America's Cup update: NZ survives a dunking
Big nosedive for ETNZ in race one then hydraulic trouble in race twoEmirates Team New Zealand has survived the first race of the Louis Vuitton Cup on San Francisco Bay despite losing two men overboard and sustaining damage due to a dramatic nosedive.
Prior to the New Zealanders' issues, Luna Rossa had a daggerboard problem before the race that ultimately led to them retiring after the first mark rounding. The team had refined the daggerboard and its lifting post last week.
Emirates Team New Zealand continued on but after rounding the third mark, the nose of the AC72 dug in and instantly dropped the boat speed from 40 knots to about 13 throwing two crew members, Chris Ward and Rob Waddell, into the Bay. The two grinders were quickly picked up by the ETNZ chase boat and were reported to be not seriously hurt.
In a change of fortunes, the second race was awarded to Luna Rossa following hydraulic problems on Emirates Team New Zealand. The faliure meant that the Kiwis could not move the giant wing sail nor adjust the angle of the dagger boards.
With the final series locked at one-all, the third and fourth races were postponed due to the winds being outside the safety margin of 21 knots.
See the spectacular nose dive below!
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