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Race was supposed to start on Thursday, but the day was so calm, and the winds so shifty, that the Chief Race Officer, Harold Bennett, called it off. Harold Bennett is the man who is in charge of setting the races, and he decides whether or not they will take place. Before the racing started, Team New Zealand and Alinghi met with him to agree on what sort of conditions they would like to race in. They all agreed that if the winds were too light, and kept changing direction all the time, it would not be fair to race. Obviously, if it is too windy, and the seas are too rough, races would be called off because it would be dangerous to sail the boats in those conditions. It would also be dangerous for any spectator boats out there watching the race. Harold Bennett is having to put up with lots of people telling him that he should have let the racing go ahead, and even sending him horrible emails. He thinks that is because they don't come from New Zealand, and they don't understand what the weather can be like in an Auckland summer.

Every day racing is due to take place, Harold Bennett goes out in the committee boat, where the decisions are made. So far, Race 4 was cancelled on the first Thursday (because of shifting winds), on Saturday (there was so little wind the boats didn't even bother going out), on Sunday (the wind was too light, and kept shifting around), and again on Monday (no wind at all!) Then on Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday there was too much wind, as a big tropical storm hit the North Island, with strong winds and lots and lots of rain.

This was to be the first race we could watch at Puhinui School during school time. The computer monitors put up the aerial outside the library, and covered it with plastic. They also covered the places where plugs were joined. It was so windy that the aerial blew over at one stage, and noone could see what was happening until it was fixed up again. Inside the library, students in the senior syndicate took turns coming in to watch the racing on the TV, and the big screen.

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The conditions out on the water were very nasty. There was a big swell running, and then choppy waves on top of that. The harbourmaster asked spectator boats to stay at home, because it was too dangerous for small boats out there. It kept raining, and big gusts of winds came across. Sometimes the boats couldn't even see where they were going. Alinghi was in the lead, but Team New Zealand were very close behind.

And then disaster struck. The Team New Zealand boat hit two big waves very hard, and a piece of equipment on the mast broke. Then the whole mast broke and fell into the water. It is very dangerous when this happens. Luckily none of the sailors on board were hurt, and they immediately started to try and tidy up the damage. It can hole the boat if pieces of rigging are left to bash against the hull, so they had to get rid of the sails, and tie everything up so it couldn't move.

The support boat came alongside to help, and to pick up the sails that were cut away. Team New Zealand was out of the race, leaving Alinghi to quietly sail around the course and finish unchallenged. Everyone at school watched in horror as they saw the mast come down. They could not believe what was happening. It was the same for everyone in New Zealand who was hoping that this time, Team New Zealand could win a race.

The boat was towed back to base, and the mast from the other TNZ boat, NZL-81, was taken out and put into NZL-82. The damage to the hull will be fixed too. The support people who look after the boats probably got no sleep on Friday night, as they worked all through the night to fix the boat and make it ready for Saturday's race.