ETNZ's AC75 Taihoro damaged

While retrieving the AC75 from sailing today the crane failed while lifting onto its cradle and landed heavily. All team members are safe. The extent of the damage will be assessed as soon as possible.

Latest update 20.30 CEST:

After racing on Race day 1 of the Louis Vuitton Round Robin, as the team were lifting their AC75 ‘Taihoro’ from the water, there was an issue with the lift and the boat landed heavily onto its supporting cradle.

The team have secured the boat with a portable crane and it is now safely being put back in the shed where the full extent of the damage will be  assessed by the team overnight.

From initial assessments a call has been made that  Emirates 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.

Emirates Team New Zealand CEO Grant Dalton said, “Clearly this is a setback for the team at such an important time of the campaign. These are the moments that can define an America’s Cup campaign, and we have an amazing group of dedicated and talent people who will be working around the clock on getting the boat repaired.

“We will not be sailing tomorrow at least, and will provide further updates on the outlook in due course.”