America's Cup: Light winds force abandonment of racing on opening day of challenger semis

Emirates Team New Zealand. Photo / AP.

Light winds in Bermuda look set to disrupt the opening day of the Louis Vuitton challenger semifinals.

Conditions are looking marginal for racing today, with the breeze dropping to 2-5 knots during the racing window. The minimum wind strength for racing is six knots.

The four semifinalists - Emirates Team New Zealand, Ben Ainslie Racing, Artemis and Team Japan - are all drifting about out on the race course now, with no team even close to getting foiling as the headed out onto the Great Sound.

The race committee won't call the racing off early, however, they will take a wait and see approach to what weather gods dish out.

We have live updates of as the morning unfolds. Radio Sport and Newstalk ZB have live commentary of all Team New Zealand races.

To get a race underway, the average wind speed in the start box needs to stay above six knots during the five minute sampling window of between eight and three minutes before the scheduled start time.

The average is measured over 30 second periods. If at any point in the sampling window the average drops below six knots, the clock will be re-set and they will start again.

During one of last month's practice rounds in the lead-up to the event, Murray said they had 25 attempts to start a race - all failed. So the teams could be in for a long, frustrating day out on the water.

If there is no racing today, the programme will roll over into tomorrow's reserve day. Murray said the conditions later in the week look "pretty sporty" with the conditions expected to be at the upper end of the wind range.

"It will be a test for the crews at the other extreme of the wind range - obviously their skills in sailing the boats in what will be extremely high speeds, and also the concern of breakages that come with that. So we've got a pretty interesting week coming up."

Team NZ opted to take on British team Ben Ainslie Racing in the first-to-five semifinal series, while Artemis and Team Japan will face off for the other spot in the final. Each semifinal pairing has two races scheduled today.