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Low blow All quiet on the America's Cup front ... too quiet
Posted: Thursday February 24, 2000 01:07 AM
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- The 30th America's Cup is turning into a snooze. For the second time in six days, racing between Italy's Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand's Black Magic was called off because the weather was too nice on the unpredictable Hauraki Gulf. There was more breeze Thursday than Saturday, when Race 1 was postponed, but officials felt it was too unstable to start the race. The highest the wind got was 8 knots at 3:30 p.m., more than two hours after the scheduled starting time. Friday is an off day, and Race 3 is now scheduled for Saturday. Officials had until 4 p.m. to abandon the race, but didn't wait quite that long. Black Magic, which leads the best-of-9 series 2-0, hitched up for the tow back to the harbor. The Italians, badly outfoxed by Black Magic skipper Russell Coutts at the start of Race 2, used some of the idle time Thursday to do a little practicing. The sails stayed up on Luna Rossa for several minutes after the postponement, as if the crew wanted to race, but finally came down. "The only place we had acceptable wind was in the starting area," race committee chairman Harold Bennett said. "(Luna Rossa) proved that to us by sailing up and down in it. Up the course, there was nothing to convince me to do it and be fair with it." Bennett said he spoke with both teams and they would have been happy to race. "Basically it was my call," Bennett said. "I wasn't happy with it." Had the race gone off, there could have been dramatic wind shifts and big wind holes, Bennett said. Some spectators spent the long delay fishing or swimming. Massimiliano Sirena was back on Luna Rossa two days after having his head gashed by the pole the Italians were using to try to clear debris from their keel on the disastrous first leg of Race 2. Sirena was taken off the boat to receive stitches, but remained on the water to watch the rest of the race. He stayed at home Wednesday when Luna Rossa went out to train on an off day.
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