Cyclone Pam caused another postponement for the Leg 5 departure of the Volvo Ocean Race as organisers announced on Friday that the fleet would not now leave Auckland for Itajaí, Brazil, until Tuesday at the earliest (full story below).

– Race to Itajaí delayed to Tuesday at earliest

– All skippers supported decision to wait

– Organisers still line up packed race weekend

AUCKLAND, New Zealand, March 13 – Cyclone Pam caused another postponement for the Leg 5 departure of the Volvo Ocean Race as organisers announced on Friday that the fleet would not now leave Auckland for Itajaí, Brazil, until Tuesday at the earliest.

The cyclone has already racked up winds of 200km/hr causing a delay in the departure in the six-strong fleet which was originally due to embark on the 6,776-nautical mile (nm) journey on Sunday (March 15).

It was on a collision course with the fleet shortly after they were due to leave the New Zealand city.

Race CEO Knut Frostad told a press conference in Auckland on Friday that there was no choice but to hold up the start of a leg, which was already likely to be the toughest in the nine-month, 38,739nm marathon event.

He had previously announced on Thursday that it would not leave until Monday at the earliest.

“This weather is very rare for the race, and for New Zealand. We will not start the leg until Tuesday and will probably look at an afternoon start or in the evening. That’s our current plan,” he said before adding that organisers would give a final decision by 1800 local time on Sunday.

The fleet’s skippers in the press conference backed the decision to keep the fleet in port for at least an extra two days.

“It’s obvious,” said Team Brunel’s Dutch skipper, Bouwe Bekking. “All the skippers in our meeting said straight away, ‘you’ve got to delay it’. A very good decision.”

The race emphasised that the New Zealand Herald In-Port Race was still scheduled to go ahead on Saturday (March 14) at 1400 and they hoped that a sizeable audience of Auckland’s sailing-loving residents would attend.

The In-Port series is a tie-breaker for the overall trophy and is currently splitting first and second Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing (Ian Walker/GBR) and Dongfeng Race Team (Charles Caudrelier/FRA), and fourth and fifth (Team Alvimedica (Charlie Enright/USA) and MAPFRE (Iker Martínez/ESP). See panel above.

via Cyclone Pam forces another delay to Leg 5 start| Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015.