America's Cup: High winds cancel racing
Race organisers have called off sailing of race 11 because of excess wind.
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Strong winds across San Francisco harbour forced cancellation of today's race 11 and 12 in the America’s Cup.
Before the cancellation, announced after a half-hour delay to the usual start time of 8.15am NZ time, gusts were already exceeding the 23-knot limit for sailing. This could be reduced to 21 knots if the strong ebb tide of 2.5 knots is taken into account.
The winds are caused by a low depression off the coast and are not the usual conditions of winds created by hot desert air rising as the day goes on.
Emirates Team New Zealand is only two wins away from lifting the Cup from holder Oracle Team USA.
Team New Zealand has notched up seven wins in the first-to-nine series, which reached a nail-biting climax on Monday (NZ time) as the two catamarans finished race 10 with just a 17s difference.
Commentators say there is a less than 50% chance of racing today. Racing is also planned for tomorrow.
Oracle’s improvement has made the series more dramatic, attracting record TV audiences in New Zealand and international media coverage that has largely been missing until now.
Confidence in a New Zealand win has also spurred activity in Auckland on a potential staging of the Cup defence in 2017, with continued government funding being considered.
Nevil Gibson
Wed, 18 Sep 2013
Wed, 18 Sep 2013
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America's Cup: High winds cancel racing
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