Frustrating day as light winds derail racing schedule

4.00pm

In a day of wildly fluctuating wind direction, frayed nerves, protests and abandoned races, today's sailing in the Louis Vuitton Cup series came close to delivering a fairytale victory to a little-fancied team from Italy.

Mascalzone Latino, who had won only one race out of 12 starts, appeared headed for an upset win over countrymen Prada before their inexperience beterayed them on the final leg.

Clinging to a lead of about 125 metres, the crew of ITA-72 attempted to gybe their gennaker. But the huge sail twisted into an hour-glass shape and had to be dropped and rehoisted.

Prada's Luna Rossa ITA-74 slipped past to win by one minute 42 seconds.

The Mascalzone crew weren't the only frustrated ones on the Hauraki Gulf today.

Squalls caused a two-hour postponement on both race courses before action resumed on the shorter, 12.5 mile Course B shortly after midday.

No sooner had racing begun than the wind died and massive shifts gave fits to tacticians, sailors and race officers alike.

Leg time limits saved OneWorld and Victory Challenge who were losing their matches when the leading boats ran out of time to cross the finish line.

Alinghi, like Luna Rossa, beat the clock and both teams scored their fourth point in four outings in Round Robin Two.

All Flight Six matches were postponed without starting.

The fickle winds cruelly ripped victory away from the Chris Dickson-skippered Oracle USA-76 as they ran out of time to complete the last leg of their race within a few hundred metres of the finish line.

Oracle were estimated to be more than 12 minutes ahead of Sweden's Victory Challenge SWE-73 when the 45-minute time allowed to complete the final leg ran out.

Earlier Oracle boss Larry Ellison's gamble to make Dickson the skipper of his team looked to have paid off, as the boat from San Francisco came from behind to get ahead of Victory Challenge.

A big wind shift on the first leg had helped the Swedes into the early lead before Oracle came back at them. The US boat benefited from a wind shift of their own to give them a 15sec margin at the first mark.

Victory chased Oracle hard on the first downwind leg, closing Oracle's lead slightly from about four to three boat lengths, and 14sec at the second mark.

But on the second upwind leg Dickson's boat, without Ellison in the crew today, pulled ahead and into a lead of more than 300 metres.

At the third mark Oracle were 1min 45sec ahead. Victory, with a gennaker more suited to the lighter airs, closed up to 100 metres on the second downwind leg but the American boat pulled away again. However, it was not quickly enough as the wind died away to almost nothing.

In another display of slow-motion yacht racing, OneWorld and Stars & Stripes also ran out of time on the last leg of their race, much to the relief of many after a bizarre incident at the second mark.

After rounding the first mark, with OneWorld leading by 1min 15sec, the crews were told the second mark would be too close to some islands and officials suggested the race might be abandoned.

The mark had been moved because of a huge wind shift during the first leg.

A decision was made to carry on but as a proper mark could not be laid a boat was sent to the point.

It appeared the mark boat stopped behind the two racing yachts, and as Stars & Stripes had been trailing before the boats turned around, they were first to reach the makeshift mark, leading by 56sec at that point.

In the dying, shifting winds OneWorld caught up with Stars & Stripes and then the lead changed -- slowly -- several times before the time ran out.

As both boats had been protesting incidents that happened during the race, the lack of a result saved a possible lengthy hearing tonight.

nzherald.co.nz/americascup

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