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Hurry up and wait No wind forces postponement of Race 1 in America's Cup
Posted: Saturday February 19, 2000 12:54 AM
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- After waiting nearly five years to watch its beloved Black Magic defend the America's Cup, Auckland held its breath. Literally. Race 1 of the best-of-9 series between Black Magic and Italy's Luna Rossa was postponed Saturday afternoon because the unpredictable wind on Hauraki Gulf dropped to practically nothing. The race committee will try again Sunday to get in the first race, although the forecast again calls for light wind. Monday is a scheduled day off, and race committee chairman Harold Bennett said both teams would have to agree to race that day if there's no breeze Sunday. "It's Auckland," Bennett said, shrugging his shoulders. Black Magic and Luna Rossa, as well as a huge spectator fleet, bobbed gently under a blazing sun while the race committee waited 1 1/2 hours after the scheduled start to see if the wind would fill in. It didn't even come close. Three Kiwi sailors took off their shoes and sat in Black Magic's scooped-out transom, dangling their feet in the water and waving to passing powerboats. Pre-race nerves turned to boredom for other crew members on both boats, as they lounged on deck, stood with their arms crossed or ate lunch. At one point, Black Magic skipper Russell Coutts sat in one of his team's tenders. As usual, the Kiwis were unflappable. "It is very frustrating but we have waited this long," tactician Brad Butterworth said. "One more day doesn't make any difference. The reality is we would rather see a breeze in which both boats can get moving." The forecast had called for 8-10 knots of wind, which would have been enough to get the race going. But the breeze was just 2 knots at the scheduled starting time of 1:15 p.m., and never got higher than 4-5 knots. "Starting a race in this breeze would have been a failure. Don't do it," Bennett said. The boats wouldn't have met the time limit for finishing the first leg, and there was a chance the wind could shift 180 degrees, making the race a farce. Bennett expects winds of 12-14 knots next week. Less than four weeks ago, the wind and waves were so wild that the opening race of the challenger finals between Luna Rossa and AmericaOne was postponed a day because the race committee feared that one of the carbon-fiber racers could be severely damaged. It was an anticlimactic finish to a day New Zealanders had been looking forward to with both pride and a touch of apprehension. Because New Zealand didn't hold defender trials, the Kiwis hadn't been in an America's Cup race since May 13, 1995, when they completed one of the most dominating performances in Cup history, a 5-0 whitewashing of Dennis Conner off San Diego. Eager to see these finals get started, tens of thousands of spectators crammed Viaduct Basin Saturday morning to watch as the two yachts left their compounds. A Maori war canoe led the flotilla out of the harbor, and a blast of horns from dozens of super yachts greeted the jet-black Kiwi boat, plastered with sponsor logos, as it was towed out. The silver-and-red Luna Rossa (Red Moon) followed a few minutes later, to a tamer reception. Luna Rossa, backed by the powerful Prada design house, beat AmericaOne in the dramatic Louis Vuitton Cup finals to guarantee that an American yacht won't be in the America's Cup final for the first time in its 149-year history. Meanwhile, organizers had been set to put one umpire on each boat, but changed their minds late Friday. Officials were worried about the potential for exposure to emissions from the variety of radio, telemetry and other antennae mounted on the sterns of the yachts. Officials will revert to putting the umpires in power boats that flank the yachts.
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