennis Conner’s Stars & Stripes handily beat the America3 women’s team aboard Mighty Mary by 1:35 to clinch second place and one bonus point going into the Citizen Cup semifinals at a site to be named later.