New Zealand is ready to party at 1:40 this afternoon....

At this rate, the Kiwis - despite an overwhelming advantage - won't get their greedy hands on the America's Cup till Halloween.

Emirates Team New Zealand won Wednesday's only race, but for the second straight day was denied a chance to wrap up the Auld Mug because of excessive winds.

At least the Kiwis are making better progress than Sisyphus, the poor wretch in Greek mythology who was condemned for eternity to roll a boulder uphill, only to watch it keep rolling back.

They won the day's first race, another dandy in a series full of them, but when it came to the race that might put them over the top, it was over before it began. Just 33 seconds before the start, regatta director Iain Murray waved the race off.

For the second time in the finals, the Kiwis were in good position in a race that was postponed. Officials waited about 15 minutes to see if the winds would get below the 20-knot limit. Instead, they increased to 22 knots.

Races 12 and, if needed, 13 are scheduled Thursday, when winds are expected to be a little lighter. The Kiwis lead Oracle Team USA in the series 8-1. The U.S. started the series two races in the hole because of a jury penalty.

Oracle tactician Ben Ainslie said he heard the postponement call on the radio a half-minute before the start but delayed letting his crewmates know.

"I thought I'd wait until I heard it a few more times over the radio, in case I (misconstrued) stuff and I lost the America's Cup by the wrong radio call," he said.

If the New Zealand crew was frustrated when the race was called, skipper Dean Barker wasn't letting on. "It's no certain thing that it would have turned into a win," he said. "But we were happy to be in good position."

All the America's Cup teams agreed this summer to sharply reduced wind limits as part of Murray's laundry list of safety precautions adopted after the Artemis Racing tragedy in May. The limits for the finals were cut from 33 to 23 knots; ebb tides reduce the limit further while flood tides increase them. On Wednesday the ebb tide was a strong 3 knots.

That spoiled another balmy day on the shore for onlookers, many of whom hoped they were watching an important day in sailing history.

"It was a beautiful breeze," Oracle skipper Jimmy Spithill said. "Both teams would like to have raced, but Iain's got to stick by the limits that have been set."

When racing resumes, Oracle has no margin for error. It has to win eight races in a row. "It can be done," Spithill said resolutely. "We've got one hell of a battle on our hands here. But stranger things have happened in sport. I've witnessed some pretty big comebacks."

In Race 11 earlier in the day, New Zealand won another tacking duel on the upwind third leg and finished the race 15 seconds ahead of Oracle.

Following a very strong start, the Kiwis led at Mark 1 by three seconds. Deftly executing a difficult turn around Mark 2 and heading away from shore, Oracle took the lead early in the third leg. But it was one tack behind Team New Zealand, which quickly grabbed the lead back.

The Kiwis maintained the advantage the rest of the way, although Oracle made a furious comeback on the downwind fourth leg before a bad jibe just before the end of the leg scuttled its chances.

"We kept it really close," Spithill said. "One little mistake by these guys, and we would have been able to pass them."