Please select your home edition
Edition
Switch One Design

America's Cup Rialto: Team New Zealand capsize in strong winds

by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ 9 Oct 2020 12:50 BST 10 October 2020
Te Aihe returns at high speed in a rain squall - Auckland - July 1, 2020 © Richard Gladwell / Sail-World.com

Emirates Team New Zealand capsized their AC75 Te Aihe when sailing in strong winds in Tamaki Strait, off the southern coast of Waiheke around 0930hrs this morning.

Conditions were beyond the wind limits for racing in the America's Cup, with the breeze being recorded at 19kts average gusting 25kts, at Passage Rock - believed to be an under-read for where Te Aihe was sailing. The boat was quickly righted and towed back to Auckland.

The capsize occurred in an early morning test session after the team launched at dawn - around 0630hrs and docked out at 0740hrs. The capsize incident occurred around 0900hrs, on the area designated as Course E for the America's Cup, and occurred during a high-speed run when the AC75 loaded up at high speed and just sailed under in what was described by the crew as a "high-speed plough", before capsizing.

Winds were forecast to be on the top end of the scale for sailing an AC75, and CEO Grant Dalton told Sail-World that they wanted to test what was possible in terms of top-end speed and to find out if there were any edges in extreme conditions for the AC75, ahead of the launch of their second AC75 and race boat.

The conditions and circumstances would have been well within the experience of helmsman Peter Burling, after his exploits, in much more severe conditions in the Southern Ocean during the 2018/19 Volvo Ocean Race where he was a helmsman aboard Dutch-flagged entry Brunel.

The AC75 suffered damage to a steering pedestal in the incident. Otherwise, Te Aihe would have continued training - as happened in their first capsize pre-Christmas when they trained for a further three hours after the incident.

Emirates Team NZ is the first team to have admitted to a double-capsize. They have previously admitted to a high-speed nosedive at around 50kts, after which the team again kept training.

US Challenger American Magic capsized in the same location a month ago. The other two challengers have been recorded in "near-miss" capsize incidents.

Unfortunately the capsize occurred beyond the range of Sail-World's long-range camera.

The Challengers are expected to begin launching their second AC75's later in October, with Emirates Team New Zealand expected to launch in November.

The first serious hit-out for all teams will occur in mid-December with the three day Christmas Cup or first and only event in the America's Cup World Series. Racing in the Prada Cup begins a month later in mid-January.

Related Articles

America's Cup: ETNZ's design boss on new AC75 Rule
Kiwi design chief, Dan Bernasconi on recycled AC75 hulls, electric power and other rule changes. Kiwi design chief, Dan Bernasconi on the use of recycled AC75 hulls, the switch to full electric power, and other changes. He claims there is plenty of performance gain left in the AC75 for the designer teams. Posted on 12 Sep
America's Cup: Class Rule and Tech Regs out
The America's Cup Class Rule and Technical Regulations for the Naples Match have been published With the clock ticking down to the start of the Louis Vuitton 38th America's Cup in Naples in 2027, the AC75 Class Rules and Technical Regulations have been issued to all teams and published with a focus on cost containment. Posted on 11 Sep
From The Other Side - The State of the Sport
The editors of Sail-World New Zealand and Inside Great Lakes Sailing discuss the state of sailing. The Editors of Inside Great Lakes Sailing and Sail-World New Zealand got together last week to shoot the breeze in an unscripted video discussion, without any pre-arranged "talking points" about various aspects of the sport. Posted on 5 Sep
Youth America's Cup set to continue in Naples
The Youth America's Cup is a sign-post to the future direction of the America's Cup itself. Since its inaugural event in 2013, the Youth America's Cup, designed as a competition for sailors under the age of 25, has always been the most remarkable sign-post to the future direction of the America's Cup itself. Posted on 4 Sep
America's Cup: A seismic shift for sailing
For the first time in its 174-year history, female sailors will be mandated onboard AC75s This week's announcement from the America's Cup felt momentous. For the first time in its 174-year history, female sailors will be mandated onboard AC75s at the pinnacle of our sport. Posted on 15 Aug
America's Cup: A "ground breaking" partnership
An innovative Protocol for the 2027 America's Cup has been agreed between RNZYS and RYS An innovative 11th hour Protocol for the 2027 America's Cup has been agreed between the Challenger of Record and the Defender. It creates a commercial framework for the current and future Cups, eases nationality rules, and has a quota for female sailors. Posted on 12 Aug
America's Cup impasse close to resolution.
The impasse over the Protocol is expected to be resolved next week - meeting in Auckland. The impasse over the Protocol for the 38th America's Cup is expected to be resolved, one way or the other, next week, with a meeting of the parties in Auckland. Posted on 9 Aug
America's Cup: Naples first taste of the Cup
The America's Cup came to Naples in 2012 and 2013 for two of the most memorable regattas. The America's Cup World Series, a multi-city series in the lead up to the 2013 America's Cup regatta in San Francisco, came to Naples in 2012 and 2013 for two of the most memorable regattas. Posted on 7 Aug
America's Cup: Luna Rossa's beginning
Continuing the walk down memory lane with the past America's Cups and Italy's involvement. Continuing the walk down memory lane with the past America's Cups and Italy's involvement as a Challenger, in particular. This one looks at six times challenger, Luna Rossa from the team's beginnings to the 2024 campaign. Posted on 4 Aug
America's Cup: Italy's five boat Challenge
‘Il Moro di Venezia', a five-boat programme left no stone unturned The transition from colourful and applauded challenges of 1983 and 1987, to Challengers for the XXVIII America's Cup in San Diego, was a pivotal moment in the history of Italy in the competition. Posted on 23 Jul