Strong winds too much for America’s Cup Friday

Strong winds on San Francisco Bay have prompted officials to cancel the America’s Cup time trials set for Friday.

In explaining the decision for cancelling the AC72 time trials, race official John Craig says winds were already blowing around 20 knots on the race course area around 9 a.m., and the forecast was for wind speeds to increase during the day:

“The right decision is to keep the AC72s out of the parade and time trials to keep everyone in good shape for the first day of racing in the Louis Vuitton Cup,the America’s Cup Challenger Series, on Sunday.”

The boat parade was still scheduled to continue, including the appearance of the replica of the yacht America.

The National Weather Service says the change in the weather from hot to cool — with some inland areas seeing temperatures about 20 degrees cooler than Thursday — is producing the strong winds blowing throughout the Bay Area.