Team New Zealand wait as racing is postponed. Photo / Photosport
Team New Zealand wait as racing is postponed. Photo / Photosport
The America's Cup match remains poised at 3-3, after a frustrating Sunday where no racing was possible due to a lack of breeze.
The day had promised so much, with a record number of boats in the spectator flotilla, on a hot, sunny Auckland afternoon.
But the most crucial element– the wind – never got above the minimum level of 6.5 knots to allow a race start.
However, the good news is a positive long-range forecast for the next few days. Around 12-14 knots are expected for Monday afternoon, which would be some of the strongest breeze thus far, with similar conditions expected for Tuesday and Wednesday.
The abandonment on Sunday means the regatta is slated to continue until at least Tuesday and a possible race 13 would now take place on Thursday.
The lack of action was a chance for the sailors to decompress – especially the grinders – who would have enjoyed a day's respite from their exhausting shifts.
Luna Rossa crew members pass the time during light winds. Photo / Photosport
Race director Iain Murray had opted to use Course A on Sunday but emphasised in his morning briefing that the chance of racing was only 50-50.
A huge fleet accompanied Luna Rossa and Te Rehutai out onto the course, with television commentators suggesting the estimated 2000-strong armada was a record for an America's Cup match.
The initial start was delayed by five minutes to 4:20, before being postponed, which set a pattern. The race organisers kept setting new times, before having to revise them again.
At times the wind in the starting box got towards seven knots, but never enough to meet the requirement of a consistent breeze in a five-minute window before the start.
Even if a race had got underway, it would have been unlikely to finish, as the wind at the top of the course was even lighter.
Team New Zealand wait as racing is postponed. Photo / Photosport
Around 4:45pm Te Rehutai was foiling – after being towed onto the course – but both teams spent most of the time just watching and waiting.
They couldn't fully relax and two or three times they were geared up to start, as racing looked like it might get underway, before hopes were dashed.
"There is not much you can do when the weather is not co-operating, you just need to stay calm, relaxed and focused," said Luna Rossa co-helmsman Francesco Bruni during a television cross.
"To be fair out here is actually easier because we only have a two-hour window to have a race. When you do Olympic classes and other stuff sometimes you wait for more than six or eight hours. We just know we need to stay concentrated."
"You can't choose the weather, can you," was Team New Zealand helmsman Peter Burling's succinct summing up of the day, while flight controller Blair Tuke joked about the comfortable contours on board Te Rehutai, as they both sat shaded by the mainsail.
"Let's take a while to admire the our cockpits here, with the shape of our boat being a nice little lounger - perfectly designed," laughed Tuke. "Nothing to do with aerodynamics, just super comfy."
