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Let's call it best-of-5 Race 4 of America's Cup postponed again
Posted: Tuesday February 29, 2000 05:02 PM
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- With no wind again, the America's Cup has gone to the dogs. Race 4 was postponed for a second time as the Hauraki Gulf was completely devoid of wind Tuesday, leaving New Zealand's Black Magic and Italy's Luna Rossa floating listlessly for two hours before the race committee abandoned the race. Minutes after the postponement, the race committee announced that the two teams have agreed to try to get in Race 4 on Wednesday, which had been scheduled as a lay day. The forecast calls for 12-15 knots of wind with a possibility of rain. Organizers said earlier that they didn't plan to race on lay days because they were part of the schedule dictated by TV rights holders. But with the Hauraki Gulf held hostage by a high-pressure system, four racing days have been lost to windless days, one more day than there has been racing. There have been four lay days to this point, essentially stripping away the regatta's momentum. The boats haven't raced since Saturday, when Black Magic took a 3-0 lead in the best-of-9 series. No race has been closer than 1 minute, 17 seconds. That was in the opener, which also was delayed by lack of wind. Race 4 originally was scheduled for Sunday but there wasn't enough wind. The wind actually has been pretty decent on a few of the lay days, including an average of almost 10 knots Monday, according to New Zealand's weather service. The best action on the water Tuesday was when a man in a motorized rubber boat pulled his terrier on a boogie board through the spectator fleet. Supermodel Rachel Hunter, a Kiwi and the former wife of Rod Stewart, came over for a chat with the crew of Black Magic, who earlier ate ice cream bars as they shielded themselves from the summer sun. The crew on Team New Zealand's backup boat let teen-agers climb aboard and swing off ropes into the water. Some of the sailors aboard Luna Rossa read Italian newspapers as they lounged on deck, repeating a scene all to familiar in this America's Cup.
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