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America's Cup- AC72's caught on the edge of tornado + Video

by Richard Gladwell on 7 Dec 2012
Emirates Team New Zealand training with the team’s first AC72 on the Hauraki Gulf on Day 28 Chris Cameron/ETNZ http://www.chriscameron.co.nz

Auckland was hit by a tornado yesterday (Thursday) with devastating damage and the loss of three lives.

Both America's Cup Challengers were out training in the Hauraki Gulf at the time and were on the fringes of the violent weather system.

Winds just west of the team's bases were recorded at 50kts gusting 60kts for a brief period, further down the harbour it was 30kts gusting 40kts.

Sail-World spoke to both teams last night and despite the high winds there was no incidents or damage. The peak wind reported was 26-28kts in the 2000/04 America's Cup course area where both teams were training separately.

Emirates Team NZ has published a video of the day showing their AC72 sailing at over 42.5kts in awkward seas, including the start of a couple of nosedives.

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