AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Racing was called off Friday in the America's Cup challenger series after gale warnings were issued for Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

Principal race officer Peter Reggio called off racing on the third day of the second challenger round when winds of 35-to-40 knots were forecast to sweep across the Auckland region.

Reggio said racing might have been able to begin in moderate conditions but was unlikely to continue when squalls hit in the afternoon.

An extreme northeasterly weather pattern is expected to last throughout the weekend, threatening further disruption to the challenger schedule.

Races were scheduled Friday between Seattle's OneWorld and Britain's GBR Challenge, the Victory Challenge of Sweden and New York's Stars & Stripes, Alinghi of Switzerland and Mascalzone Latino of Italy and Le Defi of France and Italy's Prada.

Those races will be held Saturday, with other races shifted down the schedule.

Alinghi leads the challenger series with nine wins from 10 races after its 27-second win Thursday over OneWorld, which was previously undefeated.