Race 1 of America's Cup between postponed due to unsteady wind

VALENCIA, Spain - The opening race of the 33rd America's Cup between two-time defending champion Alinghi of Switzerland and American challenger BMW Oracle Racing was postponed Monday because of unsteady wind.

The giant multihulls USA and Alinghi 5 floated idly near the start line, well off the Valencia coast, for nearly four hours in the cold before the race was called off.

Officials will try again on Wednesday to get in Race 1 of the best-of-three series.

The teams are finally settling their differences on the water after the sailing classic was disrupted by a bitter court fight that lasted 2½ years.

Monday's conditions illustrate how difficult this regatta could be.

There were reports throughout the late morning and early afternoon that there was 6½ to 10 knots of wind at the top mark. The problem was, that mark was 32 kilometres from the starting line, so the two areas were in different weather patterns.

There was little, if any wind, at the starting line.

The entire race course encompasses 644 kilometres.

Because Alinghi and BMW Oracle Racing couldn't agree to rules for a conventional regatta involving several challengers sailing for the right to meet the defender, it defaulted to a rare head-to-head showdown, or Deed of Gift Match.

The Deed of Gift, the 1887 document that governs the event, calls for a best-of-three series. Races 1 and 3, if necessary, are 32 kilometres into the wind and 32 kilometres back. The course for Race 2 will be a triangle with 21-kilometre legs, the first one into the wind and the next two across the wind.

Despite the ponderous court fight between billionaires Larry Ellison of Oracle Corp. and Ernesto Bertarelli of Alinghi, this match has been an eagerly anticipated showdown between two of the fastest, most powerful sailboats ever built.

The boats are capable of sailing three times the speed of the wind - when there is wind.