No wind, so America's Cup Race 4 abandoned again

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- With no wind again, the America's Cup has gone to the dogs.<br><br>Race 4 was postponed for a second time as the Hauraki Gulf was completely devoid of wind Tuesday, leaving

Monday, February 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) -- With no wind again, the America's Cup has gone to the dogs.

Race 4 was postponed for a second time as the Hauraki Gulf was completely devoid of wind Tuesday, leaving New Zealand's Black
Magic and Italy's Luna Rossa floating listlessly for two hours before the race committee abandoned the race.

The best action on the water was when a man in a motorized rubber boat pulled his terrier on a boogie board through the
spectator fleet.

With even the race committee chairman admitting to being bored by the lack of wind that has forced four postponements in 11 days,
officials announced that the two teams and TV rights holders have agreed to try to get in Race 4 on Wednesday, which had been
scheduled as a lay day.

The forecast calls for tropical rain storms with winds of 12-15 knots from the northeast. Race 5 in the best-of-9 series, which Black Magic leads 3-0, will remain scheduled for Thursday, when the wind could build to 20-25 knots.

"We've had some good sailing days when we're not sailing, and today another day of no breeze where we should be sailing," race
committee chairman Harold Bennett said. "But the prospects from here look a lot better."

Organizers said earlier that they didn't plan to race on lay days because they were part of with the Hauraki Gulf held hostage by a high-pressure system, four racing days have been lost to windless days, one more day than there has been racing. Adding in four lays to this point, the regatta's momentum has been stripped away.

And there hasn't been much drama on the water, with Black Magicrouting Luna Rossa in all three races, with no margin closer than 1
minute, 17 seconds. That was in the opener, which also was delayed by lack of wind.

"We're getting bored out there, too," Bennett said of the race committee. "I think that is a problem. We want a race as much as the sailors do."

Bennett said discussions about racing on lay days began on Monday, and that "delicate negotiating" took place Tuesday. With TV contracts involved, "I know there were telephone calls flying all over the world from about midday today, to see whether this was
in fact possible," Bennett said.

The boats haven't raced since Saturday. Race 4 originally was scheduled for Sunday but there wasn't enough wind.

The wind actually has been pretty decent on a few of the lay days, including an average of almost 10 knots Monday, according to New Zealand's weather service.

Bennett said that despite appearances, this isn't the wrong time of year to be racing in the Hauraki Gulf.

"We do generally get a lot of good sea breezes," Bennett said. "But the weather pattern we're experiencing this year is a little
different than what we've seen for the last number of years. I wouldn't say it's the wrong time of year, we've just struck a bad patch."

The high pressure results in sunny days that are good for sea breezes, but the southwesterly breeze from the Tasman Sea meets the northeasterly from the Pacific in the gulf and they cancel each other out.

On Tuesday, supermodel Rachel Hunter, a Kiwi and the former wife of Rod Stewart, came over on a chase boat for a chat with the crew of Black Magic, who earlier ate ice cream bars as they shielded themselves from the summer sun.

The crew on Team New Zealand's backup boat let teen-agers climb aboard and swing off ropes into the water.

Some of the sailors aboard Luna Rossa read Italian newspapers as they lounged on deck, repeating a scene all to familiar in this
America's Cup.