Day not wasted for teams

There is no such thing as a wasted day in the America’s Cup. That was the message from Luna Rossa skipper Max Sirena last night after a day of sitting and waiting for races that never started.

Luna Rossa and Team New Zealand were scheduled to sail races seven and eight of the Cup match, but with the wind holding below the 6.5-knot limit during the two-hour racing window, it seemed a day of simply sitting, waiting and wishing before the call was ultimately made to call it a day.

However, while there was little action for the fans in the America’s Cup village and those making up the spectator fleet to enjoy, it wasn’t a lost day for the teams.

“It’s always good to go out on the water,” Sirena explained to the Herald.

“We know when you are in the bottom of the limit, you could race or not.

“[Yesterday] we were struggling for the sea breeze to fill in, so we knew it was a marginal day in these conditions, but we’re always learning.

“We tried a few different entries in the box at the pre-start just to make sure we were ready with the set-up of the boat.

“Every time you go out on the water, if you don’t race, you learn something, so it’s positive.”

Given the conceptual nature of the AC75 class being raced in this edition of the Cup, the teams have constantly stressed the importance of understanding the class and how to get the best sort of performance out of it.

So while yesterday’s delay wasn’t fan friendly, it did give both teams the chance to inspect their respective set-ups and look for ways they could potentially get more speed out of their boats.

With no racing yesterday, the ledger remains at three wins each in the first-to-seven Cup match.

While the past few days have seen light conditions, more wind is expected today and racing should be able to get under way on time.

“[Today] conditions should be good. We should be able to race, so let’s see what’s going to happen.”

The teams are scheduled to compete in two races every day until a winner of the regatta is found.

The earliest that can be achieved is tomorrow and Thursday at the latest — provided no more days are abandoned due to the conditions. — NZ Herald