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| | Saturday, November 6 | |||||
| AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Racing in the America's Cup
challenger series was canceled Sunday because officials declared
the winds were too strong.
But within a short time of officials postponing races for 24
hours, the weather improved and syndicates missed a day of
near-perfect conditions on Auckland's Huaraki Gulf.
Before midday, Vince Cooke, director of operations for the Louis
Vuitton Cup, called off racing in round-robin 2 of the elimination
series to decide which team will take on defender New Zealand for
yachting's most prized trophy next year.
Under Louis Vuitton rules, races cannot start if winds blow
consistently above 18 knots on the two race courses on Auckland's
Huaraki Gulf.
Cooke's decision came after northerly breezes gusted over 22
knots and kicked up white-capped seas to over 3 feet. Forecasters
said the conditions were unlikely to abate, and a series of squalls
was expected to whip across the gulf in the afternoon.
But within hours of Cooke's decision to postpone, winds had
weakened to less than 18 knots and the swell had dropped.
Emili Miuri, spokeswoman for Japan's Nippon team, said Cooke was too quick to call the postponement.
"We believe it would be more appropriate to try and race if
there's a slight possibility," she said. "We're very
disappointed. The call may have been a little early."
Racing is expected to resume on Monday, Cooke said.
On Saturday, the first day of the second of three round-robins
in the regatta, U.S. teams Young America, AmericaOne and Stars and
Stripes, Italy's Prada and Japan's Nippon had comfortable wins.
Over four months, 11 syndicates will meet all other challengers
in a total of more than 700 races to decide who will face New
Zealand in the best-of-9 America's Cup regatta to begin in
February.
Prada is the only team to have an unbeaten record so far, and
has 14 points. Young America and AmericaOne each have 12. |  ALSO SEE Big spenders continue to win as Round 2 starts
Young Australia leases new boat
With first round over, fleet readies for real racing
Second-round schedule and results
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