Boat not plane; Team NZ to miss race day
TEAM New Zealand will not race in the America’s Cup Challenger Series today after their boat was dropped following racing yesterday.
Taihoro was dropped a number of metres on to its cradle as it was being lifted out of the water. The team did an initial assessment and decided they needed more time to fully inspect the boat.
In a statement, Team New Zealand said the boat had been secured with a portable crane and was back in the shed where the full extent of the damage would be assessed.
‘‘From initial assessments a call has been made that Team New Zealand will not be sailing tomorrow.
‘‘Once further investigation is made in the following 24 hours and a full plan for the repair of Taihoro is in place, the team will give a further update on the duration of time the team will be off the water.’’
Team New Zealand chief executive Grant Dalton said it was a setback for the team. ‘‘These are the moments that can define an America’s Cup campaign, and we have an amazing group of dedicated and talented people who will be working around the clock on getting the boat repaired.
‘‘We will not be sailing [today] at least, and will provide further updates on the outlook in due course.’’
The incident happened just after the team had beaten Italian outfit Luna Rossa by 12 seconds in their opening race of the Challenger Series.
They were scheduled to meet Britannia and Orient Express of France today.
Team New Zealand was competing in the roundrobin part of the Challenger Series. They defend the America’s Cup in October. — RNZ