Press release no. 108
29 February 2000

Race Four is Abandoned Again
Race Committee Changes Schedule
Race Four Will Be Sailed on Wednesday

With four race days lost, and only three races sailed, the Race Committee has decided to change its schedule, and Race Four will now be sailed on Wednesday.

There was never a hint of wind on Tuesday on the Hauraki Gulf. A sunny morning gave way to a hazy, cloudy afternoon and didn’t generate enough heat to build a sea breeze. The wind velocity never exceeded four knots before Race Director Harold Bennett abandoned racing at 14:45.

Bob McDavitt, the New Zealand MetService Weather Ambassador says the problem is a “high pressure system that has lingered over the Tasman Sea. This results in sunny days that are good for sea breezes. But, the sea breeze from the West coast meets the sea breeze generated on the East coast, and the two cancel each other out. Normally, the Southwest sea breeze wins this battle, but not until the land starts to cool late in the afternoon.”

But McDavitt is calling for tropical rain storms to move into the area from the North over Wednesday afternoon, resulting in Northeasterly winds of 10-15 tomorrow building to 20-25 knot Easterlies on Thursday, the following scheduled race day.

Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron’s Team New Zealand currently leads the Prada Challenge, from the Yacht Club Punta Ala, 3-0 in the best of nine 30th America’s Cup Match.

ENDS

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