WORLDTEMPUS - 9 February, 2010
Elizabeth Doerr
Hublot's sudden sponsorship of America's Cup defending champion Alinghi was scheduled to come to fruition on February 8. Yesterday was the day the first of the best-of-three competitions pitting the Swiss defending champion against American challenger BMW Oracle was supposed to take place.
The world's most famous sailing competition, unusually held in February, is currently taking place at the port of Valencia, Spain, following a legal decision not to hold the celebrated regatta in the United Arab Emirates as the Alinghi team captained by Ernesto Bertarelli originally requested. Regulations stipulate that the America's Cup is held in the country of the defender, but because Switzerland is landlocked, the defender was allowed to choose the location.
The America's Cup races—constituting a best-of-three race of 20 nautical miles—is subject to weather contingency; the wind must reach a speed of 10-15 knots for conditions to be deemed suitable for competition. On February 8, however, with the sailing teams having waited in their starting positions 49 km offshore for seven hours, the race was officially cancelled tor the day due to lack of wind.
The first race will therefore take place on Wednesday, February 10—weather permitting, that is.
