America's Cup: First Race of America's Cup is Abandoned

Race One rescheduled for Wednesday

by Jane Eagleson

Race One of the 33rd America's Cup Match was abandoned for the day on Monday afternoon.

With very light and shifting winds over the race area, the Race Committee was unable to find suitable conditions for racing.

"We had a southerly breeze well offshore that was occasionally filtering into the start area," explained team meteorologist Chris Bedford (USA). "But closer to shore we had a westerly breeze for most of the afternoon. At times it was showing up to 14 knots at the top mark.

"So there was pressure (wind) trying to make it onto the course, but because of these two winds converging, we never had enough breeze over a 20-mile leg to get going... I think the Race Committee did a good job today."

After waiting for nearly four hours, and moving the race course area in an effort to find more wind, Principal Race Officer Harold Bennett decided to abandon racing for the day, shortly before 14:00 CET.

Under the schedule of the 33rd America's Cup, the next race day is Wednesday, 10 February, when the start is scheduled for 10:06 (04:06 EST, 01:06 PST).

Strong winds are forecast on Tuesday and will linger into the early hours of Wednesday morning.

"On Wednesday, I'm looking for quite a bit more seaway; we'll probably be getting some kind of a swell down from the Northeast, along the coast," Bedford said. "We'll likely be in a waning Northwesterly that may turn into some kind of a sea breeze in the afternoon, if we're lucky. That's what we're keeping our fingers crossed for."

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