NZ grabs win as Luna Rossa boat damaged
Print Edition
Team New Zealand survived a scare to win the first race of the America’s Cup challenger finals in a walkover on Saturday as boat damage forced Luna Rossa to withdraw.
The first race of the best-of-13 Louis Vuitton Cup finals, which will decide a challenger to take on defender Oracle Team USA in next month’s America’s Cup finals, provided another chaotic spectacle in the 34th edition of the venerable yachting event which has been beset by problems.
The sight of triumphant Emirates Team New Zealand nose-diving into San Francisco Bay with two crew members flung overboard was a grim reminder of the training accident of Artemis Racing in May, in which British sailor Andrew “Bart” Simpson died.
The drama started before that, however, with Italy’s Luna Rossa pulling out with damage to its AC72 catamaran’s starboard daggerboard. With a temporary fix, the Italian outfit gamely took the start, but it was forced out after the first mark rounding.
Team New Zealand completed the 9.95-nautical-mile course on San Francisco Bay in 31 minutes, 3 seconds, but not before it did nosedive as it was hit by a gust of wind while rounding the windward mark to starboard. Crew members Rob Waddell and Chris Ward were tossed overboard, but were rescued and escaped serious injury.
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