Light winds foil racing

Only ACC boats and 12m Grand Prix boats race at the America's Cup Jubilee

After two days of incredible racing at the America's Cup Jubilee, the pace slowed on Wednesday, as hot, hazy weather was the order of the day. Sullen skies and an almost total lack of breeze forced a delay in racing and when it did start, competitors had to contend with the biggest and fastest tidal currents of the year. The resulting light wind meant that only the America's Cup Class and the 12-Metre Grand Prix division completed races.

In the Prada 12-Metre World Championships Russell Coutts and his mixed Swiss/Kiwi Alinghi Challenge crew from aboard South Australia beat John Bertrand and his team on Australia II in the Grand Prix Class, with Team New Zealand Cameron Appleton and the Team New Zealand contingent aboard Kiwi Magic finishing third.

Coutts and his shipmates sailed their 12-Metre South Australia around the course in first place, pursued but never caught by Bertrand and the Aussie veterans on Australia II. The Grand Prix boats barely weathered the tidal trap waiting for them at the leeward mark but were able to get around the mark, harden up on port tack and then drift sideways in the tide for over a mile until they got out of the worst of the current on the Isle of Wight shore.

Coutts leads on points after three races, with a low-point score of 4. Appleton is second with 8 and Bertrand is third with 11.

For the America's Cup Class fleet, the first order of business was a posting from the International Jury announcing that Prada's Luna Rossa had been disqualified from Tuesday's round the island race. But this won't affect the standings on the points table, as that race isn't scored in the overall results.

On the water, the same light wind conditions meant that the one race achieved on a shortened course turned into an endurance contest. Luna Rossa led off the starting line, and went up the right side of the course with the majority of the fleet. The Italians started tacking to weather of their nearest competitor, GBR Challenge's GBR-52, and were able to extend their lead around the track.

Team New Zealand and GBR-41 went way out to the left, and were over 30-minutes behind the leaders at the top mark. At the finishing line, Luna Rossa scored a 3:42 win over GBR-52, with America3 a further three minutes behind.

The America's Cup Class will complete the fleet racing section of their programme on Thursday morning, and the top four on the points table will carry on with a match racing series in the afternoon.

STOP PRESS: At the America's Cup Jubilee ball last night America3's Bill Koch paid £310,000 for 31 bottles of Hennessy eaux de vie. Each bottle was dated from an America's Cup challenge. The proceeds have been donated to the RNLI.