Auckland Holding its Breath

The 2002 America’s Cup challengers series has begun (click here for BBC, CNN coverage), launched with fanfare on the streets of Auckland. The competing teams paraded through the central city, the Swedes blasting ABBA, the French accompanied by can-can girls. Initial race conditions have not been nearly so exciting – for the most part winds have been either non-existent or too powerful to sail in. But at last the weather is looking up and competition is getting tougher. Says Yachting World: “the race for bottom […] is becoming as keenly contested as the race for top.” Larry Ellison fires it up in the New York Times.