Slow, Slow, Stop - The AC no-wind shuffle continues
by AC Media/GJN on 18 Apr 2007
Waiting for the Wind!! ACM 2007/Carlo Borlenghi
Another false start for the Louis Vuitton Cup: for the whole afternoon the challengers waited, in vain, for the wind to appear on the race course. Only 3-4 knots, changing in direction, not enough to start any race. Both scheduled flights of racing were postponed until a later date.
If you’re not trying to race America’s Cup boats, the weather in Valencia this week has been beautiful with clear, sunny skies and temperatures just above 20 degrees. But there hasn’t been enough power in the spring sun to heat up the land to the point where it sucks in the air from over the race course area, generating the renowned Valencia sea breeze which offers consistent racing conditions.
Today, Tuesday, all of the race crews and their boats assembled on the two race course areas in preparation for the scheduled 14:15 race start. But at the appointed time, the Race Committee postponed the start on both courses.
As on Monday, the teams, regatta organisers, and spectator boats held station until late afternoon in an effort to get racing underway. But the wind never registered above five knots and a start was impossible.
The first scheduled reserve day on Friday is now in play with Flights 1 and 2 scheduled. Flights 3 and 4 will take the next available racing slot which means Flight 3 would be the second flight of racing on Sunday, and Flight 4 on the second reserve day, next Monday.
One team that is watching the clock tick-down are +39. Every day without sailing is a day nearer getting their broken mast back in one piece for racing.
At the base the work to fix the mast has gone on. 'We have reached the last phase of the process, we are curing the 35 metres profile, an operation that will end during the night and which is done in the oven that was given us by 'Shosholoza'.
After this step we will have to mount all the spreaders, the shrouds and the hydraulic system. We hope to be ready by midweek,' said +39 Project manager Sebastiano Rech Morassutti.
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