Yachting: First for Cup as crews bail out

By SUZANNE McFADDEN

The big kids and the little kids in their shiny racing boats sat and waited for hours yesterday for the wretched winds of the Hauraki Gulf to abate.

But some of the big kids went home early, as the America's Cup challengers weighed up the very real prospect of damaging their boats versus getting the Louis Vuitton Cup semifinals over and done with.

Squalls over 30 knots and confused seas in the gulf frustrated both the challenger fleet and the future Cup sailors next door - youngsters sailing the P-class nationals off the East Coast Bays.

While the P-class kids got one race away before midday, the challengers got none. While the kids waited on the beach, one by one the challengers bailed out and sailed back to port.

For the first time in the Cup, challengers asked for racing to be postponed because the conditions were too difficult.

America True helmsman John Cutler, a P-class sailor from way back, got the ball rolling when he told the race committee he doubted the winds would moderate.

Three others eventually agreed and asked to be excused from the course, until there were only AmericaOne and Prada left.

In the end time ran out, at 3 pm, and everyone was sent home.

AmericaOne desperately wanted to sail yesterday, aware they have had little time sailing in strong winds in their new boat, USA61, and knowing there are no wind limits for the America's Cup match next month.

Skipper Paul Cayard said: "We wanted to race if the conditions allowed it. We were willing to go out and race."

Cutler saw it a little differently. "Sure, Team New Zealand have set no wind limits for the cup, but we're not racing the America's Cup just yet.

"We've got one boat and one crew, and a catastrophic failure today could affect us for days to come."

The True's opponents yesterday, Nippon, agreed that they could not see anything positive in the forecast, so the pair were excused - their race postponed until today.

Le Defi France added their voice to Cutler's initially, but their competitors, Stars & Stripes, held off for another half an hour.

Racing will not start if the winds are constantly above 18 knots. Said Cutler: "It was in the high 20s, and there were some big gusts, up to 32 knots. Our forecast was for it to increase in the afternoon, so we said we didn't think we should race."

All of yesterday's races will now be held today, weather permitting. The forecast is promising - 15-knot south westerlies.

Today's racing, from 1.15 pm: Stars & Stripes v Le Defi France, America True v Nippon, Prada v AmericaOne.