America's Cup semi-finals postponed due to high winds

FILE PHOTO: Britain Sailing - America's Cup 2016 - Portsmouth - 24/7/16(L-R) Oracle Team USA, Land Rover BAR, Emirates Team New Zealand, Softbank Team Japan and Artemis Racing during the race. Reuters / Henry Browne / File Photo / Livepic

(Reuters) - Racing in the America's Cup semi-finals was postponed by the organisers on Wednesday due to winds above the maximum allowed for a race to take place in the competition.

The America's Cup Race Management (ACRM) confirmed the postponement until Thursday on twitter.

The delay will be a relief to Emirates Team New Zealand, who spent all night repairing their catamaran and its "wing" sail after "pitch-poling" and capsizing during a race against Britain's Land Rover BAR on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: France Sailing - Louis Vuitton America's Cup World series - Toulon, France - 11/09/2016 - (R to L) Emirates Team New Zealand and Softbank Team Japan in action. REUTERS/Jean-Paul Pelissier/File Photo

The New Zealand crew lead the British team by three races to one in the first-to-five contest.

The other semi-final is being fought out between Sweden's Artemis Racing and SoftBank Team Japan who had also been scheduled to complete two races on Wednesday.

Japan is also leading Sweden by three races to one.

(Reporting by Alexander Smith in London; Editing by Ken Ferris)