Alinghi, America's Cup & Louis Vuitton Cup

Weather stops play in America's Cup

Photo credit: Ivo Rovira / Alinghi

Photo credit: Ivo Rovira / Alinghi

Light wind conditions on the Mediterranean Sea today forced the postponement of Match 7 of the 32nd America’s Cup after a 75minute delay. Alinghi, the Swiss Defender from the Société Nautique de Genève, leads the series against Challenger Emirates Team New Zealand, 4-2.

Match 7 will now be raced on Tuesday, 3 July, as Monday is a layday, with the start scheduled for 15:00 hours. If Alinghi can win that race it will cap a successful defence of the America’s Cup and keep the Auld Mug in Europe. The long range forecast predicts favorable conditions for racing on Tuesday.

Alinghi yesterday won its third consecutive race, a second straight come-from-behind victory, to move to match point in the series. Alinghi scored a 28-second win after trailing by 14 seconds at the first mark rounding.

JACK KATZFEY, METEOROLOGIST FOR THE ALINGHI WEATHER TEAM COMMENTS ON A TRICKY DAY:

Photo credit: Ivo Rovira / Alinghi

What were the conditions out there?
“It was a very light and very tricky day. Fortunately we didn’t get a race off in these conditions. Peter Reggio, the principal race officer, made a good call today.”

Why was the race abandoned – for what reasons?
“You really want a race that is fair and not just a roll of the dice, this is a sail boat race where the crews and the boats are pitted against one another and when the winds are that shifty, it becomes more about luck than skill and good team work, so it wouldn’t have been a fair race.

How bad were the shifts out there?
“The shifts were 20degrees or more out there and although the wind did creep up a little bit, there were still big variations across the course. There is a front coming through and the gradient breeze had shifted more easterly and the sea breeze just couldn’t get going.”

What is the outlook for Tuesday?
“It is looking a lot better. It should be a nice south easterly sea breeze – more typical than today, so it looks like they’ll get racing off then.”

Race 7 is re-scheduled for Tuesday 3 July at 15:00. Monday is a layday (day off).