By HELEN TUNNAH and TERRY MADDAFORD
Team New Zealand agreed to sail on yesterday's scheduled rest day despite weather forecasts predicting lumpy seas and strong winds.
America's Cup principal race officer Harold Bennett said both the cup-holders and Alinghi had agreed on Thursday to try to sail the fourth race of
the regatta yesterday after a nine-day break.
"Both teams agreed to go out and they knew what things were like.
"It wasn't excessive. It was a very good sailing day," Bennett told the Weekend Herald.
He bore the brunt of considerable criticism in Europe and the United States for not starting the race in flukey winds on four previous occasions. But yesterday's racing began in good conditions: 17-knot northeasterlies with a moderate sea.
"Everyone was quite excited about it when they went out," said Bennett.
The 1m swell perhaps had a little top on it from the chop, which was sailable, he said.
Before racing began a rain squall passed over the course, raising the wind strength temporarily, and during the race a second squall struck the boats minutes before Team New Zealand's mast snapped.
That had seen the wind increase to 23 knots on the third leg, gusting up to 26 knots. Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said their data showed gusts up to 29 knots.
The wind had dropped to below 20 knots when the mast broke after the boat slammed into two large waves.
America's Cup chief umpire Bryan Willis said Team New Zealand must race today if able, because it was a designated race day and under the rules no request for a delay could be made.
The prospect of unbolting the Auld Mug and handing it to the Swiss is obviously hitting hard down at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron. On his way back from yesterday's disastrous race, squadron commodore Bill Endean admitted he had "had better days".
Asked to comment further on the situation, Endean said: "I'm not prepared to speak - on anything."
Don Cowie, who has sailed with many of the Team NZ sailors, struggled to hide his disappointment.
"It was a bit tough on them. No one has been looking down on them from above," said Cowie, who was with Prada in 2000 and OneWorld in the Louis Vuitton Cup challenger series this time.
"I'm bitterly disappointed for them. I feel sick. They will be hurting hard."
Cowie did not think yesterday's conditions were too severe.
"We did a lot of racing in that sort of stuff last time."
Continuous coverage of today's America's Cup race will begin on nzherald.co.nz at 12.30pm.
Race 4: Pictures of the dismasting | Commentary
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule and results
By HELEN TUNNAH and TERRY MADDAFORD
Team New Zealand agreed to sail on yesterday's scheduled rest day despite weather forecasts predicting lumpy seas and strong winds.
America's Cup principal race officer Harold Bennett said both the cup-holders and Alinghi had agreed on Thursday to try to sail the fourth race of
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.