Couldn't help but enjoy Alinghi's "tune up".............

Yeah, the winds were light and shifty, but not so light and shifty as to not be good for a race. The Cup has been raced for in lighter and shiftier.........The America's Cup has a long history of home field advantage and perhaps Mr. Bennett is just respecting that tradition. The fact that the NZ boat and it's hula hull doesn't work well under 10 knots of breeze probably doesn't enter into it...........OR so they say, but oddly enough the boat looked really good in the lighter winds of Race 2..........I mean, I don't get it....The boat CAN sail well in less that ideal wind conditions so what's the problem? Can Bennett and company of the RNZYS be so tentative asto wait for perfect weather? Just sail the damn races! Seems to me that the longer NZ waits, the worse their chances become. I hope I'm wrong because I'd love to see this series go all nine!!!!

Had they started this race today on time, the winds would have stayed between 7 and 9 for the next 2 hours with the shift moving back and forth within a 40 degree arc. They'd have gotten the race in and it would have made for a great race putting a premium on tactics and perfect boat handling. I figure the last leg would have been in a dying breeze and it makes me recall a couple of the races back in San Diego where everyone was biting their nails and the last 200 yards took minutes with the boats crossing the line so closely.....................Well, it didn't happen yesterday anyway......Maybe today.

Spaw