Races on the fourth day of the 36th America's Cup were postponed due to low wind speed, after the start of racing had already been delayed due to a COVID-19 lockdown in Auckland.
Photo: Photosport / Chris Cameron
Despite several attempts to get racing started, the wind never consistently met the mininum limit of 6.5 knots and organisers made the call to abandon racing shortly before 6pm on Sunday.
The match will now resume at 4:15 p.m. on Monday, the organisers added, with defending champions Team New Zealand (TNZ) and challengers Luna Rossa locked at 3-3 in the best of 13 series. It's the competition's most even match for almost 40 years.
"That's yacht racing, isn't it?" TNZ skipper Peter Burling said, shortly before the abandonment. "It's very close to being sailable but just not there. You can't choose the weather."
Organisers said the forecast for day five looked "promising" with wind speeds of 10-15 knots predicted.
"One thing today did allow, was for our shore and race crew out here to continue to look at every little detail of the boat and come up with ways to make the boat faster," Burling said.
"There are definitely lots of little modifications happening all over the place.
"As a team you have to keep getting better and we definitely feel we've been improving over the course of these opening races - in terms of technique, equipment or how you're using something - and every little detail makes a big difference."
Team New Zealand foil controller Blair Tuke said it had been a frustrating wait for the conditions to improve.
But he said the team was still focused on the big picture.
"I think it's no secret that whoever wins the last race wins the America's Cup - you've got to keep improving and keep getting better.
"We definitely feel like we've improved a lot over the course of these opening races, which has been really good fun. We still feel like there's a long way to go - it a pretty even scoreline," Tuke said.
"We're definitely always trying to make little improvements, whether it's technique or equipment or how you're using something.
"Every little detail makes a big difference."
The start of this year's America's Cup was delayed by four days after the government imposed a lockdown on New Zealand's biggest city Auckland due to a new local coronavirus case.
Team New Zealand rallied to outclass Luna Rossa and make it 3-3 in light winds on Saturday after the Italian challengers had dominated the day's opening race.
The last time an America's Cup match was locked at 3-3 was when Australia II beat Liberty 4-3 in Newport in 1983.
Luna Rossa were beaten 5-0 the last time they faced the New Zealanders for the America's Cup in Auckland 21 years ago.
See how the day's events unfolded with RNZ's live blog:
Photo: Photosport / Chris Cameron
