America's Cup- Day 3 comes and goes, without racing

by ACM on 19 Apr 2007
Light conditions continue to wreak havoc at the Louis Vuitton Cup in Valencia. After three scheduled race days, no matches have been sailed in Round Robin One.

On Wednesday, race officials and the 11 teams returned to the race course area to the North and South of Port America’s Cup, but conditions were similar to the two earlier days this week: plenty of sunshine and clear skies, but still not warm enough to drive the sea breeze.

At 16:05, Principal Race Officers Peter Reggio and Harold Bennett postponed racing for the afternoon for the third consecutive day. The postponed Flights 5 and 6 are now scheduled next week.

Flight 5 will be the second flight of racing on the reserve day on Monday.

Flight 6 is bumped to the first day of Round Robin Two, where normally, just one flight of races is scheduled.

The scheduling of one flight per day in Round Robin Two allows for such an eventuality. With the postponement today, the first day of Round Robin Two, Wednesday, 25 April, will now also include Flight 6 from Round Robin One.

Representatives from the Race Committee spoke with the media late Wednesday afternoon saying the conditions posed a challenge to sailors, organisers and America’s Cup fans alike.

'It is frustrating, but we can only wait for fair conditions. There’s nothing else that can be done,' said Javier Esolano, the second race official for Juliet Race Committee on the south race area.

'The teams don’t want to race when the conditions are this uncertain and I think they are quite glad we don’t start races race on days like today. Maybe in previous Louis Vuitton Acts they didn’t mind taking the risk but now there is a lot more at stake. Today the MDS buoys furthest from the shore weren’t registering more than four and a half knots.'

Scheduled matches on Thursday:

FLIGHT 7

Match Team
1 BMW ORACLE Racing vs. AREVA Challenge
2 Luna Rossa Challenge vs. +39 Challenge
4 United Internet Team Germany vs. Emirates Team New Zealand
5 Mascalzone Latino-Capitalia Team vs. China Team
6 Desafío Español 2007 vs. Team Shosholoza

Bye - Victory Challenge

FLIGHT 8

Match Team
1 Victory Challenge vs. AREVA Challenge
2 BMW ORACLE Racing vs. +39 Challenge
4 Desafío Español 2007 vs. United Internet Team Germany
5 Mascalzone Latino - Capitalia Team vs. Team Shosholoza
6 China Team vs. Emirates Team New Zealand

Bye - Luna Rossa Challenge