AUCKLAND, New Zealand -- Strong wind forced a postponement to the start of the quarterfinals of the America's Cup on Tuesday.

Organizers waited about five hours before ruling the yachts could not sail on Hauraki Gulf. Gusts of more than 20 knots were recorded throughout the morning, with rough conditions expected into the afternoon. Racing cannot start in wind averaging less than 7 knots or more than 19.

Competition in the best-of-seven quarterfinals will begin Wednesday, with more settled conditions forecast.

Alinghi of Switzerland was to have raced Prada of Italy and OneWorld of Seattle was to have met Oracle of San Francisco in the top half of quarterfinals.

In the lower rung, it was Victory Challenge of Sweden vs. Le Defi of France and Stars & Stripes of New York vs. GBR Challenge of Britain.

The winners in the top group advance to the semifinals in December. The losers from the top group meet the winners of the lower quarterfinals in another series of races this month.

The winner of the challenger Louis Vuitton Cup will face Team New Zealand in February for the America's Cup trophy.

One boat has been eliminated from the previous round -- Italy's Mascalzone Latino. Occupying the first four places are syndicates with the largest budgets and richest talent.

"We know we can't afford to make any mistakes,'' Prada skipper Francesco de Angelis said. "If we want to win we have to do everything right. Every time the boat goes out, the whole team has to have that in mind.''

For this round, Stars & Stripes will sail USA-77, the yacht that sank off Long Beach, Calif., four months ago.

OneWorld discarded USA-67 after the first two rounds in favor of USA-65. OneWorld won all but one of its matches in the first round but lost twice in the second round, once to Oracle.

"Our boats are ever so subtly different,'' skipper Peter Gilmour said. "Our two races with Oracle have been very close and that fashion is likely to continue.''

France changed skippers between rounds, replacing Luc Pillot with Philippe Presti. Presti started the challenger series as helmsman but was removed for Pillot after only three races.

"It is definitely not comfortable for me,'' Presti said.

The match between Stars & Stripes and GBR has a touch of history -- New York and Britain have met in Cup matches for more than 150 years.

"Clearly, not having made the top four, we're in a sudden-death situation,'' GBR skipper Ian Walker said. "That makes it harder for us to take a gamble whether in crew, sail or boat decisions.''