Weather prolongs agony

by Fiona McIlroy on 1 Mar 2003 Plans for America's Cup celebrations and commiserations have been put on hold on Saturday after race five was abandoned due to a lack of wind.

The temperamental Auckland weather has once again been the victor, with grey sky and gusty downpours on Friday making way to blue skies and calm sunshine on Saturday.

Alinghi from Switzerland currently lead the defenders, Team New Zealand, 4-0 in the first-to-five series.

The morning breeze was a steady sailable nine knots as the two crews towed out to the race course on Saturday, flanked by a number of spectator crafts, but as the 1.15pm start approached the wind started to drop down to around six knots.

Principal race officer Harold Bennett officially called the racing off at 3:15pm.

The weather forecast is looking better for the rest of the weekend with northeasterlies of 20-22 knots expected. Another low-pressure squall is due to arrive out on the Hauraki Gulf next week, meaning if racing continues past the weekend more delays are likely.

Saturday's postponement means Alinghi helmsman Russell Coutts will not win the America's Cup on his 41st birthday in New Zealand.

He may, however, repeat his efforts from 2000 and win the Auld Mug on March 2.

The abandonment is the eighth day of this America's Cup and the 27th day over the entire challenger elimination and America's Cup series.

Racing will resume on Sunday afternoon with Team New Zealand looking to notch their first point on the board and extend their defence campaign into next week.

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