By JULIE ASH
Organisers of the Louis Vuitton challenger series have scheduled two races a day as they battle to complete the semifinal series on time.
Racing was postponed for the third successive day yesterday after strong winds whipped the Hauraki Gulf.
South-westerlies gusting up to 26 knots were well above the
19-knot limit that the challengers have prescribed for races to start.
Principal race officer Peter Reggio was initially optimistic as the wind hovered in the high teens through the late morning.
But as race time (1.15pm) approached, the wind was frequently gusting above 20 knots and racing was delayed.
Although the boats waited patiently on the course for nearly two hours, the much-hoped-for lull never arrived, and at 2.40pm Reggio abandoned racing for the day and for the 18th time in 48 race days.
"The wind average was in excess not just of the starting limit but the racing limit of 23 knots," Reggio said.
The semifinal series is due to be completed tomorrow, leaving just a two-day break before the start of the semifinal repechage involving the loser of the Alinghi and Oracle match against the winner of the OneWorld and Prada match.
Just three races have been completed so far in the series.
Alinghi lead Oracle BMW Racing 3-0 and OneWorld and Prada have one win each.
Although OneWorld have won two of three races sailed, it is all tied up because of a one-point penalty imposed by the America's Cup arbitration panel.
The panel also determined that an eighth race should be sailed in this match if it is needed to determine who advance, which could wreak havoc with the schedule.
"We would have preferred a seven-race series for scheduling purposes," Reggio said.
"But we'll do what the challengers want. They're the ones that matter.
"If that's what the arbitration panel feels is most equitable, we'll do it."
If racing is not completed by the end of tomorrow, the team leading the series will be ruled the winners.
If the series is tied, there will be a one-race sail-off to determine the winners on the first day that conditions allow.
The first race today is scheduled to start at 10.30am and the second an hour after the first race is completed.
Those races will be held over shorter courses.
Race organisers have predicted south-westerly winds of 9 to 15 knots.
* The exasperation brought on by the tight window for sailing agreed by the challengers is drawing its share of critics.
In the British Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Stuart Alexander wrote of an "event that runs in its own peculiar fashion, makes up its own rules, and loves to complain about a playing surface about as level as a ploughed field."
Mike Turner in the Independent on Sunday wrote: "Fact is, no one introduced to the way the America's Cup is run can believe what he or she is hearing.
"For instance, under the rules drawn up by the defender, the challengers cannot race on the area of the Hauraki Gulf which is the most likely stage for the America's Cup races.
"Imagine in motor racing if Ferrari only had to race the last race of the season against one challenger on a course they decide, in conditions they decide.
"No wonder some say that as long as this remains a quirky rich man's playground, it will never make the breakthrough to becoming one of the world's big sporting events."
nzherald.co.nz/americascup
Racing schedule, results and standings
By JULIE ASH
Organisers of the Louis Vuitton challenger series have scheduled two races a day as they battle to complete the semifinal series on time.
Racing was postponed for the third successive day yesterday after strong winds whipped the Hauraki Gulf.
South-westerlies gusting up to 26 knots were well above the
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