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Fickle winds blow out America's Cup race
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (Reuters) -- Unpredictable winds have forced the postponement of race four in the America's Cup on Thursday with Swiss challengers Alinghi leading 3-0 while Cup holders New Zealand shook up their team in a bid to revive their defense. An increasingly desperate New Zealand replaced tactician Hamish Pepper with aggressive French sailor Bertrand Pace. No team has ever come back from a 0-3 deficit to win the America's Cup, with biotechnology billionaire Ernesto Bertarelli's Alinghi now firm favorite to become the first European team to win world sport's oldest trophy. Winds had been forecast at up to 18 knots on Thursday but they remained light and shifted wildly in direction throughout the afternoon, giving race officials little choice but to postpone race four until the next scheduled race day on Saturday. New Zealand responded quickly when principal race officer Harold Bennett offered them the chance to return to base as the cut-off time for racing of 3.30 p.m. (0230 GMT) approached. Racing can only be held after the cut-off if both teams agree. Alinghi in contrast responded sarcastically when asked if they agreed to the postponement. "Thanks for that Harold, we're bitterly disappointed," Alinghi tactician Brad Butterworth said by radio, earning a mild rebuke from Bennett. Unlike the long challengers series, there are no minimum or maximum wind conditions for the America's Cup. Team New Zealand earlier shook up their afterguard in a bid to restart their defence, replacing New Zealander Pepper with Pace, a former world match racing champion sailing in his fifth America's Cup. Pace has been Team New Zealand's back-up helmsman on their second boat. "It's just a rotation off the bench, if you like," Team New Zealand head Tom Schnackenberg told local television. "We have considered other changes but the team's been sailing very well," he said. Two tactical errors cost Team New Zealand badly in races two and three while the Cup holders were forced to withdraw from the opening race with a series of gear breakages. Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker said after Tuesday's third race that he did not think crew changes were needed but said he would step aside if the team decided it was the best way to beat Alinghi. Alinghi won the Louis Vuitton Cup challengers series, beating U.S. team Oracle BMW Racing in the final. Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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