Volatile Prada syndicate head Patrizio Bertelli echoed the call of Olympic chief Jacques Rogge for a fundamental change in rules on Tuesday as his team's defence of their America's Cup challengers title came to a farcical end.
Fickle winds spelled an end to the hopes of Bertelli's stylish Italian team to
defend their Louis Vuitton Cup challengers title after they spent almost six frustrating hours bobbing up and down in the Hauraki Gulf off New Zealand's largest city.
The lack of wind meant only one of two scheduled races was possible on Tuesday, leaving Prada with not enough time to catch US rivals OneWorld in their elimination semi-final.
The Italians had trailed 3-1 following a series of postponements last week caused by unsuitable winds.
Bertelli looked back with regret at those postponements.
"I think that in the future the rules should allow for greater flexibility in the race calendar in order to allow better use of the weather conditions during the whole span of the day," Bertelli said.
"Often we have seen whole days lost when a simple change to an earlier start would have allowed the competitors to race," he said in a statement.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge spoke for many observers last Friday when he questioned the relatively limited band of wind conditions between seven and 19 knots in which America's Cup challengers races are sailed.
Rogge said the America's Cup would gain greater recognition if races in the sport's premier event were staged in stronger wind conditions like most other sailing classes.
The poor conditions meant there were 18 postponements in 44 scheduled race days during the challengers series by Sunday.
Three consecutive days were lost to winds just above the 19 knot maximum limit in the elimination semi-final between Prada and OneWorld from last Friday to Sunday, leaving organisers with a backlog of races to clear.
Prada won the sixth race of the series by a massive 17 minutes and 46 seconds in hopelessly unpredictable wind conditions.
OneWorld won the best-of-seven series 3-2 after they were earlier penalised a point for breaking boat design rules.
It will now sail US rival Oracle in semi-finals repechage starting on Friday to determine who takes on leading Swiss syndicate Alinghi in the challengers' final next month.
Tuesday's loss capped an often unhappy regatta for Prada, who beat AmericaOne 5-4 in an exciting challengers final in 1999 before they were thrashed 5-0 by holders Team New Zealand in the America's Cup early the next year.
Bertelli demoted principal boat designer Doug Peterson, a former America's Cup winner, after Prada lost their first two races in the long challengers qualifying round robins in October.
Peterson later said he had been "terminated" by Bertelli.
The incident echoed a now-famous press release Bertelli issued after Prada lost their fourth race against New Zealand in the 2000 America's Cup in which he derided skipper Francesco de Angelis for "suicidal tactics".
Bertelli conceded Prada's two boats were behind the pace set by Alinghi, OneWorld and Oracle in the series.
"As to the future of Team Prada and a possible participation to the next America's Cup, I think it is still too soon to consider this option before the end of the current event," Bertelli said.
- REUTERS
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
Defeated Prada boss calls for America's Cup changes
Volatile Prada syndicate head Patrizio Bertelli echoed the call of Olympic chief Jacques Rogge for a fundamental change in rules on Tuesday as his team's defence of their America's Cup challengers title came to a farcical end.
Fickle winds spelled an end to the hopes of Bertelli's stylish Italian team to
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