The third day’s racing at the Steinlager/Line 7 Cup in Auckland was postponed yesterday due to lack of wind.

The 12 crews restlessly paced the dockside, desperate to work off some pent-up energy, and to find out who would be progressing to the quarter finals but lack of wind forced a postponement at 1600.

For Dean Barker and his Team New Zealand crew it felt like a day with a Damoclean Sword hanging over their heads, as they waited for their fate to be determined in the remaining three flights of the round robin section of this regatta. Barker is philosophical about his poor form in this regatta, he readily admits that he is struggling to adapt from the 80 ft America’s Cup Class boats, to the 36 ft MRX boats that this event is sailed in.

“It’s quite a big difference,” he said comparing the different boats, “we spend a lot of time trying to adapt and switch between the two, we’re probably more guilty than a lot of the other teams of actually doing too much in big boats, and not enough in the small boats.

He added, “for us the focus is America’s Cup, we’re just thinking purely about that and how we can be as ready as we can in February next year.” For the boys who carry the hopes of the nation on their shoulders, the emphasis in their training is about to change, “right now we’re thinking about design, we’re putting a lot more of our efforts into designing the fastest boat you can. “Once it’s in concrete you look at your racing programme, and how you can actually start racing the boats better,” he said about the next phase of their programme. – John Roberson

Results (after two days)

1st Luc Pillot – France, Le Defi Areva, 7 wins 2 loss

2nd equal Magnus Holmberg – Sweden Victory Challenge, 6-3

2nd equal Jes Gram-Hansen – Denmark, 6-3

4th Gavin Brady – Italy, Prada Challenge, 6-4

5th equal Paolo Cian – Italy, Mascalzone Latino Challenge, 5-4

5th equal Ed Baird – USA 5-4

7th equal Rod Davis – Italy, Prada Challenge, 4-5

7th equal Peter Holmberg – U.S.A., Oracle Challenge, 4-5

7th equal Ken Read – USA, Team Dennis Conner, 4-5

10 equal Dean Barker – New Zealand, Team New Zealand, 3-6

10th equal Ian Walker – Britain, GBR Challenge, 3-6

12th Andy Green – Britain, GBR Challenge, 2-8