Editorial- Flatter than Twiggy's chest
by nzeditor@sail-world.com on 19 Apr 2007
Welcome to Sail-World.Com’s America’s Cup newsletter for Day 3 of the Louis Vuitton Cup
Three days into the event, and we are yet to see a race start. The record is said to be five consecutive days lost (Auckland 2003). However from memory this was not all from a lack of wind – but more a combination of not enough, too much, or too shifty.
Sorry to say, some sources are reporting from Valencia that the weather will be no better tomorrow, or maybe even the day later.
Already this loss has now caused a re-jigging of the race schedule and racing will now take place during Round Robin 2. Bob Fisher explains what is happening in this regard, and it doesn’t take too much imagination to see what is going to happen if further days are lost.
The effect of racing two races a day in the second round will be very significant for any team that suffers damage – either through their own error, or as we saw in the case of +39 – as a result of an error by other competitors.
Some of the comments are becoming a little pointed. 'You gotta laugh. No doubt Alinghi is -- just what the Defender had in mind when they scheduled AC 32 to start in April instead of June or even May when the seabreeze is more prevalent' wrote Tom Ehman, BMW Oracle Racing’s blogmeister in his preview on
Or, from Angus Phillips writing in the Washington Post:( www.washingtonpost.com): 'Conditions looked right for a sea breeze but it never materialized, leaving race organizers scrambling for an explanation. 'We set the schedule to ensure good racing for the Cup match itself in June, when the sea breeze is reliable,' said Marcus Hutchinson, a spokesman for America's Cup Management. 'But then you have to count back to get the preliminaries in.'
Finally we are assured by sources actually on the Hauraki Gulf that racing would have been very possible on the first two days of the week, and certainly yesterday. We stand gratefully corrected.
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Good sailing!
Richard Gladwell
NZ Editor
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