BMW Oracle Tuesday night in Valencia - waiting, waiting

Update / 2 13:05  Valencia, Spain (GenevaLunch) - The most that can be said about the America’s Cup sailing race is that it’s having trouble filling its sails, quite literally. The race between Swiss Alinghi and US BMW Oracle has been delayed until Friday at least 13:00, due to “leftover seas” from yesterday’s wind.

“The waves were the biggest problem. I think they were about 1.3m average size in the start area,” said Alinghi strategist Murray Jones. “That means we could’ve had a peak of 1.8m and that’s the biggest issue.

“There was a swell coming from one direction and waves from an offset of 90 degrees to that. We’ve been out in conditions not quite that bad, but it’s heinous. I think they’ve done the right thing by not sending us out there,” Jones said.

The race was scheduled to start Monday, but there was too little wind. The teams spent Wednesday morning at their bases, waiting to see which of two contradictory weather forecasts would win out: offshore or onshort breezes were predicted. In the end, they canceled each other out. Races are now scheduled for 12, 14 and 16 February.

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