America's Cup: Emirates Team NZ to race repaired AC75 raceboat twice on Saturday
by Richard Gladwell Sail-World NZ 31 Aug 2024 18:04 AEST
31 August 2024
Emirates Team New Zealand design and shore crews work around the clock to repair their AC75 raceboat damaged on Thursday - August 31, 2024 - Barcelona © Emirates Team NZ
Emirates Team New Zealand are confident they will be on the start line in their repaired AC75 'Taihoro' after a marathon repair job, following the accidental dropping of the AC75 after racing on Thursday.
The team had several lucky breaks in the incident which have resulted in the team only missing one of their races in the Louis Vuitton Cup. They are scheduled to race twice on Saturday.
When dropped from six metres above its cradle the boat hit the forward support, breaking the pad, but also breaking some of the load. Taihoro also came to rest on its wingfoils which are designed to be capable of with standing a force several time the boat weight.
Fortuitously the AC75s on-board systems had not been turned off prior to the incident, and the design engineers could replay the data collected during the impact and check that against design safety factors and loads. That indicated that while the boat had a hard landing there was some give in the foil arms due to automatic system reaction.
The forward section was crushed by the support pad requiring the cut away of a section of the hull and layup and fitting of a new piece. There was unspecified damage in the rear of the AC75.
Team CEO Grant Dalton said if the AC75 had "landed 200 millimeters either side and didn't fall directly into the cradle. We'd be looking at a whole different circumstance."
The AC75 is scheduled to race twice on Saturday - in the second match of the day against Orient Express (FRA) who purchased a design package from the New Zealand team, and in Match 12, the final match of the day, against Alinghi Red Bull Racing (SUI).