Waves blamed for second America’s Cup delay

Alinghi and BMW Oracle headed back to the docks on Wednesday without racing swissinfo.ch

The first race of the 33rd America's Cup was postponed for a second time on Wednesday because of problematic weather.

The contest between defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland and American challenger BMW Oracle had been due to begin at 10:06am off Valencia, Spain.

The start time was pushed to midday before being called off as waves in the Mediterranean were too high.

Organisers said waves were an average of 1.3 metres at the start area and Alinghi strategist Murray Jones said they could have reached a peak of 1.8 metres.

“There was a swell coming from one direction and waves from an offset of 90 degrees to that. We’ve been out in conditions not quite that bad, but it’s heinous. I think they’ve done the right thing by not sending us out there,” Jones said.

Light and unsteady wind on the 644-square-kilometre course halted the first race day on Monday.

The race, the first in the best-of-three series, has been rescheduled to begin on Friday.

swissinfo.ch and agencies