America's Cup: Wary eye on weather

By JULIE ASH


Weather expert Roger Badham believes Valencia could be one of the most testing America's Cup venues.

With continual delays in Auckland during the last Cup because of either too much wind or not enough, organisers were after a location that could provide a stable breeze day in, day out.

However, while conditions off Valencia may not be as extreme as those on Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, Badham believes they will be very tricky to forecast.

"It is a bigger bolder picture here in Valencia. The breezes here are controlled by things that are much more delicate and much more difficult to put your finger on."

The breeze was not too soft and not too strong, unlike Auckland.

Badham said that at Fremantle and other Cup venues, sometimes you could get massive fronts and it was either blowing dogs off chains or was very light.

However, although the breeze at Valencia was moderate, it had a tendency to be extremely uneven - more so than the Hauraki Gulf.

The sea state also had a life of its own as it was affected not only by the breeze in the area but by the wind swirling farther round the coast.

"Here, if the sea breeze is between 9 to 18 knots, sometimes, particularly in later afternoon, you can have a sea wave which is much lumpier than that which is reflecting a wind of 20 to 25 knots.

"That breeze is not where we are sailing but it is not very far away ... there is a stronger sea breeze to the southeast of us which is feeding in a bigger sea wave."

In a bid to reduce costs, America's Cup organisers have proposed a restriction in the number of weather boats each syndicate has.

The organisation will then provide some general weather information which all teams can use at a cost.

"Last time it was getting a little out of hand. In the old days it was just me in the weather boat somewhere up the course talking to the guys before the start," Badham said.

"That has sort of blown out to two, then three, and then four.

"I think Alinghi had eight weather boats last time. Team New Zealand had six.

"This time there is going to be a restriction to two or three weather boats per syndicate and the rest of the information you have to get from the standard supply."

With the start of the Louis Vuitton Challenger series now just over 2 1/2 years away, Badham has already spent a considerable amount of time in Valencia watching the weather.

"We have a lot of time but there are a lot of complexities," he said.

"You have to understand the big picture in terms of being able to forecast it on a daily basis but also understand the small picture in terms of how the breezes behave on the track so we can go the right way when we get off the line."

Emirates Team New Zealand were outclassed by Australian James Spithill on the startline in the second day of racing in the second pre-regatta in Valencia.

Spithill, who sailed with OneWorld in the last Cup, is now at the helm for Team Luna Rossa, who scored a convincing 57s win over Team NZ after a dream start.

"We lost the start and lost the race," said Team NZ's managing director, Grant Dalton. "Spithill won the start and shut us out. I think the guys did a nice job at keeping it close as it could have got nasty.

"When you are starting in the light in these boats it seems to be ... if you get shut out in the start you don't have a lot on. The options don't really open up to you. Starting is seriously important - more than I realised having only watched it from the outside."

Racing was delayed for four hours by lack of wind and as a result only one round was sailed.

Defenders Alinghi remain the only unbeaten team after beating the French K-Challenge by 1m 17s.